03-11-2021, 12:17 AM
Axolotl post_id=51715 time= user_id=774 Wrote:Didn't the previous editor Ian Katz jump ship to Channel 4 as well? It will be interesting to see who replaces her.
I suppose from Channel 4's point of view Newsnight is the only other news programme that is really similar to it and so it makes sense to recruit from that pool. From a Newsnight employee's perspective, it is hard not to see it as a promotion these days - better platform, better working hours, (probably) better pay and an ability to be a newsmaker.
Also, at this point, it's less jumping ship and more rats fleeing a sinking ship. Newsnight is not what it once was - not in terms of reputation/clout and certainly not in terms of production values. The latest stripping of its own team of correspondents will ensure that the programme has virtually no ability to shape the news agenda and is likely going to be reduced to little more than long-form interviews out of necessity. If you're a serious journalist, the choice between editing a respected, national news programme and being somebody who picks the line-up for Politics Live Nights isn't particularly difficult.
Plus you have better job security at Channel 4. While it may have its own problems up ahead with privatisation, I doubt C4 News will suffer anywhere on the same scale as BBC News' secondary programmes and will definitely continue to exist - unlike Newsnight which increasingly looks just one more round of budget cuts away from being replaced with a glorified News Channel simulcast.