Breaking News – Nothing to report!
If you’ve been following the unprecedented situation with Britain’s Hung Parliament on one of the rolling news channels, you may be mistaken for thinking that No News is Breaking News.
I’ve been following the story by watching the 24 hour BBC news channel over the last few days. I’ve now come to the conclusion that their “Breaking News” button must be stuck.
While we wait for the Liberal Democrats to make up their mind which bunch of desperate politicians to sell themselves to, the news channels are in overdrive. Add to that, the new drama of a search for a new Labour leader.
This morning, the “Breaking News” that Nick Clegg was to walk out of his front door was interrupted by “Breaking News” that David Milliband was walking to his car. The BBC spent about 15 minutes swapping from doorstep to doorstep waiting for something to happen. We’re also treated to split screen shots of pundits outside Westminster in their little bubble. Now and then, shots of the outside of No. 10, or a car driving past.
Take a look at this screen grab captured a few minutes ago:
“Breaking News: Hung Parliament: Lib Dems negotiating with Labour & Tories”
Given that those negotiations have been going on for what seems like days, I’d argue that this is “Breaking news”. Still – at least Live from Westminster, we get to see shots of camera crews filming some chap. No idea who it is, but he seems to be wearing a shirt of some kind. No idea if the colour of his shirt is significant – if it is, there’ll no doubt be a breaking news update.
Breaking News: As I’m typing this, BBC News have just broken from Westminster, to a camera outside Clegg’s front door. Caught off-guard, the cameraman was pointing at a nice leafy tree. Managed to catch that moment, live:
“Breaking News: No comment from Nick Clegg’s Tree”
Breaking News: Stressed Sky News chap loses it with Alastair Campbell – This clip from yesterday’s Sky News coverage has gone viral. If you want to see Adam Boulton from Sky News nearly decking Labour’s Alastair, take a look at this YouTube Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gkHwU4DRA8
Are we nearly there yet?