Armed Insurrection at US Capitol Building

Prince George birth news broke around 8.30pm. There was a newsflash either before Corrie or during break, and then 9pm was a news special.

Yes, Prince George did get rolling coverage - it broke at 8.30 on a Monday night so BBC1 dropped Panorama and the 9pm show and rolled until ten o'clock, though as you say that was a bit different because he is directly in line to the throne so it was a bit more important constitutionally. When Charlotte was born, it was on a Saturday morning - I remember it being announced by Darren Fletcher on Fletch and Sav on BT Sport - but there wasn't rolling coverage for that, they did a little newsflash during Saturday Kitchen (though presumably that was just because there was a live show on at the time, if there was something pre-recorded on they probably wouldn't have) and then I think later in the afternoon the snooker underran so they did an additional news bulletin.



Yes, and Mandela's death was of course a famous one because it broke very soon before the Ten O'Clock News and there were lots of complaints that the Ten was devoted to nothing but, on a night of exceptionally bad weather across the UK. But I think that was a good example of the best-laid plans going awry, because I seem to remember that it had been said before that the plan was that they wouldn't announce his death after dark and if he died during the night it would be embargoed until the next morning. But that seemingly didn't happen and they announced it at about 9.50pm, which meant all the tributes were coming in when the Ten was on air, so whatever balanced programme they'd planned had to go out of the window.

Mandela's also has the almost perfectly timed fade out from Mrs Brown's Boys.

I recall with Mandela, as well as the thing about it not being announced at night, the word was that there'd be embargoed advance warning of the announcement as much as an hour beforehand, so all the plans were based around a "managed" announcement with plenty of time to prepare. In reality, of course, there was no warning and nobody knew for certain what that press conference was about when it was called so they had to wait until it was announced before they could break into programmes in case it was just a health update, which resulted in what was seen in the video above.

This isn't about what we've just been talking about, but having watched some of the cable news channels in the US over the last few months I'm dismayed. I can't stomach CNN for their extreme bias and spin towards the left, and I find it difficult to watch Fox due to their bias to the right. I can just about stomach MSNBC Live (their rolling news program). NBC News, CBS News and ABC News are fine to watch; they have the occasional biased moment but on the whole don't swing too far. However, it just shocks me how Fox and CNN have contributed to the polarisation of US politics, CNN with their ultra-woke swing and monologues and Fox with their impression that the right is king. There is hope, however, as WGN NewsNation looks very promising so I hope they will expand it into a rolling news channel.

Are CNN biased or just truthful?

Newsnation IMHO is a glorified local newscast which Nexstar have invested a load of money into without getting the talent. It's also on a channel that will show wall to wall Married with Children on at the weekend, then dedicate prime time to news instead of general entertainment.

If I wanted news from Nexstar, I'd watch one of their local affiliates, but the set is very nice however.

To be frank, the existing local newscasts, the network bulletins and CNBC's The News with Shepard Smith do a great job at impartial news in the States. The cable 'news' channels have long forgotten their impartial news ethos for partisan commentary as infotainment.

Completely agree - I was referring to the general ethos and setup of WGN, it could do with some bigger names. I'm a big fan of The News with Shep Smith on CNBC, and as you say the nightly newscasts such as NBC Nightly and CBS Evening.

Without a doubt they have a liberal bias. I don't think that's really up for debate, they don't even bother to hide it.

Take away the politicisation of the word and the definition of "liberal" is

willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.

Isn't that what you should want from a news channel?

Oh the irony of watching "The Repair Shop" - Nancy says 'I have this damaged lectern...'
Joking aside I fully understand what you're saying. Us news junkies flip from station to station - even those we perceive as having a biased agenda (which is certainly the case with overseas broadcasters) and don't even get me started with youtube 'experts'...
The only time when schedules will get binned if there's some unwelcome royal news - and I expect then people will still complain...

I think you've done what most people should do (but most won't) is watch and read a variety of sources and then decide. The issue I have with newsprint (and I very much include UK ones) and overseas news broadcasts is that they are not regulated. At least UK broadcasters are and will always try and follow rules of fairness and due impartiality. Ofcom bulletins confirm this if a broadcaster steps out of line.