Sky News

Lorna's on maternity leave I think.

http://www.overnighters.com.au/oliverhiggins.htm

Good for Lorna, and born on my Birthday, will be a bright spark then?

I see they don't have a 16:9 feed yet.

But they spent over an hour speculating about what had happened based on one photo. No supporting information - just straight into SECURITY ALERT AT HEATHROW. I'm not interested in hearing about drunken yobs on a plane - Sky should gather the facts and then report them not ramble about what could have happened on air.

Best quote from the video above is Sky News is the Fox News equivalent for Great Britain Says it all!

It wasn't Sky News that decided it was a security alert, it was the police. Sky News did the right thing by reporting it. Yes, it turned out to be a complete over reaction to a non-event but the over reaction was on the part of the police, not Sky News. The story was that armed police boarded an aircraft, not that there were some drunk people on the aircraft.

Sky had been quoting from officials at Heathrow and the Met calling it an incident and a threat had been made, and considering the recent state of alert across the world they were right to cover it. so I suggest you get your facts correct Dave.

Is he not complaining about the pointless speculation after the initial reporting of events?

I suggest you drop that attitude, I was watching it last night and the speculation ranged between

- Speculation about him being striped naked on the floor looking for explosives - it would have been 'brutial'
- Speculation about it being a very controlled and coordinated 'assault' as they knew who they were looking for.
- Speculation about how did this person get through security with Heathrow on high alert
- Speculation about it being a drugs raid as dogs were used
- Speculation about who on the plane would be interviewed about this incident
- Speculation about if the overhead lockers may have been searched, the hold luggage may be searched
- Speculation about why did this happen on a plane going away from the UK
- Speculation about this being a hoax
- Speculation about why was this plane going to Dubi,
- Speculation about why did it happen on on a Friday
- Speculation about how the other passengers may have felt

These are just the points I remember being speculated....and guess what not a single aspect of the speculation turned out to be right. So, remind me, why should Sky be congratulated for being all over the story when on the most points they were wrong?

I'm in complete agreement with you Dave. The coverage by Sky last night was farcical. I'm do not doubt that there was a need to cover the story - indeed, when it first broke I followed the reports on Sky News as much as anybody else, especially as BBC News had yet to pick it up. However, the coverage on Sky moved from the sublime to the ridiculous. Obviously the BBC had not been slow to recognise the importance of the story but were more cautious in their approach. At 1.30 when the top stories were being reported on the News Channel, the BBC reported that three men had been arrested, they were drunk and that one of them had made an 'inappropriate' remark that appeared to have started the incident. Sky News, on the other hand, were still treating it as breaking news, did not refer to the arrest of three individuals and did not refer to the fact that they were drunk. Their treatment of the story was undoubtedly - at this late and advanced stage - inappropriate and disproportionate.

I agree with you also onetrickpony; there were and on that basis alone the story warranted coverage. However, what I object to is the manner in which Sky went about it, and, in the hours that followed, how they persisted in speculation when the facts of the story had been disclosed. As Dave states, the speculation ranged wildly and did not add to the coverage.

Sorry about the attitude, but i thought that is what rolling news is all about? I started watching around 11.20pm and they were saying officials had said it was a security alert, going on recent activities it was only right to point out all possibilties. Martin Brunt and Mark White where very on the ball with their own sources confirming that it was just a bunch of drunks, how many had been arrested ect, so I say from what I see its good coverage. I stopped watching around 12.30am so don't know what happened after that. By 12am i would say I had established what had happened, so probably there was no need to continue with the continuing coverage past midnight, but id say having interviewed live earlier a passenger on board (which BBC News website quoated as well) may have also been the reason to keep going with it. Overall, they were quick (via Mark and Martin to establish just what had happened).

- Speculation about him being striped naked on the floor looking for explosives - it would have been 'brutial'
Can't comment didn't see that

- Speculation about it being a very controlled and coordinated 'assault' as they knew who they were looking for.
Yep, the passenger they spoke to said the persons arrested where not sitting next to each other. News channels would therefore speculate, that, for me is what happens.

- Speculation about how did this person get through security with Heathrow on high alert
This is what happens in rolling news, an incident two weeks ago, so it could happen again

- Speculation about it being a drugs raid as dogs were used
This was stupid to speculate about

- Speculation about who on the plane would be interviewed about this incident
Police would have interviewed everyone if serious, so again stupid for Sky to ask

- Speculation about if the overhead lockers may have been searched, the hold luggage may be searched
They were according to the eyewitness if i recall

- Speculation about why did this happen on a plane going away from the UK
Only right to speculate

- Speculation about this being a hoax
And it seems to have turned out to be a hoax

- Speculation about why was this plane going to Dubi,
fills time

- Speculation about why did it happen on on a Friday
stupid of sky to ask

- Speculation about how the other passengers may have felt
I know if i was on the plane I'd feel scared if police stormed on, so probably not best to ask...

but this is rolling news and this is what happens.

Lisa Knights(formerly of ITN/Setanta Sports News?) presenting the Midnight News.