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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to think the Southern Rail strike is not National News?

179 replies

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 13/12/2016 13:16

Watching the BBC news at lunchtime. Tiny snippet of news about Aleppo and now massive in-depth coverage of the Southern Rail strike include homevideos of commuters journeys etc.

I understand this is an important issue for those who live within the small area covered by Southern Rail - but does it really merit coverage on the National News - surely should be a local news story?

OP posts:
Bear2014 · 13/12/2016 14:31

It's a massive story. It's bringing a big chunk of the London workforce to its knees, and like it or not that's quite significant in the grand scheme of things in this country. I have a friend with MS who has been forced to quit her job as she can't physically and mentally cope with the commute any more, it's a living hell (in first world terms at least).

venusinscorpio · 13/12/2016 14:32

Did you actually read my post OP? I was making the point that is what news is nowadays.

RancidOldHag · 13/12/2016 14:32

Which channel trivialised it?

I've been watching ITV and their coverage (both aired and online) is nothing like what you describe.

Akire · 13/12/2016 14:33

They said on BBC news yesterday it isn't just a London story it's because tax payer takes all fines so everyone is paying for it. Andcehile it's only that line that tax payers owns at moment it could be more in the future so telling people how it's stupid idea and don't have it for yourself sis good news reporting.

venusinscorpio · 13/12/2016 14:34

Anyway, YABU. Take it up with them if you don't like the way they frame important news stories. This dumbing down of the news is everywhere.

harderandharder2breathe · 13/12/2016 14:36

Yabu although I wish the news would focus on the issues and potential ramifications rather than one or two people's stories. Yes I feel very sorry for those affected (I commute by rail myself in a different part of the country). But very little has been on the news til now about people losing jobs, businesses being forced to close due to falling trade, the issues that actually matter a lot more than "oh bob took 2 hours to get to work instead of 1". The relentlessness off this action makes it different from any other seen for decades

SaucyJack · 13/12/2016 14:38

"The ridiculous actions of the unions could have a far reaching impact across the whole country."

Equally the proposed cuts to on board services could have a far reaching impact across the country. Wheelchair users will especially bear the brunt of the cost cutting measures to do away with conductors.

It's nowhere near as simple as to say the unions are in the wrong.

MackerelOfFact · 13/12/2016 14:39

You missed out that the Piccadilly Line is fucked for the foreseeable, and the Victoria Line was part suspended today too.

Exactly, in my part of London I've been without Piccadilly Line services for about 3 weeks now, the buses are all fucked because of multiple local floods in NE London and any other alternative routes are overcrowded to the point of being dangerous. But I appreciate it's a very localised issue, and other than occasional mumblings about the Picadilly Line and photos of the floods in the paper, nothing much has been made of it, and I don't expect it to be.

The Southern debacle affects more people, over a bigger area, for a much longer period of time. I have absolute sympathy for everyone who relies on those services for work, school, appointments or anything else.

gamerwidow · 13/12/2016 14:42

I think OP your objection probably stems from the way it was covered rather then it's importance as a national story. I think that is true of most news stories now that we seem to have made the decision that the person on the streets opinion is worth more than expert analysis. I despair everytime a news programme asks for viewer tweets and comments. Seriously who gives a shit about what Dave from Essex or Jane from Hull thinks, are they experts in the field? Does there opinion carry any weight whatsoever? No? So why are you showing it!!!

roarityroar · 13/12/2016 14:42

DOO is used across the network safely. I have zero support for unions in this case.

SaucyJack · 13/12/2016 14:50

"DOO is used across the network safely. I have zero support for unions in this case."

Possibly it is safe, but seeing as Southern Rail profits have risen by 27% this year, I don't see any sense in them taking the risk.

It's just money money money money.

carefreeeee · 13/12/2016 14:53

I agree with the stupidity of the way the news is presented these days.

eg. Major floods have occurred and people have been evacuated. Interviewer asks "Your house has been flooded, how does that make you feel?" Flooded out person replies "Its' very inconvenient and will cost a lot of money, we are very upset"

Or, child gets runover. Interviewer: "Little bobby was only ten, how does it make you feel?" Neighbour of the run over child: "Well it's tragic he was a lovely child" etc etc.

Cringey and totally unnecessary! Of course people are upset when bad things happen. This is hardly news. Different in a documentary or other type of programme perhaps. If they were to ask what they were going to do about said flooding or if they had any ideas of how to improve road safety in the area fair enough but it's always about their feelings.

GiddyOnZackHunt · 13/12/2016 14:54

Different versions of DOO are in use. This is not the same version. The qualifications of on board staff are not the same. ScotRail have reached a compromise that the unions have indicated they would accept. Southern Rail have mounted a massive campaign of lies and OR in this dispute whilst attempting to run their regular service with too few drivers and overtime. The service is a shambles without strikes.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 13/12/2016 14:57

I think OP your objection probably stems from the way it was covered rather then it's importance as a national story. I think that is true of most news stories now that we seem to have made the decision that the person on the streets opinion is worth more than expert analysis. I despair everytime a news programme asks for viewer tweets and comments.

YY. Citizen journalism does have its place, but not when it replaces real journalism. I hold my head in my hands whenever the BBC thinks that fucking tweets are a useful source of material.

