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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to be wondering why my BBC news feed if full of storm Irma stuff?

142 replies

DoryDingDong · 10/09/2017 19:50

I don't live in Florida, is there so little UK news to report that we have to obsess over the weather in another country?
Also, why so much coverage of this particular storm when so many more horrendous natural disasters go un reported all over the world?
Is this that news worthy or has the media lost perspective entirely?

AIBU to be wondering why my BBC news feed if full of storm Irma stuff?
OP posts:
MehMehAndMeh · 10/09/2017 20:07

Yes of course OP, I totally understand. We should only be receiving British news about British weather, British people, British politics, British jobs etc.
We don't need to hear about the rest of the world, China had the right idea all along Hmm

Oh wait. Biggest storm ever recorded and some of the areas affected are British territories. Damn, oh well British mainland news only from now on.

Copperbeech33 · 10/09/2017 20:08

go on, name a bigger recent evacuation, 20 million people advised to leave, 7 million ordered to.

ItsAllAboutThePace · 10/09/2017 20:08

you are being ridiculous ....and now,goady

toots111 · 10/09/2017 20:08

I think the big difference in terms of TV coverage etc between a hurricane and an earthquake is that you can 'follow' a hurricane. This has been going on for days leaving a trail of destruction in it's path, and they can also predict where it's going next. This all gives it a lot more longevity in terms of news than an earthquake which is much more of a single moment in time event.

JadeT2 · 10/09/2017 20:09

If we liked Disneyland we wouldn't be interested given that its not in Orlando. Walt Disney World is though.

hellohellogoodbye · 10/09/2017 20:10

This has wiped out entire countries. It will take some of them years and years to recover.

Yabvvvvvu

Original poster
DoryDingDong · 10/09/2017 20:11

I can tell you right now that if the UK were having a disaster to this scale the US media wouldn't give it a fraction of the air time.
I'm not saying it's not news worthy at all, just not the all and everything of our news.

OP posts:
Original poster
DoryDingDong · 10/09/2017 20:12

Yes hellohellogoodbye, it has, and Florida will get much more news time than Cuba. Why?

OP posts:
EdithWeston · 10/09/2017 20:15

Yes, it's newsworthy, but into more newsworthy than when it was hitting British dependent territories.

Probably more footage from US though [cynical]

ItsAllAboutThePace · 10/09/2017 20:15

what a fucking nasty spiteful (and untrue) thread

hellohellogoodbye · 10/09/2017 20:15

Not the news channel I'm watching in the States.

ItsNachoCheese · 10/09/2017 20:16

Houston has sunk 2cm because of hurricane harvey thats insane. Then all the chaos and damage of hurricanes irma and jose along with katia (now a tropical depression). The world is changing and its not for the better

PodgeBod · 10/09/2017 20:17

I agree with you Dory of course it should be covered but it seems like it's almost the only thing being covered. I doubt we'd get 1/10th of this if it was happening somewhere else.

Original poster
DoryDingDong · 10/09/2017 20:18

Why is this nasty and untrue?
Seriously?

OP posts:
ItsAllAboutThePace · 10/09/2017 20:21

yes, seriously!! people are losing their lives....homes.....businesses....and here you are bitching about tv coverage!!

its uk news channels reporting it....not the US ....they've got more pressing things on their minds

i fucking despair!

steff13 · 10/09/2017 20:21

I can tell you right now that if the UK were having a disaster to this scale the US media wouldn't give it a fraction of the air time.

Has the UK ever had a disaster to this scale? There was extensive coverage of the tsunamis in the last few years, there were even telethons to raise money for those affected, sponsored by US tv networks. What makes you think we'd react differently to a UK disaster?

Wait are you the poster who was surprised we knew about Brexit? They report your news here too.

WhoWants2Know · 10/09/2017 20:23

Remember the Boxing Day Tsunami that wiped out Thailand or the Fujitsu Earthquake? They dominated the news in their time, as well they should. What would you rather they showed today?

SecretRed · 10/09/2017 20:24

I don't get why it's nasty either op.

There has also a massive earthquake in Mexico this week which has killed 90 people yet this has had a fraction of the column inches that Florida has.

BIWI · 10/09/2017 20:26

The focus on the US is because that's where the storm is now landing. It's passed the Caribbean, and there was plenty of live coverage of that, and it's now all about how it's impacting on the US.

Are you all too dense to realise that's what's actually happening, live?

FFS.

Hulababy · 10/09/2017 20:28

the coverage from uk media is making a way bigger deal about Florida than the islands just flattened

On my BBC app, and Twitter news, the hurricane has been appearing for ages - before it hit any lands. The news certainly has covered the Caribbean islands ime. We were interested as we are visiting Antigua early next year and was following information about our hotel location, as well as a general interest.

expatinscotland · 10/09/2017 20:28

You do realise units of the UK's armed forces have been deployed to UK territories which have been devastated by this storm, don't you? But that's not news? WTAF.

BIWI · 10/09/2017 20:29

Oh, and if you bothered to scroll down your newsfeed, you'd find that there are articles about police pay, a leak about Apple's new iPhone, Mo Farah winning the Great North Run and an article about the brutal campaign against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Still, must be hard work to scroll down, eh?

LakieLady · 10/09/2017 20:29

Has the UK ever had a disaster to this scale?

No. When we had a small hurricane that only affected the south-east, it dominated the news for a few days.

A hurricane of this size and severity would flatten most of the UK. The 6m evacuated is equivalent to more than half the population of London.

alfagirl73 · 10/09/2017 20:30

As someone with friends both living in and visiting Miami, I'm pleased we are getting coverage on the news. Lots of people here have family and friends living in Florida, or on holiday in Florida and/or the Bahamas etc... so it's not unreasonable for people here to want to know what is going on.

expatinscotland · 10/09/2017 20:31

There are also quite a few British tourists caught up in this.