I see Sadiq Khan is getting flack on Twitter for appearing to be talking to people when he was shown during the minutes silence bounce around the live OBs .
Almost certainly an unfortunate timing issue, such as the silence at that venue had started earlier than others so had already been observed when the BBC cut to him at 10:00.50.
It's a shame there can't be some way of coordinating timings for silences covered live as this sort of thing happens fairly frequently.
I've often considered it would be a responsible thing for the BBC to co-ordinate these things with a web/mobile feed of a National response. Many Churches and Civic events would appreciate a publicly available feed for Remembrance Sunday with Big Ben, the Last Post and Reveille for example, this could be extended to provide a suitable musical item at the end for other National memorial events.
Last edited by DVB Cornwall on 6 June 2017 12:09pm
Where I was, the silence went on until at least 11:02:30 when people drifted back to their work. I'm not sure on the protocol of a "minutes silence", as regarding when it actually starts. Is is the end of the eleventh Big Ben chime (and eleven chimes takes about 55") or does the silence start at the top of the hour (i.e. The first chime) ? I think Mr Khan was shaking hands with health workers at around 11:01:00, so if it's from the top of the hour he wasn't in the wrong. Pedantic perhaps but if he was at a location where there was some signal that the silence was over, he's quite within his rights to begin greeting those that paid their respects alongside him.
Normally in public places and official buildings there is a signal for the start and the end of a silence and I would expect there would have been one wherever the mayor was.
Of course that doesn't necessarily mean that it was observed there at exactly the same time as other places, and you have to consider delays for television broadcasting. I don't think the exact timing really matters too much as long as it's observed with respect.
I was on a train at the time of the silence for Manchester, and as the train was due to pull into a station at 11:00, the train conductor did it a minute early, which was the best thing to do considering the circumstances.
Bus drivers for example are advised to pull over and observe if possible, but it isn't always possible to do this exactly at 11:00, especially as passengers (especially those intending to board) may not necessarily be aware that it's taking place.
Emergency services are advised to observe it if operationally possible.
So with the news embargo in place Thursday do you think the news channels will be airing the James Comey testimony? It's scheduled from 10AM ET (3PM UK) to about 1PM ET.
I would have thought the news channels are delighted by the fact they have some genuine alternative news to show on election day - so definitely! They're only unable to report on UK politics, US is absolutely fine.
Although the politics embargo can lead to occasional desperation.
BBC Radio Four's Today programme, on the day of the local/mayoral elections, had to fill the time , with amongst other 'fillers from the bottom of the running order' a debate about how large the meteor was that wiped out the dinosaurs, and a live item from a hedgehog hospital.
Even John Humphries had to awkwardly explain why this stuff was going out on that morning.
Although the politics embargo can lead to occasional desperation.
BBC Radio Four's Today programme, on the day of the local/mayoral elections, had to fill the time , with amongst other 'fillers from the bottom of the running order' a debate about how large the meteor was that wiped out the dinosaurs, and a live item from a hedgehog hospital.
Even John Humphries had to awkwardly explain why this stuff was going out on that morning.
At least the Victoria Derbyshire programme won't have any explaining to do as it includes such discussions most episodes...
So with the news embargo in place Thursday do you think the news channels will be airing the James Comey testimony? It's scheduled from 10AM ET (3PM UK) to about 1PM ET.
BBC Parliament has "highlights" from the US Congress scheduled from midnight tonight, to 2155 tomorrow (which makes sense, because they can't show anything connected to UK politics, which includes the devolved assemblies and the European Parliament). I wouldn't be surprised if they switch into the live coverage of the testimony in the afternoon, with the news channels dipping in and out.
So with the news embargo in place Thursday do you think the news channels will be airing the James Comey testimony? It's scheduled from 10AM ET (3PM UK) to about 1PM ET.
BBC Parliament has "highlights" from the US Congress scheduled from midnight tonight, to 2155 tomorrow (which makes sense, because they can't show anything connected to UK politics, which includes the devolved assemblies and the European Parliament). I wouldn't be surprised if they switch into the live coverage of the testimony in the afternoon, with the news channels dipping in and out.
I'd imagine that while it's unlikely they'd be too much a risk of a UK politician being mentioned somewhere to play it live. (Obviously they'd be able to play clips or even the whole thing on a slight delay to give them the opportunity to cut away)
I'd imagine that while it's unlikely they'd be too much a risk of a UK politician being mentioned somewhere to play it live. (Obviously they'd be able to play clips or even the whole thing on a slight delay to give them the opportunity to cut away)
There's on one UK politician I can think of who could possibly get a mention, and he's not standing for election tomorrow