[Archived] London fire and reporting/coverage

[Dreyski]

Obviously terrible news regarding the fire in the tower block - 6 people confirmed dead so far.

But there's something troubling me about the TV coverage of this situation.

1) They filmed for over 5 hours an old man trapped on the 10th or 11th floor, unable to get out, speculating what must be going through his head. He eventually stopped waving the towel out of the window.

2) They brought back a father and his 5 year old daughter from round the corner where they couldn't see the fire, to see the fire, and told them people have died, and asked them what they thought.

3) They interviewed a 8 year old lad, asked him if his friends were trapped, which he replied yes. Then asked him what he thought of the fire.

At least the Twitterverse is making their feelings known:

"WTF! Interviewer on ITV just took a man and his little daughter to look at the still burning building they escaped from. No thought for kid."
"Why's that news reporter getting that man who's carrying his child to walk round to look at the tower block again WHO IS THAT HELPING #ITV"
"There is an elderly man on the 11th floor still in the smoking building, waving for help from his window #itv showed him "
"@lookner A moring show hosted by Piers Morgan on ITV is showing a man still trapped in building. Reports are he's 70 and partial blind."
"@itv @piersmorgan @susannareid100 Please stop showing that poor man. Think of his family who will be watching too. It's like a horror film"
"Is itv still raping that dying man and his families dignity?"
"ITV right now is literally live streaming a man dying. This is unbelievably grim."
"@ITV why are you showing a man about to be engulfed in smoke and fire on live tv. Disgusting."
"The poor man still there-am watching ITV & they are still showing him. Its sad-this day & age that no-one can access tower blocks in fires"
"I'm trying to compose myself, I wasn't crying, until I put itv on and saw a dying man screaming and crying and waving a cloth, gasping, live"
"I'm watching the BBC, I don't want to see the screaming dying man what are itv going to play next? A dying kid?"

Absolute snakes.

[K-Hod]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40269625- at the bottom of this article, there was this link from a local residents group re the safety of the tower block- https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/.

Incredibly sad, whatever the case.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

We've got the media we deserve.

[Batman.]

The media love nothing more than a domestic disaster. Just think of those ratings...

Subhuman scum for the most part, yet general public continue to consume.

[jim mk2]

Just now, Batman. said:

The media love nothing more than a domestic disaster. Just think of those ratings...

Subhuman scum for the most part, yet general public continue to consume.

Offensive comment.

They're ordinary men and women doing their jobs. 

[Paul]

I haven't watched ITV so won't remark about this.

What has surprised me is the government's decision to stop the coalition announcement with the DUP. I fully understand this is a terrible tragedy but does it really require the process of government to stop? 

Three weeks ago five people in the same car died on the M6. Nothing happened.

Campaigning in the GE stopped because of terrorist atrocities which frankly is playing in to their hands. 

Just who is deciding which outrages or tragedies deserve this action? I can't help but feel if it's a high profile media story the government feel obliged to act this way in case it harms their image.

[AllRoverAsia]

3 hours ago, Dreyski said:

Obviously terrible news regarding the fire in the tower block - 6 people confirmed dead so far.

But there's something troubling me about the TV coverage of this situation.

1) They filmed for over 5 hours an old man trapped on the 10th or 11th floor, unable to get out, speculating what must be going through his head. He eventually stopped waving the towel out of the window.

2) They brought back a father and his 5 year old daughter from round the corner where they couldn't see the fire, to see the fire, and told them people have died, and asked them what they thought.

3) They interviewed a 8 year old lad, asked him if his friends were trapped, which he replied yes. Then asked him what he thought of the fire.

At least the Twitterverse is making their feelings known:

"WTF! Interviewer on ITV just took a man and his little daughter to look at the still burning building they escaped from. No thought for kid."
"Why's that news reporter getting that man who's carrying his child to walk round to look at the tower block again WHO IS THAT HELPING #ITV"
"There is an elderly man on the 11th floor still in the smoking building, waving for help from his window #itv showed him "
"@lookner A moring show hosted by Piers Morgan on ITV is showing a man still trapped in building. Reports are he's 70 and partial blind."
"@itv @piersmorgan @susannareid100 Please stop showing that poor man. Think of his family who will be watching too. It's like a horror film"
"Is itv still raping that dying man and his families dignity?"
"ITV right now is literally live streaming a man dying. This is unbelievably grim."
"@ITV why are you showing a man about to be engulfed in smoke and fire on live tv. Disgusting."
"The poor man still there-am watching ITV & they are still showing him. Its sad-this day & age that no-one can access tower blocks in fires"
"I'm trying to compose myself, I wasn't crying, until I put itv on and saw a dying man screaming and crying and waving a cloth, gasping, live"
"I'm watching the BBC, I don't want to see the screaming dying man what are itv going to play next? A dying kid?"

