I think I'm right in saying that the Palace wanted to announce Diana's death at a later time that day. Of course because it was publicly known she was in a critical condition this proved impractical, as the world's media were demanding minute by minute updates.
I understand PA claimed to have broken the story in the end. Essentially, they were the first to break the embargo on the news.
Breaking news during an event actually offers a more measured response from the broadcasters. The earlier example of S4C and the Queen Mothers death is a good one - a brief update at half time announcing the news and then a full programme an hour or so later which the news team have actually had some chance to prepare.
The Paris attacks occurring on the night of Children in Need is very close to the scenarios occurring here.
Regarding major deaths, bear in mind things like that are embargoed, so it's quite likely the palace or whoever would ensure it isn't planned to be announced half way through a major football match
Regarding major deaths, bear in mind things like that are embargoed, so it's quite likely the palace or whoever would ensure it isn't planned to be announced half way through a major football match
But it is a valid point (touched upon earlier in this thread) that in this day and age, an embargo is not going to be enough to stop huge news stories from breaking on social media. The only way of ensuring the news was kept under wraps would be if the palace went into lockdown and it didn't leak.
The Queen Mother's death was announced during a football match which was being shown on the old Premiership Plus service on Sky - Middlesbrough vs Spurs I believe.
Not quite. It was 'announced' during the Easter Saturday 3pm kick off's, but I don't think it was during the prem plus game. That would have been in the slot that is now where BT Sport show the 12.45 games, wouldn't it?
I was working on the radio that day, and I clearly remember, the IRN/Sky News 'snap' coming though on the news feed/rip and read screen in the studio at 4.15pm, with all sorts of block capital letters that the news is embargoed until 5pm.
Then at 4.25 the PA gave official confirmation of the news, quickly followed by the order from IRN that the 5pm news will be extended for the 'official broadcast announcement' and all stations should take it, using the obit protocol.
Which many stations missed due to somebody at IRN pressing the wrong button and not sending the obit alarm properly. So they went into the news totally unawares and got a strange mash up of their dance music based news bed and the national anthem.
:-(
A former member
Good enough time to re add this gem: Newsflash: Stories That Stopped The World Of course the Queen mother is at 39m
Iranian embassy: ITV refused to cut away from Corrie, ( strange thing was if it did, it might have informed the people inside what was about to happen. Its nothing new.
Last edited by A former member on 11 April 2016 8:32pm
Which many stations missed due to somebody at IRN pressing the wrong button and not sending the obit alarm properly. So they went into the news totally unawares and got a strange mash up of their dance music based news bed and the national anthem.
Did a presenter on one local station not follow up the bulletin with a rant that included the phrase "piss-boiling incompetence"?
Which many stations missed due to somebody at IRN pressing the wrong button and not sending the obit alarm properly. So they went into the news totally unawares and got a strange mash up of their dance music based news bed and the national anthem.
Did a presenter on one local station not follow up the bulletin with a rant that included the phrase "piss-boiling incompetence"?
I think that rant occurred on South Hams Radio after the presenter expected the two minute remembrance silence and got a bulletin down the line from IRN instead. I suspect he may have faded up the wrong IRN channel.
The phrase though would have been an apt description of IRN's dealing with the QM's death. No obit alarm was sounded, as mentioned earlier, and the most shambolic radio bulletin you've ever heard went out - newsreader stumbling over everything, consistently firing the wrong audio and leaving the mic up during the audio so we could hear very loud panicked shuffling of scripts.
Rumour has it she was inexperienced and was left alone at the newsdesk after her colleagues left work early on the basis that it was a quiet Easter Saturday and she'd be able to cope.
The then IRN editor wrote to all stations the next week to apologise.
If needs interruption, needs interruption me thinks, if it's important enough. Just like the Government has the right to interrupt TV broadcasts in times of national emergency
Are you sure about that? I'd have thought that if there was a national emergency then a government statement would be read out on certain TV and radio stations, but I don't think you'd get a government interruption as such.
The option was enshrined in one of the Broadcasting Acts (think it was the 1980 act) and it definitely applied to the BBC. How it worked in theory is always different to how it would work in practice.
If the Queen passes away during the night, her death will not be announced until 8am. It is said that the BBC would suspend any light entertainment or comedy shows between her death and her funeral. If she died during Eurovision, I think it's safe to say it would be pulled.
The "not announcing her death until 8am" is plausible.
The BBC suspending all light entertainment and comedy in the wake of that not so plausible. That was mentioned in an online article somewhere that used the Daily Mail as its source... A reduction in them most definitely and major schedule changes but surely not a total drop?
One assumes that the protocols followed when Diana died were based on those at the time for the Queen's demise. I cannot, however, forsee a situation where we would get a repeat of 1997. Certainly I can't think we'd have the public display of grief we saw.
IIRC the BBC got quite a bit of flak for moving Casualty to BBC Two on the night of the Queen Mum's demise.