Who else has been totally amazed at the BBC's coverage of the war. They are the only western journalists in Kabul and have totally outdone themselves.
Did you see last night, John Simpson's report on the moment the Northern Alliance went into Kabul. One of the commanders stopped the precedings at one point so John and his crew wandered in on foot, much to the delight of inhabitants.
So, those who are always saying 'Sky were first', just remember, the BBC liberated Kabul!
While I agree their coverage has been second to none, perhaps its a little OTT to say the Beeb 'liberated' the country
MM
Mr Me
I'm sure the American bombers or that idiot of a president they have might have something to say about the BBC liberating the place. Though it is true that the beeb's coverage has been outstanding.
I agree - John Simpson's reporting as he travelled into Kabul, initially with the Northern Alliance, and then just with BBC colleagues, was real historic stuff.
However it is important to remember that the BBCs Rageh Omaar and William Reeve were already in Kabul, and had been reporting from there for some days whilst it was still under Taliban control.
I don't think I'll forget the shot of William Reeve doing an interview from the Kabul BBC office (I believe with BBC World) as a violent explosion seemed to blow in his windows, and him off his chair.
I think we owe these reporters a debt of gratitude for putting their lives at risk in order to bring us accurate news from a very dangerous situation.
MR
mromega2000
M@ posted:
Who else has been totally amazed at the BBC's coverage of the war. They are the only western journalists in Kabul and have totally outdone themselves.
So, those who are always saying 'Sky were first', just remember, the BBC liberated Kabul!
Absolute rubbish. Other western correspondents in Kabul before John Simpson were Reuters correspondent Sayed Salahuddin an Associated Press' Kathy Gannon. Many other news companies entered Kabul at the same time as John Simpson including ITN's Julian Manyon yet you don't see them preclaiming that they 'libertated' Kabul.
AN
andyeighteen
i think john simpson did liberate the city ... take nazi occupied france, the french resistance couldnt liberate the country, as they were already there - living under the nazis... but john simpson was with the northern alliance - and walked infront of the troops, thus liberating the city in place of the northern alliance.
i think it was great journalism, although ive always liked simpson's style of reporting (more proffesional than rageh omar) - and it was reported in many newspapers round the world about how john entered the city. and the whole report was shown on abc world news tonight.
itv's reporting wasnt bad (their tonight special was good), ch4 average, and we musnt forget that the 5news reporter actually drove a northern alliance tank into the city
Absolute rubbish....... yet you don't see them (ITN's Julian Manyon etc) preclaiming that they 'libertated' Kabul.
I don't think John made the proclamation himself!
Fair dues, this has been a historic chapter in every newsgathering organisation's anals. I expect that in the inevitable 'Review of the Year' all the news companies will have some amazing footage they are proud of.
BB
BBCPrime
Did anyone see the report of that BBC report by Rageeh Omah who reported on the Taliban's last night in Kabul...they showed the explosion of the BBC studio!
I'll get a clip of it for you, if you like.
MR
mromega2000
John did make the proclamation himself, from Media Guardian
'The BBC's John Simpson claimed the glory for the Northern Alliance's rout of the Taliban today in Kabul when he joined other BBC staff in the Afghan capital.
Simpson told Sue MacGregor on the BBC's Today programme: 'It was only BBC people who liberated this city. We got in ahead of Northern Alliance troops.'
John did make the proclamation himself, from Media Guardian
'The BBC's John Simpson claimed the glory for the Northern Alliance's rout of the Taliban today in Kabul when he joined other BBC staff in the Afghan capital.'
I stand corrected.
Having read the piece, I'm not sure his comments were wholely appropriate, let alone true.
It was certainly one of those historic moments, just a shame it wasn't done live in the same way that Sky did Kosovo.
However, the idea that Simpson was the bloke who liberated Kabul is tosh. As someone has already pointed out, there were journalists from Reuters, AP and AFP already in Kabul. There were even BBC journalists already in Kabul before Simpson!
In response to the comment about Sky's 'First' slogan. There have been many many occasions when Sky has been miles (literally) ahead of anyone else. Remember Kosovo...
Today's Guardian (G2 section) had a pretty good piece about this. Also had a section on the best reports done from a war zone. Sky was featured for it's Kosovo reporting and CBS for their reports from Kuwait City.
