Journalism Now Project - The Independent and BBC Radio 2

The Independent and BBC Radio 2 seem to have nothing in common but the audiences of the two media institutions appear, on inspection, to be fairly similar. Although Radio 2 has no rate cards for public viewing, the general consensus is that Radio 2 is the middle of the road alternative to Radio 1. A sort of breeding ground for people who are yet to make the leap (metaphorically speaking) to Radio 4.

The Independent, nicknamed ‘The Indy’, was launched in 1986 and is one of the youngest daily newspapers in the UK. It changed to tabloid format in 2003 retaining broadsheet sensibilities and, despite its lack of affiliation to any particular political party; it is generally thought to lean to the left. It struggles financially though and this affects its news agenda as it cannot afford journalists to go out and collect stories through investigative journalism. This means many of the stories the newspaper contains are analysis or comment pieces as they cannot afford court journalists and stories. Originally it provided a challenge to Murdoch, producing spoofs of The Times and The Telegraph within its pages but once The Times began to reduce prices, the ‘Indy’s’ circulation began to suffer. The Independent’s news agenda tends towards political prisoners, climate change or campaigning. The celebrity based tabloid news does not even get a look in as The Independent places itself in the more serious quarter of newspapers, avoiding the reality TV shows and focusing instead on what it considers more worthy issues.

BBC Radio 2 has become an institution and has recently been named ‘the nation’s favourite’ as it is currently the most listened to radio station in the UK. Although the station has no rate cards which the public can access, it is still possible to get some audience figures. The information I found suggested it has a reach of 13,682,000 out of a possible survey area of 51,618,000[1]. It focuses mainly on the big stories of the day as these do not require comment that the BBC is unable to give as an impartial channel. The news on 19th November followed for most of the day the bailing out of Ireland or the refusal of Ireland to be bailed out by the EU’s monetary fund. It covered other major stories such as the increase in public borrowing and the suspension of two FIFA executives who tried to sell their World Cup bid vote. However, the stories at the end of the bulletins were of most interest to me. At 10am we had a man arrested after stealing a poppy collection box, which was a serious news story, but by 5pm we had the “And finally” story with a court in Germany banning a man from tattooing a horse with the Rolling Stones logo.

To compare the two media institutions is, as I have discovered, quite difficult. This is partly because they are targeted towards their audiences differently. Despite their differences, their commitment to news is unwavering and their dedication to the art of journalism unstoppable.


Footnotes:
[1] BBC Radio 2 audience figures www.mediauk.com