Newsnight
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- For the CNN programme see NewsNight with Aaron Brown
| Newsnight | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | News and Current Affairs Programme |
| Created by | BBC News |
| Presented by | Jeremy Paxman Gavin Esler Kirsty Wark Emily Maitlis |
| Theme music composer | George Fenton |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | BBC News |
| Editor(s) | Peter Barron |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC Two |
| Picture format | 720x576 (1998-present anamorphic 16:9, pre-1998 4:3) |
| Original run | 30 January 1980 – Present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Newsnight Scotland Newsnight Review |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Newsnight is a British daily news analysis, current affairs and politics programme broadcast between 22:30 and 23:20 on weekdays on BBC Two.
The programme's main presenters are Jeremy Paxman, Gavin Esler, Kirsty Wark and Emily Maitlis.
Newsnight also has a semi-separate arts slot known as Newsnight Review. On BBC Two Scotland, an opt-out slot, Newsnight Scotland, presented by Gordon Brewer, replaces the final twenty minutes of Newsnight from Monday to Thursday.
Contents |
[edit] History
Newsnight has been running since 30 January 1980, with Peter Snow presenting the programme for its first 17 years. The theme music was composed by George Fenton and various different arrangements have been used over the years.
Newsnight also appeared (in repackaged form) on BBC World Service Television and its successor, BBC World, until 1999. Starting 29 February 2008, a "best of" edition of Newsnight will air weekly on BBC America and BBC World News.[1]
Until the start of 1988, the timing of Newsnight in the BBC2 schedule was flexible, in order to allow the channel to show a film at 9:30pm (the time the main BBC1 news programme then finished). The move to a fixed timeslot of 10:30pm was made despite the known objections of the then Managing Director of BBC TV, Bill Cotton, who was supposed to be in charge of all scheduling decisions. The announcement was also made without informing him first, and caused a massive and widely reported internal row within the BBC, with one person saying it would "destroy the BBC".[2]
[edit] Interviews
Newsnight remains the UK's flagship television news and current affairs programme and regularly breaks major stories, such as the fact that the leader of the London suicide bombers (7 July 2005) had been monitored by British security services. The programme also features interviews with high-profile figures both from the UK and abroad.
One of Newsnight's most famous interviews took place on 13 May 1997, between Paxman and Michael Howard, who had until 13 days earlier been Home Secretary. Howard was questioned regarding a meeting with Derek Lewis, the head of the Prison Service, regarding the potential dismissal of John Marriott, the governor of Parkhurst Prison, following a well-publicised jail-break. Lewis had argued against dismissing Marriott. During one continuous sequence Paxman put the same question — "Did you threaten to overrule him?" — twelve times (not fourteen as is widely believed)[3] to Howard, who on each occasion gave a qualified or evasive answer, such as "I did not overrule him". It was revealed during Newsnight's 20th anniversary special programme that after Paxman introduced the next report and the film started rolling, he politely asked Howard, "Was that okay?". Howard, whilst disconnecting his microphone, rhetorically replied, "Well, what do you think?"
This was later revealed to be a stalling strategy by Paxman on being told that the studio was having technical trouble with one of the reports which was to follow.[citation needed] In 2004, Paxman broached the subject with Howard, who was then Conservative leader. Again, Howard laughed the question off, but did say he "didn't" threaten to overrule the Head of the Prison Service. The clip was voted the best Newsnight moment ever by members of the show's production team.
[edit] Newsnight Review
On Friday evenings, Newsnight gives way at 23:00 to Newsnight Review, a 35-minute slot looking at cultural developments across the board, from literature (including occasionally children's novels) to opera via the latest contemporary art exhibitions to prime-time TV programming. Past presenters have included Tom Sutcliffe and Tim Marlowe, though Mark Lawson was the programme's original presenter in its Late Review format as part of BBC Two's The Late Show strand. He continued to chair the critical discussion among the panel of guest reviewers frequently since its becoming Newsnight Review in 2000, but in December 2005 retired from the lineup. The programme is currently presented by Kirsty Wark, Martha Kearney, John Wilson, Kwame Kwei-Armah or Hardeep Singh Kohli. Regular contributors to the panel discussion include Mark Kermode, Tom Paulin and Ekow Eshun. Bands have also played on the programme, albeit recorded.