The (national) news should be about the ramifications of the events , facts not feelings.

DOO is used across the network safely. I have zero support for unions in this case.

This is arguable. Scotrail staff went on strike over this, and guards are going to be retained on trains, and the new trains are being modified to allow guards to operate the doors.

Guards are not just ticket collectors.

OP posts:
roundaboutthetown · 13/12/2016 14:58

Oh, ffs, on your understanding of national news, we would never hear anything whatsoever of what happens anywhere else in the UK - on your logic, floods are only relevant to the people flooded out, the Scottish Highlands are relevant to virtually nobody, murders are only relevant to the local community...

If your understanding of the Southern Rail Strike is merely that a few commuters have been annoyed, today, then clearly the problem is that the real news has not been reported enough, or you wouldn't sound so bloody ignorant about the issues involved. The BBC has done a lot more in depth reporting on the issues involved than you describe, in any event, so I'm not sure how you managed not to be aware of the wider implications. Problems with Southern Rail have been going on for years, but have come to a head in the last year, particularly since the summer, when it genuinely did start to have national implications, and it's a hugely political, financial and 100% obviously national issue, not a little local bother that won't affect future policy, legislation and industrial relations. And it does affect the national economy, too, and tourism. It has so obviously become a national issue as it has dragged on and on, that your inability to comprehend that just comes across as ridiculous, petty and ill-informed, not over-informed.

Feeling cross. Angry

Wakemeuuuup · 13/12/2016 14:59

More people live in greater London than in Scotland and Wales combined. That is not even all of the south or south east, just greater London.

This explains why it gets so much coverage in the national news.

Dozer · 13/12/2016 15:01

It's a LOT of people, and areas.

Should the media not have covered the floods last winter then?

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 13/12/2016 15:03

More people live in greater London than in Scotland and Wales combined.

Alternatively you could say that commuter woes (other issues not reported) in a very small part of the UK took top billing in the UK news. It was not reported (mostly) as an issue. Uninformed viewers outside of the affected area were given little analysis on how this might impact them.

OP posts:
ToucheShay · 13/12/2016 15:08

Whilst what is happening in Aleppo is dreadful, I don't think it has to be headline news night after night, unless there is something significant to report. There are atrocities all over the world that don't get covered.

I'd rather we had national news than international.

EssentialHummus · 13/12/2016 15:10

Also - and I appreciate that this is a small inconvenience in the overall scheme of things - I am embarrassed that visitors to this country will have arrived today to find that the only way out of Gatwick is one shitty, overcrowded train to Victoria.

What if they want to go to point x, diametrically opposite from Victoria? What if they speak no English, and relied on something they printed out back home in Swahili? Never mind, it's Victoria or an expensive taxi.

Again, it's minor in the grand scheme of things, but it's embarrassing.

venusinscorpio · 13/12/2016 15:14

There's Thameslink too via the city and St Pancras isn't there? I agree it's massively shit though.

bojorojo · 13/12/2016 15:15

I think it is ludicrous to complain of a southern bias to reporting the news. I think everyone wanted to know about the floods in Cumbria and Yorkshire. We were all concerned at the run-away lorry in the Glasgow shopping centre at Christmas. There are many other instances of reporting northern stories to all of us.

The length of ongoing industrial action that inconveniences so many people travelling to our capital city and travelling to and from Gatwick is a major story. Southern Rail offers a poor service even without strikes. People are paying for a service they do not get and that resonates in the north, south, east and west. As Aslef could, potentially, call for industrial action on other routes, maybe people in the north would think differently if this happened to them and their economy. This strike is adding to stress levels. It is unkind that northern people don't care.

World news and wars are different and are reported all the time with reporters embedded. The rail strike has been reported when it happens. Personally I don't think one type of news trumps another because there is always a balance to be struck. We would expect serious delays at Manchester airport to be reported, and they are. I have rarely been aware of the BBC asking stupid questions of bystanders. It is reasonable that flood victims were asked about what happened to their homes. It is also reasonable that millions of £ are now being spent to try and alleviate the problems.

For what it is worth, Aslef have a point. These trains are very overcrowded and do need a guard to sort out safety from time to time. Maybe rush hour trains and late night trains need a guard, but others don't. Negotiation will have to happen and a way forward found. It must be hugely frustrating to be a regular traveller on Southern Rail routes!

MadameCholetsDirtySecret · 13/12/2016 15:16

Surely the majority of national news items will have happened in one region or another. That doesn't mean they are not of interest to other regions in the U.K.

Eg when there is thick snow in Scotland, and driving conditions are grim, it doesn't affect me in Oxfordshire, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested.

sleepwhatsleep · 13/12/2016 15:16

Anyone else horrified by the general tone of the BBC news report at lunchtime?

I watched the whole segment. Not one interview or discussion on what the unions are demanding. Instead a focus on the admittedly bad impact on commuters. I'm not a tinfoil hat type but can't help but think that we are being conditioned to see unions as intrinsically bad as they're going to use this to restrict workers rights even further. And we will all applaud them doing it.

Until a few years later, when we realise we have no further means to protest without being imprisoned.

acatcalledjohn · 13/12/2016 15:20

To my surprise it made the news abroad, because naturally the continent really care about train strikes in South East England.

Hmm