Whilst watching BBC News24 recently I found myself getting more and more frustrated by the bizarre use of the breaking news bar at the bottom of the screen. Certain events obviously merit highlighting but it is nearly always the case that the subject matter of the bar is what the news readers are discussing and what is on the actual screen.

I appreciate the fact that many people only dip in to 24 hour news channels and that instant bite size news is there function however everything being declared ‘breaking’ is ludicrous. Just this morning it was declared ‘breaking news’ that David Cameron was about to give a press conference, despite the fact that this had been planned for weeks, therefore how is it breaking news? Is it just breaking news when an event is about to happen? I am not sure but what I am sure of is that if I am intelligent enough to put on a 24 hour news channel I am intelligent enough to actually watch it and find out what is happening as opposed to an americanised slogan.