Got an email today from my Dad, who complained to the BBC about a news item a soldiers charity being cut in favour of footage of Everton players laying flowers for Rhys Jones.
I've attached the original complaint and the response from the BBC - their attitude seems to be that the public are more interested in footballers than anything else. What planet are the BBC on?
(Sorry for dodgy formatting!)
Original
Whilst watching BBC News 24 this morning I was interested in an item about an organisation set up to remember and support British troops who are in harms way world-wide. In the middle of the interview with the woman who founded the organisation the broadcast was interrupted to return to the studio for the breaking news that Everton players had turned up to lay flowers in memory of Rhys Jones, followed by extensive live coverage of this event.
I fully understand that the country shares a sense of shock at the murder of a child but this flower laying did not need to be shown live and certainly not at the cost of showing enormous disrespect to service personnel - alive and dead - and their families, by simply trampling over a sensitive and moving report.
It is typical of the culture of responding to 'breaking news' whether or not anything is actually known, whether or not the audience gains from the very limited information available at that stage, and regardless of the anxiety caused to those who have loved ones who might be involved
but have only vague details to feed their fears.
Reply:
Thank you for your e-mail regarding BBC News 24 on 27 August.
I appreciate you are extremely concerned that an interview regarding British service personnel was interrupted to show live footage regarding Rhys Jones as you feel that the live news was not urgent enough to merit such an action.
If I may explain, the choice of news stories to report in our programmes and the amount of time to devote to each of them is frequently very difficult. BBC News is more than aware that a report that is of great interest to one part of our audience may be of little interest to another.
The order in which reports are given in the news has more to do with whether it is news that has just come in and needs immediate coverage, how unusual it is and how much national interest there is in the subject matter. The choice has to be selective and no matter how carefully such
decisions are made, news editors are always aware that some people may disagree with them.
Nevertheless, I appreciate you feel strongly that in this case the 'breaking news' was not urgent enough to merit such an interruption and that as a result it was extremely disrespectful. Therefore please be assured I have registered your complaints to the BBC News team and senior
BBC management. Feedback of this nature helps us when making decisions about future BBC programmes and your comment will play a part in this process.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.
Regards
Erika Graham
BBC Information
I've attached the original complaint and the response from the BBC - their attitude seems to be that the public are more interested in footballers than anything else. What planet are the BBC on?
(Sorry for dodgy formatting!)
Original
Whilst watching BBC News 24 this morning I was interested in an item about an organisation set up to remember and support British troops who are in harms way world-wide. In the middle of the interview with the woman who founded the organisation the broadcast was interrupted to return to the studio for the breaking news that Everton players had turned up to lay flowers in memory of Rhys Jones, followed by extensive live coverage of this event.
I fully understand that the country shares a sense of shock at the murder of a child but this flower laying did not need to be shown live and certainly not at the cost of showing enormous disrespect to service personnel - alive and dead - and their families, by simply trampling over a sensitive and moving report.
It is typical of the culture of responding to 'breaking news' whether or not anything is actually known, whether or not the audience gains from the very limited information available at that stage, and regardless of the anxiety caused to those who have loved ones who might be involved
but have only vague details to feed their fears.
Reply:
Thank you for your e-mail regarding BBC News 24 on 27 August.
I appreciate you are extremely concerned that an interview regarding British service personnel was interrupted to show live footage regarding Rhys Jones as you feel that the live news was not urgent enough to merit such an action.
If I may explain, the choice of news stories to report in our programmes and the amount of time to devote to each of them is frequently very difficult. BBC News is more than aware that a report that is of great interest to one part of our audience may be of little interest to another.
The order in which reports are given in the news has more to do with whether it is news that has just come in and needs immediate coverage, how unusual it is and how much national interest there is in the subject matter. The choice has to be selective and no matter how carefully such
decisions are made, news editors are always aware that some people may disagree with them.
Nevertheless, I appreciate you feel strongly that in this case the 'breaking news' was not urgent enough to merit such an interruption and that as a result it was extremely disrespectful. Therefore please be assured I have registered your complaints to the BBC News team and senior
BBC management. Feedback of this nature helps us when making decisions about future BBC programmes and your comment will play a part in this process.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.
Regards
Erika Graham
BBC Information