The main problem with the coverage of Nelson Mandela's death was it completely took over the TV that night, while parts of the east coast were experiencing the worst flooding it had for years due to a huge storm surge. I remember Paul Hudson, Look North weather presenter, tweeting saying their update was delayed, and pushed back, and further back, and I don't think that it even made it air.
The regional news did get on that night, but it was the only place that mentioned the bad weather as the Ten was entirely devoted to Mandela. But as I say, they were very much making it up on the hoof, and had the death being announced earlier that evening, no doubt they'd have got the balance a bit better.
I was living in Cleethorpes at the time, which everyone was worried was going to be badly hit, and BBC News sent Ben Brown to report for the News Channel. Unfortunately for Ben, though fortunately for me, while there was quite a lot of flooding elsewhere on the East Coast, Cleethorpes was completely unscathed, so it was a totally wasted journey for him, while he missed playing a role in the coverage of the biggest news story of the year.
