BBC news get your priorities right !

[Bill]

Kermit power said:

I'm the complete opposite. There's no flooding in Surrey, and I couldn't give a toss about a high tide in Norfolk. That's what local news is for.

Nelson Mandela, on the other hand, gave the world the chance to change for the better forever by demonstrating a different way to deliver peace out of so many years of hatred, and if you can't see the difference, that's your loss.
:

This. If the Thames barrier had failed there would be something to get our knickers in a twist about.

[james_tigerwoods]

RicksAlfas said:

CAPP0 said:

One of the things that (where's that thread?) irrationally pisses me off is the way in which the local BBC news teams jump on the back of anything national in order to make a story for themselves. An examples (which I'm probably making up, but it's this sort of thing) would be "Gunman Raul Moat has killed himself in Northumberland. Moat once took a trip on a cross channel ferry, and in fact drove through Kent, which is in our broadcasting region, to get to the port"

And last night, right on cue, having waited patiently through the 10 o'clock news being diverted for well over an an hour, we go to BBC South East, where we get a piece on the Storm Surge risk followed by another tribute to NM because "people in Sussex worked tirelessly to campaign for his release whilst he spent 27 years in prison"

I'm not in any way belittling the significance of NM's death, but it's national news, represented by the national broadcaster, and the local hacks need to get a grip on their sense of self-importance and recognise where they fit in to the grand scheme of things - not to mention having appropriate levels of self respect.

I have seen several Mandela clips/articles repeated multiple times already, in the space of about 1.5 hours in front of the TV last night and <30 minutes today.

Agreed. Look North this morning led with the report that Mandela once visited Leeds, and a big part of their footage had just been on the national programme.
But then Keeley Donovan came on with the weather and all was well again

Thanks for that - I agree that any national/international story seems to be tenuously linked locally. I'm waiting for some random North Korean/North Lincolnshire story to pop up, then I'll stop listening to the radio ever again...

Keeley. Nice

[Oakey]

Bill said:

This. If the Thames barrier had failed there would be something to get our knickers in a twist about.

Really? So floods around the country that don't affect people elsewhere = don't give a st. Floods that suddenly affect London but not people outside of the M25 = cause for concern?

[Ozzie Osmond]

EskimoArapaho said:

If you think that your TV news has been ruined by this, just wait until that German pensioner pops her clogs.

Oh dear, you've really spoilt my morning....

[Smiler.]

Kermit power said:

Plus he once apologised to me for delaying my flight from Amsterdam to Heathrow!

Quick, phone the BBC.

I think I just heard something about the economy.


The Mandela event might be already on the wane.

[GG89]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Most people who live in the UK aren't affected by the floods, and are more interested in Mandela dying than flooding. We have floods here a couple of times a year, unless it's happening to you it's a non event. You may not like that fact, but it's true.

This is utter bullst

Well done.

[Bill]

Oakey said:

Really? So floods around the country that don't affect people elsewhere = don't give a st. Floods that suddenly affect London but not people outside of the M25 = cause for concern?

No. Expected floods that are well prepared for are less newsworthy (IMO) than the death of NM. That's not to say they're not newsworthy.

Had the Thames barrier (or any other, iirc there are two more) had failed then things are different because it'd be significantly worse.

[Sid's Dad]

CAPP0 said:

One of the things that (where's that thread?) irrationally pisses me off is the way in which the local BBC news teams jump on the back of anything national in order to make a story for themselves. An examples (which I'm probably making up, but it's this sort of thing) would be "Gunman Raul Moat has killed himself in Northumberland. Moat once took a trip on a cross channel ferry, and in fact drove through Kent, which is in our broadcasting region, to get to the port"

And last night, right on cue, having waited patiently through the 10 o'clock news being diverted for well over an an hour, we go to BBC South East, where we get a piece on the Storm Surge risk followed by another tribute to NM because "people in Sussex worked tirelessly to campaign for his release whilst he spent 27 years in prison"

I'm not in any way belittling the significance of NM's death, but it's national news, represented by the national broadcaster, and the local hacks need to get a grip on their sense of self-importance and recognise where they fit in to the grand scheme of things - not to mention having appropriate levels of self respect.

I have seen several Mandela clips/articles repeated multiple times already, in the space of about 1.5 hours in front of the TV last night and <30 minutes today.

Every evening we run a little competition to see who can guess the really lame excuse for a link between the main news story of the day and the lead story of the local news. When there really is no link at all, they go for the old "people in the south were today expressing their sorrow/shock/outrage at today's events...." Cue vox pops with a mad old lady, a geezer talking out the window of his Transit and a distracted Mum saying "yeah definitely"....

But the best bit is how they lead with the main national story, with a completely straight face, as if you've never heard it before. Never mind that ITS JUST BEEN ON THE NEWS!!!!

[LocoCoco]

Impasse said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Most people who live in the UK aren't affected by the floods, and are more interested in Mandela dying than flooding. We have floods here a couple of times a year, unless it's happening to you it's a non event. You may not like that fact, but it's true.

