Sky News: Encyclopedia II - Sky News - Perception

Sky News - Perception

Today Sky News continues to maintain an impressive standard of journalism in the face of tough competition. It is somewhat different to stablemate Fox News, the US sister channel with which it sometimes exchanges material. Sky News at the moment relies more on news rather than Fox News' anchor-based commentary, such as that provided by Bill O'Reilly. During 2003, plans to offer Sky News in the US were under consideration, but have since been dropped allegedly due to pressure from Fox News.

The station has not been without controversy. In early 1994 Kelvin Mackenzie, former editor of the Sun newspaper, was appointed Managing Director of BSkyB. MacKenzie's proposed changes to Sky News lead to clashes with CEO Sam Chisholm and the head of Sky News, Ian Frykberg, who protested what they saw as an attempt to take its news values downmarket and concentrate on stories that would be more familiar to tabloid newspapers than its rivals at the BBC and ITN.

The main problems arose when it became clear that Frykberg, then head of News and Sport at BSkyB, wanted to take Sky News to a wider international audience. Frykberg outlined his intention to open 15 new Sky News bureaux around the world and make the channel a serious alternative to CNN. At the time, he was backed by Rupert Murdoch *[3]. There was also talk of the US CBS network acquiring a stake in Sky News, and the two launching a joint international news channel. Mackenzie, in contrast, wanted the channel to focus on more domestic and 'tabloid' stories. The most ferocious battle occurred when Mackenzie wanted Sky News to run an interview with Lady Bienvenida Buck, exposed by the News of the World as being the mistress of Chief of Defence staff Sir Peter Harding. Frykberg refused to air the interview and resigned shortly afterwards. The interview did not air on Sky News, and was instead shifted to Sky One.

MacKenzie announced his resignation in August 1994.

A 1993 report on public trust in news outlets ranked Sky News far below the more established TV networks and newspapers. However the station has undoubtedly got past this in its news coverage, to the point of being nominated for International Emmy Awards and a 2004 report listed Sky as second only to the BBC in terms of public trust in British news outlets.

Its coverage of the Louise Woodward trial in Boston, US, garnered the channel international attention. Capitalising on the live broadcasts from the courtroom, Sky News covered the trial as-it-happened, with constant live coverage. After days of live courtroom television, Sky attempted to return to a more regular schedule, only to be inundated with complaints by viewers demanding that the trial return to the screens; Sky obliged. They also took the opportunity to rig up a huge television screen in a pub in Woodward's home village of Elton in Cheshire, with 24/7 coverage of the trial in progress. Villagers rallied round the screen, and Sky recorded their reactions to every detail of the trial. The channel came in for further criticism, with many accusing it of maintaining a pro-Louise Woodward stance, even after she was found guilty.

At the turn of the millennium, Sky began a process of expanding its international coverage, opening more overseas bureaux in Africa, Europe, the far East, and so on. Its coverage of the war in Kosovo eclipsed long-standing rivals at CNN and the BBC, both of whom could only just muster telephone reports, whilst Sky had live reporters in-vision across the region; for that, it won awards from the Royal Television Society and BAFTA, as well as a nomination for an International Emmy Award.

Its coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks brought more honours, and more recognition from BAFTA and the RTS. During the first week or so of the invasion of Afghanistan, Its US sister station Fox News substituted its late-night repeats of its own programming with a simulcast of Sky News. In 2002/3, its coverage of the Soham Murders in Cambridgeshire gave the channel yet more awards, and the British Academy award for news coverage. Later that year, its (also award-winning) coverage of the Iraq conflict saw it yet again steal a march on its rivals, with US networks CBS and Fox News carrying much of its coverage.

Despite increased competition from the BBC, Sky News remains the default news channel for opinion formers in UK. Indeed, recently the BBC Head of News, Peter Horrocks, admitted that it was Sky News that is to be found on the tv screens of all the major UK national newsdesks (as well as a good deal of others across the globe), not the BBC.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Perception", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki