What events have been big enough to make anchors present on OBs? I can only think fairly recently, and I can only really comment on ITV News:-
1. 9/11 (Trevor McDonald from Manhattan)
2. Iraq War - early stages (TMcD in Basra? for News at Nine)
3.Flooding at Boscastle (Nick Owen)
4. Election Campaign (Sophie? BBC Bus, Mark Austin, Ballot Box Jury)
5. Liverpool's historic win (MA from Anfield)
Im interested in knowing some more, I've probably missed out some really obvious ones. Do C4News do anchoring on location?
EDIT: Obvious ones i missed (thanks to scottish and News24):-
6. Tsunami (MA from Banda Aceh)
7. US Election (TMcD from Wahington)
8. Factory Explosion (MA from Glasgow)
9. D-Day Anniversary (MA and Mary Nightingale from France, D-Day+60)
Did anyone from ITN do OBs from the Vatican or Madrid, as I can't remember?
Iraq War: J.S. and Peter Dobbie in Kuwait City, Lyse Doucet in Amman, Nik Gowing in Qatar
Euro Referendum: J.S in Stockholm (late 2003)
Madrid Bombs: J.S. in Madrid (March 2004)
EU Expansion: J.S. in Dublin (May 2004)
Factory Explosion: Simon McCoy and Chris Eakin, Glasgow (May 2004)
European Election: J.S. in Brussels (June 2004)
D Day 60th Anniversary: Phil Hayton and Simon McCoy in Normandy
Cornwall Flooding: Chris Eakin in Boscastle (August 2004)
US Election: Jon Sopel in Washington (October/November 2004)
Asian Tsunami: J.S and P.D. in Galle, Lyse Doucet in southern India/Banda Aceh
Ellen MacArthur record: Chris Eakin in Falmouth
Pope's illness: J.S. in Rome (early February 2005)
Prince Charles wedding announced: Jane Hill and Simon McCoy at Buckingham Palace
Pope John Paul II's death & funeral: J.S. in Rome (1-3 and 8 April 2005)
Charles and Camilla wedding: Jane Hill and Simon McCoy in Windsor
MG Rover crisis: J.S. in Longbridge (15 April 2005)
French EU Referendum: J.S. in Lille (25 May) and Paris (28-29 May)
Dutch EU Referendum: Philippa Thomas in The Hague (2 June)
EU Summit: Jon Sopel in Brussels (16-17 June 2005)
BBC NEWS (on BBC One)
Madrid Bombs - Huw in Madrid
D Day Anniversary - Huw in Normandy
US Election - Huw and Dermot in Washington
Asian Tsunami - George and Sian in Galle (and Phuket)
Pope's Death - Huw and Dermot in Rome
Election Day - Huw in Westminster studio
* I've got a list of Sky News outside broadcasts somewhere and I'll add it when I've found it
It's pretty much standard practice now for big stories to be anchored on location - until the money runs out!
Things that will probably be hosted on location in the next month are the G8 summit - and if they've been saving up their air miles, the Olympic 2012 vote in Singapore (I imagine this would be live around the Lunchtime bulletins).
C4 do OB anchoring quite often - I think they won an award for their Madrid bomb coverage.
They also had location anchoring from two different locations earlier this year - I think Jon Snow was in Rome for the Pope's death while Krishnan Guru Murphy was at Longbridge for the collapse of Rover, with a third host in the studio.
The question is - does it benefit the viewer?
Generally it feels as if it does, and certainly on ITV and C4 (can't really speak for BBC) the presenters usually compile reports as well getting the views from the area.
Sometimes though it doesn't - the best example being Mark Austin in Liverpool after they won the Champions League - you could barely hear him over the crowd and those bloody horns!
Sometimes though it doesn't - the best example being Mark Austin in Liverpool after they won the Champions League - you could barely hear him over the crowd and those bloody horns!
Am I right in remembering that ITN learnt from their mistakes after the ITV Evening News that night as when Channel 4 News went out at 7pm, one ofthe reporters had 2 microphones (she carried one) to drown out the noise!
Sometimes though it doesn't - the best example being Mark Austin in Liverpool after they won the Champions League - you could barely hear him over the crowd and those bloody horns!
You had to laugh though, especially when they showed it again on Have I Got News For You. You thought the horns had stopped when..... an even louder horn went off!
Moving away from that incident, I often wonder why producers decide to have a reporter standing live in front of some football fans/inside a pub etc, you just know it will be a case of 'We'll have to leave it there, back to you in the studio' as he finally gets consumed within the crowd!
Yes - this is of crucial importance when anchoring from location, and indeed for standard to-camera deliverance for reports.
Too often this is not considered; the individual simply
must
have a neutral but nonetheless interesting backdrop. And this not only extends to aesthetics, but also wind and noise factors must to be accounted for - something not done often enough.
I mean reporting from a rooftop may get one away from the crowds, and offer a dramatic city skyline, but conversely it's often as windy as hell up there.
There is nothing worse than an anchor competing with the wind - if it's that bad, there's no point in doing it, simple as that. It makes a mockery of the content being delivered, and distracts completely from it.
Of course if you're on location you cannot account for everything, but it is nothing short of ridiculous at times that an anchor leaves the controlled environment of the studio to prat about in a foreign location, where they can be barely heard and have a pile of distracting idiots in the background - all for the prestige of having 'our presenter at the scene'.
Increasingly one gets the impression this practice is being used because it's possible, rather than for journalistic concerns and the interests of the viewer.
Am I right in remembering that ITN learnt from their mistakes after the ITV Evening News that night as when Channel 4 News went out at 7pm, one ofthe reporters had 2 microphones (she carried one) to drown out the noise!
Sometimes though it doesn't - the best example being Mark Austin in Liverpool after they won the Champions League - you could barely hear him over the crowd and those bloody horns!
i think it added to atomphere pesenonly and it sed more than athousand words!