I may be mistaken but I'm fairly certain it is standard practise not to aston several well-known people, including the British Prime Minister, the US President and the Pope. That's not just at ITN, but across the board.
Totally correct. Add top level Royals to the list too.
Is it just me or has anyone else spotted that whenever Gordon Brown appears, ITV News don't bother with an aston anymore? Perhaps they think everyone knows who he is already so just don't bother providing a namestrap - but to me it just appears somewhat lazy. As I say it's not something I looked out for as opposed to something I just happened to notice!
That is house style - and is (or was) the case for BBC domestic (but not international) outlets. It isn't laziness...
The US President, the UK PM, the Pope, HMQ etc. are all deemed well known enough to a UK audience to not require an aston.
For many years this was also case with the leader of the tory party, and the lib dems. However in recent years the Beeb have decided to change this (how many people would have known who Nick Clegg was without an aston?)
The BBC DO aston the PM on BBC World News - as the audience cannot be expected to be as familiar with our PM as UK viewers would be.
That is house style - and is (or was) the case for BBC domestic (but not international) outlets. It isn't laziness...
The US President, the UK PM, the Pope, HMQ etc. are all deemed well known enough to a UK audience to not require an aston.
For many years this was also case with the leader of the tory party, and the lib dems. However in recent years the Beeb have decided to change this (how many people would have known who Nick Clegg was without an aston?)
The BBC DO aston the PM on BBC World News - as the audience cannot be expected to be as familiar with our PM as UK viewers would be.
Ah, right - wasn't aware of that at all. Thanks for the correction, noggin.
I wonder what they'll do with the change of President then, especially as there is a few weeks changeover period then. How quickly do they think we'll forget who George Bush is?
I would imagine the "President Elect" will still be named until his inauguration and then George W Bush becomes "Former US President".
Yes, I seem to remember seeing astons in late 2000 reading:
GEORGE W. BUSH
US President Elect
So I think you're right, James. Even though the election is in November, the presidency of the serving president, according to the Constitution, does not end until 1200 on the day of the inauguration of the president elect in January. That's what's so remarkable about the British system - it takes America a couple of months to change over presidents but in the UK it happens literally overnight.
The Prime Minister asks the Monarch to dissolve Parliament by Royal Proclamation. The Proclamation also orders the issue of the formal Writs of Election which require an election to be held in each constituency. The election is held 17 working days after the date of the Proclamation, as regulated by the Representation of the People Act 1983, s. 23 and Schedule 1 ("Parliamentary election rules"), rule 1 ("Timetable").
I think that during the 17 working days prior to the General Election, the Prime Minister at the time of the Proclamation reverts to being named and astonned as "Leader of the <whatever> Party". I'm fully prepared to be corrected on that though.
I notice that ITV News don't bother with the tabloid style straps any more with the swooshing noise during the headline sequence. Or has it been this way for some time ?