50 years of BBC Television News
Introduction - from
Richard Sambrook, Director of News, BBC
BBC Television News is 50 years old at 7.30pm on July 5th, 2004.
Since its launch half a century ago BBC Television News
has maintained its core commitment to strong, impartial, distinctive
journalism covering events both here and across the globe.
The broadcasting landscape may have changed beyond
all recognition but in today's multi-channel world it continues to be
a trusted voice in the UK and across the globe.
Television News now belongs to the wider stable of BBC
News - the largest broadcast news operation in the world with more than
2,000 journalists and over 40 newsgathering bureaux, the majority of
which are overseas.
It is responsible for the BBC ONE bulletins, Breakfast
and Breakfast with Frost, Newsnight, 60 seconds on BBC THREE and the
news output on BBC FOUR.
It is also responsible for the two BBC continuous news
channels, BBC News 24 and BBC World.
The size and scope of BBC News, its journalists and
specialists, means that it can cover stories and issues that sometimes
other broadcasters can't.
More than 18,000 hours of programming originate from
BBC Television News every year. That equates to an average of almost
50 hours of output every day.
Over the past five decades this has included reports
on all the major news stories and pivotal moments from the first man
on the moon, the assassination of John F Kennedy, to famine in Ethiopia,
the Vietnam war, and the current war in Iraq.
BBC Television News has been there for moments of great
historical change such as the fall of communism and the end of apartheid
as well as tragic stories, including the death of Princess Diana and
the September 11th attacks.
An impressive cast of presenters, correspondents and
reporters have brought these stories, and many many more, into the lives
of millions of people across the globe.
We cannot know what the future will bring but what
is paramount is that BBC Television News continues to uphold its core
values, always seeking to act in the public interest.
Richard Sambrook, Director of News, BBC
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