[edit] Stock market update vs. Weather
Traditionally at the end of the programme there is a short stock market update. In 2005, Newsnight's editor, Peter Barron, replaced it with a 30-second weather report, arguing that the market data was available via the Internet and that weather would be more useful. However, the change brought a flurry of complaints. On one occasion, Jeremy Paxman said in his usual sarcastic tone, "So finally and controversially, tomorrow's weather forecast. It's a veritable smorgasbord. Sun, rain, thunder, hail, snow, cold, wind. Almost worth going to work." Other occasions saw him quip, "It's April, what do you expect?" and "Take an umbrella with you tomorrow." Nonetheless, he claimed he was happy presenting the weather. Gavin Esler also joined in, announcing "...as for the Spring, you can forget about that until further notice." [1]
Consequently, Newsnight conducted a telephone poll. Michael Fish, a former weather forecaster, was seen arguing in favour of the weather report, while Norman Lamont (former Chancellor of the Exchequer) campaigned for the market update. 62% of viewers voted in favour of the market update, and as a result it returned on Monday, 18 April 2005.
Taking up another populist cause, for a week at the end of January 2006, Newsnight played out its closing credits accompanied by the Radio 4 Theme which was facing the axe from BBC Radio 4. Continuing the motif, the 24 April 2006 edition played out with the signature tune of the soon-to-be-cancelled BBC sports programme, Grandstand.
[edit] International Edition
Newsnight is also being shown though the BBC's American Service, BBC America and on its international news service, BBC World News, but in a shorted weekly version. Unlike the British version, the International version uses different kind of graphics and presentations.
[edit] Newsnight via other media
Newsnight is now available via broadband for viewing up to 24 hours post-broadcast. In March 2006 the programme launched a weekly Podcast, and a blog by business correspondent Paul Mason. In July 2006, a weekly video podcast was launched featuring 20 minutes of highlights from the previous week's programmes. Scheduled for 2007, Newsnight will be linked to Project Phoenix, BBC World's largest-ever investment in a news-based magazine. Newsnight podcasts for the last week are available here.
[edit] Current Newsnight presenters
- Jeremy Paxman (Joined 1989)
- Kirsty Wark (Joined October 1993)
- Gavin Esler (Joined January 2003)
- Emily Maitlis (Joined March 2006)
The programme's political editor has been Michael Crick since April 2007 when he replaced Martha Kearney who was also an occasional presenter on the programme until she left to present The World At One on BBC Radio Four.
[edit] Former Newsnight presenters
- Peter Snow (30 January 1980 - 3 July 1997)
- John Tusa (January 1980 - 5 June 1986)
- Peter Hobday (1980 - 1983)
- Olivia O'Leary (17 June 1985 - 26 September 1986)
- Gordon Brewer (1993-1999 - now hosts the Newsnight Scotland opt-out)
- Sarah Montague (1998-2001)
- Sue Cameron
- James Cox
- Donald MacCormick
- Fran Morrison
- Francine Stock
- Charles Wheeler
- Jeremy Vine (1999-2002)
- Martha Kearney (joined Newsnight in 1994 and was political editor from 2000 to 2007)
[edit] Newsnight editors
- George Carey (1980 - 1981)
- Ronald Neil (1981 - 1982)
- David Lloyd (1982 - 1983)
- David Dickinson (1983-1985)
- Richard Tait (1985 - 1987)
- John Morrison (1987 - 1990)
- Tim Gardam (1990 - 1993)
- Peter Horrocks (1994 - 1997)
- Sian Kevill (1998 - 2001)
- George Entwistle (2001 - 2004)
- Peter Barron (2004 - present)
Many former editors of Newsnight have now gone on to a career as a senior executive in the BBC.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ BBC America Launches Weekly Version of Newsnight, Broacasting and Cable Magazine
- ^ 'Fuzzy Monsters: Fear and Loathing at the BBC' (1994) by Chris Horrie and Steve Clarke
- ^ BBC News website: Newsnight 25 — Paxman versus Howard
[edit] External links
- Newsnight at bbc.co.uk
- Newsnight: The Opera at bbc.co.uk
- Newsnight weathers storm as forecast is axed
- Newsnight's blogs: Idle Scrawl Ethical Man
