or not, it may seem (storm vs. Madela coverage)

[LoopyLobster]

Twitter is astorm with grumbles that the BBC and Sky News are covering Mandela's death exclusively - not enough info on the big storm. Looking at BBC's twitter page, for the past 4 hours, every single tweet is about Mandela.

I'm not in the UK, and finding it quite hard to see what's going on there. I definitely know for sure that Mandela is dead. He was a great man, but it has come as no surprise to me, and seems a little less urgent than the fact that people are losing their homes, businesses, and potentially family members in our tiny, sea-surrounded island.

Hmmm...

ugh. typo. MaNdela

I share your sentiments. I have come in very late and wanted to catch up on news in general. After 2 hours on the news channels watching the same people say the same stuff about Nelson Mandela I left the room to make a cuppa and in those 3 minutes missed the rest if the days news and probably the weather forecast as well.

I do not in anyway mean to sound disrespectful to Nelson Mandela but this is exactly what our news channels churn out again and again and again every time something big happens. Complete saturation of one subject with actually little news and lots of repeating of themselves.

I find it very annoying.

I find it very distasteful the way they report peoples passing more than respectful tbh.

It's not just annoying, it's dangerous in my opinion.

People who should be being evacuated have no idea of the danger they are in if they don't see it as a priority on the news. Last time the country have surges of this size/strength, more than 300 people died. This time we have the technology.infrastructure to give people proper warning, and the news agencies don't bother. It's infuriating.

does anyone have a list of affected areas?

I can't do links on my phone but on the weather threads there are links to the enviroment agency site which have flood warnings listed, though it is pretty much the whole of the east coast and the north west wales coastline as far as I am aware.

I think a possible reason for less coverage of 'the storm' is everything is now down to tidal swells meaning it can be predicted east coast/ Norfolk high tide around 10.45 pm this evening followed by North West wales 12.30am. It seems people in effected areas have so far been evacuated.

Even if evacuation has been successful, there is a lot at stake here - property, businesses, animals etc. Not to mention our coastlines and cultural centres.

I don't think there is any justification for ignoring it.

BBC on it now. Finally. Grasping for other peoples' pictures because they didn't bother sending out their own photographers.

My brother is a journo who was covering this story. The storm hit late. Too late for most of the newspapers. Interestingly (sigh) he'd written his article on it before it actually hit, as happened in most of the papers.

It's the live news feeds that are at fault, no newspaper journos. People expect and need live updates.

not newspaper journos

While you have a point aboutwall-to-wall coverage and "going live" to someone with nothing to say, I don't suppose people on the east coast are sitting watching the 24 he news as their only form of information about the storm. There seem to have been plans in place that were being activated to evacuate areas at risk.

Of course if the risk was to London then the journos would have done their usual thing of assuming that is the while country and concentrating on it.

YABU (though I know you didn't ask) to open any thread by saying what's onTwitter. Are you a journalist? They are the only people who care what's on Twitter, like it somehow makes them cool and trendy.

Er, no, I'm not a journalist, and I'm on twitter (like thousands of other people, some of whom must not be journalists too ) because I wanted to see what was going on and the news agencies aren't telling me.

Ive been trying to see all evening what's going on with other parts of the country, especially after such dangerous predictions about storm surges and I can't find anything at all. It's like everything else has been dropped, regardless of important to viewers.

Actually, you've really pissed me off with that stupid, flippant comment Bach
Twitter is a really useful social media tool, where normal people and organisations can share news. It has proven to be incredibly powerful tonight and during lots of other occasions (Typhoon Yolanda comes to mind; I saw a number of amazing things like people locating their loved ones using Twitter). I get that for some people it might seem daunting or confusing, so in their ignorance they might think it's only for 'trendy journo types', but really it's just another innovation that lots of people find superbly useful and interesting. Fair enough, you don't get it. It doesn't make it any less powerful.

People shouldn't have to rely on twitter for basic news. Once again, the news channels (BBC especially) are letting us down to the point of negligence. What's happening here is far more relevant and, more importantly, urgent.

Oh please!! I wish you all calm in the storm and that you & your homes are ok. But...First world problems- its rarely SO bad in UK and if it is the infrastructure protects and helps.
I live in South Africa and we regularly have floods/fires/landslides with far less help or warning and people get on with it.

Nelson Mandela was an absolute one-off, a true icon and his passing touches everyone not just us here in SA. Unlike most dignitaries/royals, his death is deservedly marked!

Actually I agree.. I've also noticed that yet again all media coverage is focused around South East England.

Good God, if I had to rely on twitter to tell me what the weather was doing I'd be in a sorry state.

Ploughing through eleventy billion retweets and copy/pastes of other people's ideas. Yawn. Originality is dead, as well as Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela would probably figure in anybody's top 10 of the most influential/important, yes, and just downright famous people to have been born, lived and died over the last 200 years.

Bad weather, even extremely so, doesn't even come close.

Well I managed to get detailed news of what was happening in my parents East Coast village right down to pictures and details of which exact shops were flooded. And rather than residents sitting around gawping at the tv waiting helplessly while water surged around them, our modern communication systems had ensured that everyone at risk had been contacted early in the day, sandbags delivered by the parish council and flood barriers put in place. Drivers, including presumably bloody great TV OB vehicles , were being warned to stay away and keep all roads clear for emergency vehicles. I found all this on the mainstream news .

Local radio has extensive coverage and the Environment agency website has very accurate up to date information. Much more reliable than Twitter FFS.

If I lived on the coast those are the places I'd be going to for information. I don't and I am much more interested in the Mandela coverage. he was a hero of mine and impacted more on my life than floods a hundred miles away.

loopylobster. Yawn, frankly.
Twitter is a platform for the gobby and self-important; the wannabe and the breathless journo wanting to do no research.

I know loads of people have it but it doesn't mean it's not bollocks.

We have floods and storms all the time, nelson Mandela can only die once, have some compassion!

It has helped do some remarkable things too.

But anyway, whatever. Lots of people are on Mumsnet, there are bound to be some gobby, self-important people on here spouting bollocks too. Ah, yes.

Blu- ahh, but the twitterati are probably too busy sending on Stephen Fry's ideas as their own to look out of their windows, and radio is so last century dontcha know.......