General Chat

It is very, very sad, if not totally unexpected, that Nelson Mandela has died. He is a huge loss to the world.

However, we are expecting a huge and devastating storm in this country, very soon. We needto know what is going on regarding this.

Rather than replay the sad announcements several times and ask people what they remember of past events before replaying something else, could the BBC not have made a little time for our own information?

...a comment made by my friend on the phone an hour ago...... :-)

I'm really sad that Nelson Mandela has died but although I think it right to have a news flash on all of the BBC channels, I think the longer programme going over his life could have been put on the BBC News Channel and not all of the other channels meaning other programmes were missed or delayed. I really don't know why they have a news channel if they are not going to use it properly.

Condolences to Nelson Mandela's family.

Kath. x

Sad but how much coverage did Stephen Biko get after he died? He died in police custody aged just 30.

Mandela wasn't a one man army and I wish the news coverage paid tribute to other activists who didn't just lose their liberty but their lives.

OH was losing his sanity by 11.30 p.m. I just switched my brain off.

I got up at 4am today to come to work and saw the same news clip at least 3 times. I also saw a picture of flags at half mast in London and Washington and President Obama's reaction twice all in the space of 45 minutes but not a word about the storm affecting huge parts of the UK.
I'm afraid that once again the BBC have got it wrong in providing saturation and repetitive news coverage of one story whilst ignoring the rest of the news

Sad to hear of anyone's death, but the BBC really got their priorities totally wrong. They appear to have lost the plot these days when it comes to prioritizing news coverage.

A simple announcement was all that was needed in the main news bulletin. There is plenty of time later for reflecting on his lifetime.

Local radio has extensive coverage of potential floods and evacuations and that's what I'd be listening to if I lived on the coast.

The Environment Agency website has accurate information as well.

Nelson Mandela was a world figure of immense stature, of course his death dominates national news. That's what I'm watching, I live over 100 miles away from anywhere likely to flood.

The lives of great achievers are invariably about hard work.

Don't want to sound flippant at all, but was watching Mrs.Brown's Boys on BBC 1, when they made the announcement about Madela's passing.It is always sad when a loved one dies, no matter how old they are.Having said that, I listened for about 15 minutes or more, then switched off, as the same things were repeated over and over and over again.....Dangersprout made some very good points about Biko and all the other activists.

My point exactly Claddagh, sad news of course and an important figure in South African history but to repeat the information over and over again, whilst ignoring the rest of the news is not thoughtful broadcasting. I only saw it for 45 minutes this morning getting ready for work and even so I the same Obama clip twice as well as various flags at half mast. I gave up on any hope of seeing any other news and turned off

I agree with you Col & Sharron, there is enough going on in the world, not to even mention the terrible storms/flooding in the U.K, so, even though it is sad Mandela died and is (rightly so) mourned, it doesn't really seem to warrant such wall-to-wall coverage, or does it?

and he was 95 years old - a great age, and a great man, but really, the BBC have now gone into overkill - enough is enough

True Ann.

Not for me, I'm watching it avidly. We won't see his like again.

Tributes are one thing, repeating the same thing again and again are another.

If we all wanted to, we could read about any great man or woman, when they are alive, rather than waiting until they are no longer here. I find some of the interviewees, saying trivial things, it seems, just to be in the limelight.

I heard another prisoner of Robben Island on the news earlier today, talk about Nelson Mandela, he said that everyone else imprisoned with him, were all as much a freedom fighter as he was, and that Mandela was the "just" the spokesperson, and Mandela often said that to.

I think there are many great men and women who do so many good things in the world, and many of them have hoards of people behind them that we never see or hear, but are just as important as the spokesperson.

I agree that the BBC are going overboard with the coverage of Mandela's death, sad as it, there are other things going on in the world.

Well said Lynda, couldn't put it better myself. Of course we are all entitled to our own opinions, I respect that, but constant reports going over and over the same ground & saying the same things time after time, does seem a bit OTT.
As I said earlier about not wanting to sound flippant, I was looking to some light-hearted comedy last night, after all the awful things going on everywhere, so was disappointed not to see the rest of Mrs.Brown's Boys, even though I have seen this episode before...nice to end the day with a laugh!

I can understand why not everyone appreciates the coverage.

The interminable coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics last year drove me crazy but others appreciated it.

As there are many SAs living in all 4 corners of GB and beyond,the coverage will be important to them.



He will only be as great to the people whos lives he's had an impact on.but how much can be said about one such person without repeating the same.

A few more days and it will get less and less till the funeral coverage.

I have more than 1 channel to turn to anyway. ;-) :-D

OH too was a bit put out last evening . He likes his programs like Question Time .This Week etc . He came to bed earlier than usual cos he was fed up with the Mandela coverage, Not that he didn't sympathize with his family but he wasn't enamored of the same thing being repeated over and over.

Can anyone update me on the Lawson-Saatchi daily saga? The topic seems to have slipped down on the important news ratings gauge.