Can you provide a link to your observation on society's news interest please. It's just that in my recent straw poll of two, the results were 100% different to your findings.

I live in the UK. Flood warnings are handy, watching the aftermath on the news not so handy. I'd rather the news told me information that I couldn't get just by looking out of the window.

[alock]

ewenm said:

EskimoArapaho said:

It's not offensive, don't worry. If you think that your TV news has been ruined by this, just wait until that German pensioner pops her clogs.

I genuinely don't get this. QE2 was born in the UK, to parents who were both born in the UK. By all standards (except perhaps eligibility for football selection although she'd probably make the English team before the German one), she's British.

I don't understand those comments either. Most of the people who make them would never call a black British person non-British just because their grand parents were born in the Caribbean.

[tvrolet]

ewenm said:

I genuinely don't get this. QE2 was born in the UK, to parents who were both born in the UK. By all standards (except perhaps eligibility for football selection although she'd probably make the English team before the German one), she's British.

QE1 in Scotland

We had Mary at the time, and 'your' QE1 had her head lopped off; then we gave you our James VI (Mary Queen of Scots' son) who was your James I.

Pedantry matters.

[obob]

GG89 said:

This is utter bullst

Well done.

Its not thought, I couldn't give a st about floods. It's not like we live in the 3rd world where everyone's going to die and get cholera. Carpets get a bit wet wooo. Is there anything that people don't moan about? Is the internet the grumpiest place in the world?

[Eric Mc]

tvrolet said:

QE1 in Scotland

We had Mary at the time, and 'your' QE1 had her head lopped off; then we gave you our James VI (Mary Queen of Scots' son) who was your James I.

Pedantry matters.

I bet you're looking forward to King Alex I - and possibly Queen Nicola I

[Eric Mc]

obob said:

GG89 said:

This is utter bullst

Well done.

Its not thought, I couldn't give a st about floods. It's not like we live in the 3rd world where everyone's going to die and get cholera. Carpets get a bit wet wooo. Is there anything that people don't moan about? Is the internet the grumpiest place in the world?

No - but it does contain some of the dumbest people.

[Rude-boy]

Oakey said:

Bill said:

This. If the Thames barrier had failed there would be something to get our knickers in a twist about.

Really? So floods around the country that don't affect people elsewhere = don't give a st. Floods that suddenly affect London but not people outside of the M25 = cause for concern?

It has always been the way of the London centric mypoics to care about the rest of the World after London and where their holiday home is and then at some point after a reading about a mugging in an India slum they will bother about the UK outside the M25.

Bit like the Americans pre WTC - couldn't give a st about terrorism until then – then all of a sudden they lose a few thousand souls (along with amy of nationalities) and it's as if they were the first to ever have to deal with such a threat.

Vomit inducing.

[Puggit]

Radio 5 sports news consisted of tributes from Beckham and the corrupt Blatter

[Impasse]

LocoCoco said:

I live in the UK. Flood warnings are handy, watching the aftermath on the news not so handy. I'd rather the news told me information that I couldn't get just by looking out of the window.

Mandela's dead. In the next news item...

Or would you prefer to hear 24 hours of soundbites from people who once stood in a queue behind someone who's neighbour saw a bloke shake his hand.

Personally, I'd like to know about what's happening in my own country and to my fellow UK citizens, especially the many thousands who have been evacuated, have had their homes ruined or even the ten or so deaths.
Even expert analysis of the recent budget announcements would be informative.

But instead we get Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead.
Here's smiley woman with the weather.
Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead. Mandela's dead.

[shoestring7]

ewenm said:

EskimoArapaho said:

It's not offensive, don't worry. If you think that your TV news has been ruined by this, just wait until that German pensioner pops her clogs.

I genuinely don't get this. QE2 was born in the UK, to parents who were both born in the UK. By all standards (except perhaps eligibility for football selection although she'd probably make the English team before the German one), she's British.

You see this often in the comments sections of the Guardian and Indy. As far as I can make out, she has two non British great grandparents (put of 8), and six not-British great, great grandparents (out of 16). She can also trace her ancestry back to 7th Century Engish kings.

Funnily enough the same people often don't have a problem with calling a Somali born runner with two Somali parents British.

SS7

[dodgyviper]

Watching Cameron last night, you see the cat moving right to left and then appear to pause.

For one brief heartbeat I thought it was going to squat down and lick its arse.

Now that would have been news

[tvrolet]

Eric Mc said:

tvrolet said:

QE1 in Scotland

We had Mary at the time, and 'your' QE1 had her head lopped off; then we gave you our James VI (Mary Queen of Scots' son) who was your James I.

Pedantry matters.

I bet you're looking forward to King Alex I - and possibly Queen Nicola I

In much the same way as I would look forward to a prostate examination from Dr SausageFingers wearing sandpaper gloves lubed in chilli-sauce. But you can't buck history.