Broadcasting live from railway stations (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[infoman]

monday 18 december reporting on the Kings Cross and Paddington station closures over Christmas.

[infoman]

friday 22 december reporting on thursdays disruption at London Euston

[infoman]

on thursday 28 december reporting on various rail delays around the country.

[Ralph Ayres]

They do love sending reporters to stand inconveniently in a place that's vaguely pertinent to the subject but the pictures add no information, when the report could more easily and cheaply be done from a studio. There was one yesterday from a wet and windswept motorway bridge, with traffic underneath clearly heavy but flowing steadily.  It added nothing to the report but I ended up feeling sorry for the crew.

[infoman]

Its the same with articles about the ministry of defence that break over the weekend,

 when they are stood outside the MOD on Sunday morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The reporter that was over the bridge was very busy as she ended up at Preston train station on the same day.

[JayMac]

"Multiple exclamation marks... are a sure sign of a diseased mind."

"And all those exclamation marks... a sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head."

- Sir Terry Pratchett.
 

[Sixty3Closure]

They do love sending reporters to stand inconveniently in a place that's vaguely pertinent to the subject but the pictures add no information, when the report could more easily and cheaply be done from a studio. There was one yesterday from a wet and windswept motorway bridge, with traffic underneath clearly heavy but flowing steadily.  It added nothing to the report but I ended up feeling sorry for the crew.

Well the boring answer is because you can. Improvements in connectivity mean no longer having to send a truck and bunch of engineers just so the reporter can stand in the rain.

Occasionally though there can be good reasons - the reporter and camera person are there anyway as they've been filming and can't get back to base in time, they can cover multiple outlets (think 5Live in Salford, Radio 4 and BBC1 in London and say Local radio) and occasionally because it lets you move cameras around in the studio and get other guests in and out of seats more easily.

Mainly though because you can 

[grahame]

Well the boring answer is because you can. Improvements in connectivity mean no longer having to send a truck and bunch of engineers just so the reporter can stand in the rain.

Occasionally though there can be good reasons - the reporter and camera person are there anyway ...

I have often wondered ... but actually I'm coming up with another reason here in Wiltshire.  From personal experience, I have dragged myself out to various places such as Imber and Bradford-on-Avon on wet, windy mornings.







What it does - in this Wiltshire setting - is to get them a whole series of interviews with people who wouldn't make it to the studio nor be easily reachable on the phone.   So Karen gets a wide variety of voices and opinions - in the pictures here from the ticket office campaign with the rain peeing down.   Passengers, Stations Friends, Coffee Vendor ... also as an interviewee, it helps set the atmosphere and help both the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) and myself; we ended up chatting (not sure if it was on air) about the unreliability of the ticket machine and how you had to stand in the puddle in order to try to do so.

[Sixty3Closure]

My first thought from that was why did I never get a branded waterproof when I had to go out stand in the rain

There use to be some umbrellas but they were much prized as leaving gifts so tended to be in short supply.

[GBM]

There use to be some umbrellas but they were much prized as leaving gifts so tended to be in short supply.

Are they a 'thing' these days?

[TaplowGreen]

There use to be some umbrellas but they were much prized as leaving gifts so tended to be in short supply.

Are they a 'thing' these days?

Only if it's raining.

[GBM]

There use to be some umbrellas but they were much prized as leaving gifts so tended to be in short supply.

Are they a 'thing' these days?

Only if it's raining.

Good one!
Typed in haste.  Are company branded brollies given these days as retirement gifts?

[bobm]

I gave a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) branded one as a Christmas present.

[Sixty3Closure]

There use to be some umbrellas but they were much prized as leaving gifts so tended to be in short supply.

Are they a 'thing' these days?

Only if it's raining.

Good one!
Typed in haste.  Are company branded brollies given these days as retirement gifts?

It was probably the most popular request for gifts when most of my age group left over the last few years. BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News or BBC Weather. Most had to settle for a mug as the brollies were really meant to be for the on air talent to use so in short supply. There use to be a regular supply of branded pens, pencils, mugs, floppy disks etc when I started many years ago but cost cutting means they are no more.

You can still get a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) one though https://www.gwrsouvenirs.co.uk/GWR/p-GWR127

[infoman]

reporting on the disruption caused by the severe weather.