Absolute snakes.

I belive your post and yet you still chose to post the photo.

[Batman.]

21 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Offensive comment.

They're ordinary men and women doing their jobs. 

Whoever passes the decision to hold the camera to a man about to meet a certain death and instructs the staff to speculate on his current feelings is subhuman scum.

Likewise those who constantly fill our newspapers and news channels with divisive, fear mongering, hate spreading propaganda.

"Ordinary men and women doing their jobs" they are not.

[Batman.]

On 2017-6-14 at 16:52, AllRoverAsia said:

I belive your post and yet you still chose to post the photo.

I agree with a lot of what he said but thought adding the picture somewhat contradicted his rant.

[Mike E]

What a horrible tragedy. Unfortunately, I'm posting LONG after I first heard about it and I'm already having to ask questions about the local Conservative-run council's decisions to redevelop the building without accounting for a 90% residential request to update the fire safety aspects of the building.

On top of a loss of 25% of firefighters, and firefighters at the scene being unable to do their job due to underfunding (should take 2 BAs (breathing apparatus in a building that size, allegedly took 4).

Begs the question: just what else have the Conservatives done to us?

[jim mk2]

Just now, Batman. said:

Whoever passes the decision to hold the camera to a man about to meet a certain death and instructs the staff to speculate on his current feelings is subhuman scum.

Likewise those who constantly fill our newspapers and news channels with divisive, fear mongering, hate spreading propaganda.

"Ordinary men and women doing their jobs" they are not.

The media in this country is very competitive and sometimes it goes over the top. The press is usually brought into line by the PCC. There is a regulator for broadcast media.

The media employs ordinary people like you and me. They're not "subhuman scum". Words like that should be reserved for Isis and other terrorists.

 

[Mike E]

1 minute ago, jim mk2 said:

The media in this country is very competitive and sometimes it goes over the top. The press is usually brought into line by the PCC. There is a regulator for broadcast media.

The media employs ordinary people like you and me. They're not "subhuman scum". Words like that should be reserved for Isis and other terrorists.

 

And 'The Sun' editors.

[Dreyski]

37 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

I belive your post and yet you still chose to post the photo.

Point taken. I'd have put it behind spoiler tags if I had the knowledge/capability.

[JBiz]

If it is true, that the landlord spent millions on making the building look better to those not living in it, for onlookers in surrounding area, and neglected to put a 500k sprinkler system in....

If it's true, he needs jailing. I say again "if" because I don't know the facts but I can't believe that this can happen in the "HSE" era.

Its impossible to avoid politicising this also - because several MPs voted against powers to ensure landlords provide basic safety amenities. Funnily enough, many of those who voted against this also rented property out...

As for the media showing people in serious danger to get ratings up? Sub human scum isn't even enough. 

Edit - holy crap. Read some of this. I'm speechless. https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/grenfell-tower-fire/

[Batman.]

25 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

The media in this country is very competitive and sometimes it goes over the top. The press is usually brought into line by the PCC. There is a regulator for broadcast media.

The media employs ordinary people like you and me. They're not "subhuman scum". Words like that should be reserved for Isis and other terrorists.

 

Disagree. Gutter press, phone hackers, misery inflicting morally bankrupt scum.

[JAL]

11 hours ago, K-Hod said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40269625- at the bottom of this article, there was this link from a local residents group re the safety of the tower block- https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/.

Incredibly sad, whatever the case.

How many more cases are there like this that need highlighting and corrective action taken before we lose more lives.

How many lives have the Conservative party cost in just the last twelve months ?

[Batman.]

Sky reporting that cameramen being attacked by locals for filming whilst residents told of bad news by emergency services. 

I do find all of this coverage very perverse, and I cannot see whose best interests it is in? Sky turn these things into entertainment. Turn the cameras off, let people do what they need to do, and report on it afterwards.

