BBC Anger!

I've just emailed this to Points of View. Help me Wogan!...

Dear Sir/Madam

I have for several months been forced to tolerate your loathsome news feed that displays on the Radio Five Live channel when listening to Five Live on Freeview. But tonight it has driven me to such despair that I've actually been forced to write to you.

There are three reasons for my annoyance.

Firstly, headlines that make no sense. 'Father seeks justice for teacher' one reads tonight - meaningless, without more context.

Secondly, there are at least two stories on your service tonight that finish mid-sentence. Annoying.

Thirdly, I can see that at least one of your stories is factually incorrect.

I work in the video games sector. Indeed, I have been asked in the past by Five Live to speak on air about the subject. Tonight you have a story about Microsoft's Xbox 360 Elite, an upgraded version of its current games console. Your story claims that Microsoft has revealed a new version of the Xbox 360 which is 'able to display high definition video'.

This in itself is correct, in that the machine is able to do this. But to present this fact in such a manner suggests that the upgrades to the machine have been designed to allow this functionality when previously it was not present. That is completely incorrect. The Xbox 360 is a high definition games console - that is, and always has been, one of its main selling points. A high definition TV and video service is planned for Xbox Live, Microsoft's online games network, but this is just an extension of the existing functionality.

Clearly your researcher, or more likely the poor sap who has been forced to shoe-horn the duty of filling these headlines into the daily schedule required by their full time job, briefly read the Microsoft press release and interpreted the information with woeful inaccuracy.

Whilst we’re on the subject, I find the BBC’s video games reporting on the whole to be highly irksome. Your PlayStation 3 feature on BBC Breakfast on Friday March 23^rd was especially cringe worthy – it was clear that the female presenter had not the slightest clue about gaming.

“I hear that one of the problems with PS3 is that it isn’t compatible with all of the games” she claimed. Aaarrrggghhhh! ‘The’ games? What does that even mean? The truth from which this hopeless statement stems is to do with PS3’s limited ability to play games designed for Sony’s previous games console, the PlayStation 2. But this was not explained with any clarity. To say PS3 is not compatible with all ‘the’ games suggests it doesn’t work with all games designed for PS3. Ridiculous!

The only show on your entire network that exhibits any real understanding of gaming is BBC News 24’s Click. May I recommend that in future you speak to the presenter of that show whenever your channel intends to discuss gaming. Alternatively feel free to give me a call.

Anyway, getting back to the news service on Radio Five Live on Freeview, the fact that I know one story is patently wrong makes me wonder how reliable the others are. It's all so tiresome.

I try my best to avoid looking at the Five Live screen on Freeview, but as I'm sure you know, it's hard to stop your eyes wondering toward a TV screen. For this reason I implore you - please please please put some effort into the service, or simply scrap it altogether.

Yours