When you think of TV news presenters, especially at the BBC, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t necessarily “sweaty and dirty.” Newscasters are traditionally well-dressed and well-behaved. Now the BBC is saying newsreaders can move away from a more formal dress code and instead wear things that are more approachable and relaxed.
BBC News’ Director of Digital Naja Nielsen is responsible for the change, according to Deadline. Nielsen told staff at the 24-hour news channel that a more rugged look, which generally happens when journalists are in the field, is more trustworthy.
This new aesthetic directive comes as the network is making other major changes. The BBC is working on merging its local news channel with its BBC World News to save some money and widen viewership. Nielsen told the journalists at the BBC that “It’s a bit like, be as sweaty and dirty as when we’re in the field is actually more trustworthy than if we look like we’ve just stepped out of an awards ceremony or a fine dinner party.”
The move is mostly seen as a two-pronged approach to relevance. The channel wants to attract younger viewers that are used to watching everything on their phones and it wants journalists to appear more authentic. When the channel relaunches, it will feature “presenters standing in front of giant iPads to show how we verify footage.”
There will be eight journalists who will work in studio as presenters and as correspondents as well. About 10 journalists were told they won’t be “Chief Presenters,” and it’s not clear what their futures will be at the network. The journalists Martine Croxall, Ben Brown, and Annita McVeigh were all told that they won’t be presenters.
Matthew Amroliwala, Yalda Hakim, Christian Fraser, Lucy Hockings, and Maryam Moshiri will all appear on camera and earn about $276,000 a year. Right now, the BBC is eyeing a launch date of April 3 for the new channel, but the changes won’t happen all at once.
“The single channel operation will be a phased launch over months, with different elements being introduced over time. No-one should get hung up on April or expect to see everything change at once,” a BBC Insider told Deadline.
The insider also shared that there’s a lot of anger at the organization over the treatment of the presenters with decades of news experience.
“People are furious about it,” an insider at BBC said. “Producers think the presenters have been treated brutally.”