[Baz]

Awful news, and very sad scenes on TV. 

Agree with those about there being no need for close up shots of people trapped by the fire.

 

Praise once again to the emergency services. Some of the firefighters have been there over 12 hours, as there is no one to releive them, despite health and safety regulations saying they should only do 4 hours in these situations. 

Here's Boris when Mayor of London answering questions about the cuts to the service. I apologise for making a political point, but it's yet another symptom of the Tory cuts to public services. 

 

 

[JBiz]

43 minutes ago, Baz said:

. I apologise for making a political point, but it's yet another symptom of the Tory cuts to public services. 

 

Why? There is nothing to apologise for Baz- this even was entirely avoidable. If the council and the management companies had listened to the tenants - this wouldn't have happened. 

People need to be accountable, whether it's the MP landlords voting against landlord regs, or the member of parliament/party in office who have conned millions of people into thinking the public service cuts are necessary.

The (what now looks legit) fact that they'd spent 8+million last year on this building, yet neglected much more than aesthetics tells you everything you need to know about the disregard that those people responsible for the building have shown.

A disregard for social tenants...  wonder why? 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-vote-down-law-requiring-landlords-make-their-homes-fit-for-human-habitation-a6809691.html

I feel physically sick. No more news for a bit.

[jim mk2]

5 hours ago, Batman. said:

Disagree. Gutter press, phone hackers, misery inflicting morally bankrupt scum.

 

I have watched the BBC, ITV and Sky news throughout the day, and read the online newspapers. I've seen journalists doing a professional job in deeply distressing circumstances, reporting on a huge tragegy (in the genuine sense of the word) that is being transmitted around the world, and doing so with sensitivity amongst a community in deep shock. 

The scum are those people on the internet taking cheap shots at them. 

[Batman.]

8 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

 

I have watched the BBC, ITV and Sky news throughout the day, and read the online newspapers. I've seen journalists doing a professional job in deeply distressing circumstances, reporting on a huge tragegy (in the genuine sense of the word) that is being transmitted around the world, and doing so with sensitivity amongst a community in deep shock. 

The scum are those people on the internet taking cheap shots at them. 

So it's just me and ISIS who you'd refer to as "scum" then. Didn't take long for your true colours to be exposed.

For anyone who's interested you can view "harrowing video from woman trapped inside fire" on Skynews.com this morning. Very professional, and serving the people heroically.

Shameful and perverse click chasing. 

[K-Hod]

There has been a lot in the news about the new Conservative chief of staff allegedly 'sitting on' a report about safety in some social housing blocks (including Grenfell Tower) and not doing anything about it. Whatever happens, a lot of people have lost their lives and it sounds like it was avoidable. (Though we don't know for sure that is the case at this point).

[Mike E]

13 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

 

I have watched the BBC, ITV and Sky news throughout the day, and read the online newspapers. I've seen journalists doing a professional job in deeply distressing circumstances, reporting on a huge tragegy (in the genuine sense of the word) that is being transmitted around the world, and doing so with sensitivity amongst a community in deep shock. 

The scum are those people on the internet taking cheap shots at them. 

Did you not see ITV practically pulling a man back round to see the fire he'd just escaped from and asking if he still had friends inside? Disgusting behaviour.

The determination of some journalists to ask firefighters questions mid-job was unbelievable, and I'm amazed he didn't verbalise the facial expression he was wearing as '@#/? off and let me do my job'.

Don't get me wrong, most journalists are decent enough, but there are too many who put 'the story' before decency and compassion.

[Earlydoors]

Heartbraking

Unbelievable that the system has broken down to such an extent that tower blocks have been clad in flammable material for a number of years

with aesthetics and environmental reasons put before safety

 

Can't believe how quickly it went up the tower and the way so many people died..........

[AllRoverAsia]

1 hour ago, Earlydoors said:

Heartbraking

Unbelievable that the system has broken down to such an extent that tower blocks have been clad in flammable material for a number of years

with aesthetics and environmental reasons put before safety

 

Can't believe how quickly it went up the tower and the way so many people died..........

Cladding containing flammable plastics is cheaper, can be preconstructed and quick to apply and meets regulations which were stronger when the Fire Service had more powers.

Appalling tradegy made worse by greed.