Dumbed down BBC News!

I never watch BBC news now - it’s biased and patronising. IMO I watch C4 news as it’s the nearest you can get to news for grown ups

Me too maryeliza I find it very informative without being patronising.

We too watch C4 news in the evening.
During the day, it's Sky news we watch. Some of the BBC news programmes have become quite amateurish.

We watch Beyond 100 Days on BBC Four and C4 news.

We were watching the news earlier, covering a short item saying there is to be a massive shake up following errors in cervical smears. Then they showed a mammogram being performed. Now I know that a shot of a cervical smear being taken would not be suitable, but a mammogram !!!
We who have the relevant bits, know the difference.

I noticed that too! I also noticed the patient was wearing a hospital gown. That doesn't happen in my area. it's bare all to the world time.

We still occasionally watch the Brexit Broadcasting Corporation News and are appalled at the bias.

Channel 4 news this evening did a piece in front of the titanic exhibition in Belfast: not biased, I don't think so.

The maiden voyage of the Titanic was about 95% successful - a lot more successful than brexit so far.

Auntieflo I noticed that too

The BBC thinks were all stupid, but maybe it's the BBC who's lost it. My son showed me this and I still can't believe it's real;

www.bbc.com/pidgin

*we're not 'were'. lol looks as if I'm the stupid one.

It is not 'dumbed down' it is designed for West African viewers who speak pidgin English, and I don't see why they should not have the same access to BBC programmes as anyone else Boogaloo
A new language service for digital platforms in English-based Pidgin for West and Central Africa has been launched by the BBC World Service.
Pidgin is one of the most widely-spoken languages across the region, even though it is not officially recognised
The launch is part of the World Service's biggest expansion since the 1940s, following a government funding boost announced in 2016.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40975399

I have read The News online for several years after making a conscious decision to avoid Television News.

However a couple of days ago I arrived at friends house just as she was watching weather forecast.

The forecasters (male) deserved an Oscar ?

Once upon a time a quick point to the regions together with temperature and weather predictions was enough,
Now arms are flayed, a flourish of the hand and a natty little twists of the body,
(half expecting a pirouett) all to explain that the next few days were going to be sunny and mild.

I'm sure the performance will be quite something when the next storm or snow hits ?

That is the same as dumbing down. As you stated, Pidgin English is not officially recognized. Can west Africans be successful using that version of English outside of Africa? I'd refuse to see a doctor who used it.

I notice how even our own English is being destroyed in the UK now.

Examples; 'Sat' instead of 'sitting'. 'Stood' instead of 'standing'. The press, including TV/radio, do not understand the difference between 'floor' and 'ground.' Regional dialects are being used throughout the UK instead of grammatically correct and coherent English.

Pidgin is the lingua franca in Nigeria and for some areas such as the Delta, it's their first language. Nigeria has about 500 different languages, some spoken by large numbers, others confined to small areas. Pidgin is a way for people, especially in urban areas, to be able to communicate with each other.

Boogaloo
You obviously haven't been to the West Indies.
I'm sure some of my French/Spanish/Bulgarian could be described as 'pidgin'

Once upon a time in the U.S it was illegal to teach a slave to read or write English. The idea was to keep slaves ignorant and on the plantation.

That is the reason I find the BBC using pidgin English abhorrent.

Yes, make them all speak the Queen's English!!! The Empire is alive and flourishing.

SueDonim this is an excellent way for people to become more aware of world affairs.

The BBC is much respected in W Africa, Boogaloo whatever we may think of it. If there was no demand for Pidgin, the BBC wouldn't be making these products.

I lived in Nigeria for five years and Pidgin is what people speak, it's their everyday language and it's deeply unpleasant that you're denigrating their method of communication.

So what if it isn't the Queen's English? Nor is American English - maybe we should ban that too.

Good idea about banning American English.

The irony there is that American English is said to be closer to how English used to be spoken in the U.K. - it's the Queen's English that's changed!

Though living languages are changing all the time through different influences.

Why ? FarNorth