A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
Julian Bray Aviation Security Expert writes: The RCI cruise ship Navigator of the Seas, has just one more Port of Call this cruise calling in at La Havre, before slipping into Southampton after a 14 day cruise which took in the Azores.
During that time, normally a quiet period in news terms, I have seen the hurricane season unleash its worst on the Caribbean and Florida. Many of the conurbations hit will not recover for several years, and some may not recover at all as upto 90% of structures were literally flattened.
This cruise has however given me an opportunity to take a view of global satellite television news coverage from the aspect of an outsider looking dispassionately at the services of CNN African feed and that of BBC World, seems to be a Polish/African slanted feed delivered to cruise ships (Perhaps the BBC's commercial arm might reconsider the mix, as its very confusing to the 3,900 passengersd on board ?).
What is striking that although the severity of the news agenda required CNN to send its seemingly unprotected news reporters into the very teeth of the elements, why on earth were they sent without adequate life jackets, safety lines and harnesses and industry approved hard hats? The same can also be said of some ( not all ) BBC reporters covering these events.
The antics of some of these intrepid correspondents need to be seriously looked at, it cannot be right that with buildings and tree collapsing, some reporters safety headwear was nothing more than logo bearing baseball caps and ski jackets. We didn't see the rest of the crew but suggest they too were not equipped for these extreme conditions..
Simply health and safety considerations seems to have taken a back seat, for the sake of getting the pictures to the screen.
Producers and News/content managers really must take a more robust stance in protecting their crews, some of the reports made me distinctly uneasy for all the wrong reasons.
Repeated lame remarks from several studio based anchors urging the hapless reporter to 'stay safe' really doesn't cut it!
JULIAN BRAY +44(0)1733 345581, Journalist & Broadcaster, Aviation Security & Airline Operations Analyst/expert, ... Travel & Holiday Guru www.aviationcomment.com, ... http://www.freelancedirectory.org/user.php?user=8121 ... www.freelancedirectory.org?name=Julian.Bray.aviation.comment, ... Aviation / Travel / Maritime & Cruise Industries, NUJ, EQUITY, LIVE ISDN LINK, Broadcast ISDN COOBE ++44 (0)1733 345020 ... SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK e&oe Old faithful NOKIA: 07944 217476
No comments:
Post a comment