WordblogJournalism in a changing world

Before my previous post on the coverage of Foot and Mouth disease I had decided I wanted to question the BBC’s judgment on the 10 o’clock TV news last night. The floods in Nepal, Bangladesh and India which have left a million people homeless and at least 120 dead in Bangladesh and 55 in India got 16 seconds. The follow-up on the collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis which had killed fewer people than reported the previous night was given 3 minutes 18 seconds immediately following the flood story. (Watch again, before the next 10 o’clock news)

The explanation for this disproportion can only be the BBC’s heavy investment in US news coverage, having sent a staffman to Minneapolis and the familiarity of news executives with North America.

Proximity is hardly an issue: Minneapolis is 4,000 miles away while the distance from London to Kathmandu is 4,500 miles.  And more viewers in the UK originate from or have family links to sub-continent than have similar links to North America. There is plenty of film available from the Indian sub-continent.