I am not trying to play down the bad weather and extensive flooding that the UK is currently suffering but do we really need so many journalists posted strategically in flood affected areas giving us minute by minute updates and interviewing anyone looking even slightly official? I turned on the BBC breakfast news and it took over half an hour before "other news" such as a tri-party parliamentary group telling the SNP that Scotland will not be allowed to keep the pound or monetary union if Scotland votes for independence, a minor thing that affects the future of us all and that of future generations.
It was over an hour before local news reported which rail links and roads that are closed; a handy thing to know... and then alas back to the round robin of sensationalist reporting and a live feed of the opinions of the strategically placed reporters.
I could turn over but I do actually want to know what is happening in the world (apart from the flooding and bad weather).
I agree SS, I am sick of the wall to wall coveridge SKY I think is one of the worst offenders they dramatise so much and make it look worse than it is,why stand in water,and in some unsafe locations(like near the Cobb in Lyme Regis yesterday) to report? I would also like to know what else is going on in the world.
Agreed! Last night I put the news on and actually asked hubby whether anything else had happened anywhere else in the world - as you say SS, not wanting to downplay the weather but we are being completely saturated (arf!) with the coverage and there are other important issues that are being neglected.
No girls at the moment but look forward to getting more in the future. Proud mummy to Hector, a Bedlington Terrier x Jack Russell
Yes, fed up with seeing the same coverage being shown over and over. Even the BBC One Show that I watch at 7pm was full of the same so I turned it off.
I listened to a radio reporter telling us how she driven through every kind of weather to get to somewhere in Wales to report the conditions. What were they thinking of. Is your journey really necessary. Surely there were local reporters.
It's always the same with news coverage. You turn on for something new, updates. But they decide what is the Big Story, and flog it to death repeating themselves every 15 minutes.
They ran out of shock horror stories here when Tewkesbury residents refused to cry or shout about getting flooded again - to be honest the water is really high but not at the horrendous record heights. So the real problem is the length of time roads have been closed, fields flooded etc.
Then they had Somerset.... good grief I thought. That village that is cut off, that's as bad as it is round here, worse even. But it was new to them, so fair enough... they have had their usual routine completely thrown.
Then there was London and outer London, the Thames and all was shock horror! Then that silly woman did the 'we're living in a 3rd world, stop sending aid abroad' bit, Eric Pickles and a whole load of other people lept on the bandwagon.
Ye Gods! It's cold, it's wet, it's weather. What it isn't, for those in towns and cities, is an absolute disaster. Yes, raw sewage is gross.... yes, it is a pain to have to paddle around. But no-one has lost much, money yes! Insurance? hopefully!
Even farmers, who are having to slaughter their livestock because there is no feed available, are being relatively stoic about it all.
Sorry, I am really irritated by the crud some relatively well off people are coming out with - especially the woman who was shouting about people needing to 'get out and clear ditches' - well I have been doing just that, field drains and ditches round here are being cleared of debris daily. She was just shouting, from the safety of her car and warm, suburban life!
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
Saw on the news a reporter standing chest deep in flood water, how unsafe and trying to be sensational is that. What I would like to know from the news is why something wasn`t done when it started to flood and not now weeks and weeks later. News yesterday was all full of Princes William and Harry.
That's just stupidly sensationalist journalism! What was the point? It was obviously safe enough to stand in, so not such a brave feat after all!
I could find chest deep water on a road less than half a mile away, it's been there for about a month, I wouldn't paddle in it. There is rapidly flowing water across the two main roads, cars have been swept into rivers - the drivers being stupid enough to have ignored the Road Closed signs.
I'm really sorry but what can be done about a flood? You can manage it but you can't stop it from happening?
Some of the demands for action are totally unreasonable. It is beyond control and yes, there were things that could have been done to ameliorate it, but not stop it. And no one knew how long it would last, how wide spread it would become, most places that are flooded are used to it, but not to the severity or longevity of it. Those people just get on with it. But now it is spreading and the outrage is spreading with it.
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
