We are talking about the "People's Walk for Wildlife" that was covered on BBC Breakfast with an interview with Chris Packham at the start of the event on the Saturday morning and not some other event taking place elsewhere? Just checking.
Mike,
I am only quoting what Packham highlighted on his Twitter account, that neither the BBC nor ITV covered the actual walk on their news programmes once it had got underway.
Was he surprised? It's very rare for the BBC to cover any of the walks/marches that take place in London most weekends on the news bulletins. I've been down visiting when some have been taking place and they haven't even made the local news. Given he's an employee he might have expected to get less coverage to avoid any accusations of bias from the regular Beeb-bashers. Not having watched ITV news for years I don't know whether they have a policy as to what marches/rallies they cover but I suspect it might be the one of avoiding accusations of bias by not covering any that don't produce an extra item of news, like a disturbance. More of a surprise that Sky covered it, maybe because their rivals weren't......or is that just me being cynical.
Hi Mike,
I think Sky's interest ties in with their Environmental leanings which they have tended to have from the start. I remember they sent a camera crew to Pennington Flash for the black-faced bunting twitch, and also when there was a crag martin at (I think) Rutland Water a few years ago. Can you imagine the Beeb or ITV doing that. More recently they took up the case of doing something about plastic in the seas quite a while back, certainly before BBC took notice (although I think Blue Planet may have brought it to the public conscience). I don't trust the BBC to cover things like the march on the grounds that too many in their upper echelon mix with those who shoot/fox hunt and that kind of thing. Possibly I'm being too judgemental there?!
Hi Andy. I wasn't aware of Sky's environmental leanings as I've never been a subscriber because I chose not to support any company associated with Rupert Murdock, not being a fan of him and some of the things he does. They certainly weren't the only ones to cover the Pennington twitch as I remember the young lad being interviewed, but whether that was on ITV or BBC I don't recall. The BBC certainly do cover rarities; they obviously sent a local crew to Frampton to cover the Stilt-Sandpiper recently for example but I'd agree that those reports don't often make it onto the running order for the national news. That tends to be more London-centric things like Belugas in the Thames. Despite not covering the march on the news they did give it a good plug on the morning, at about the right time to remind people that it was happening and maybe get a few more locals along. I don't think their coverage is any more pro fox-hunting/ shooting than any of the other broadcasters. Some of their recent coverage on Hen Harriers has been very clear about the high incidence of birds disappearing in the vicinity of grouse moors. In fact I get the impression that the Countryside Alliance think they're all a bunch of left wing Trots.
We are talking about the "People's Walk for Wildlife" that was covered on BBC Breakfast with an interview with Chris Packham at the start of the event on the Saturday morning and not some other event taking place elsewhere? Just checking.
Mike,
I am only quoting what Packham highlighted on his Twitter account, that neither the BBC nor ITV covered the actual walk on their news programmes once it had got underway.
Was he surprised? It's very rare for the BBC to cover any of the walks/marches that take place in London most weekends on the news bulletins. I've been down visiting when some have been taking place and they haven't even made the local news. Given he's an employee he might have expected to get less coverage to avoid any accusations of bias from the regular Beeb-bashers. Not having watched ITV news for years I don't know whether they have a policy as to what marches/rallies they cover but I suspect it might be the one of avoiding accusations of bias by not covering any that don't produce an extra item of news, like a disturbance. More of a surprise that Sky covered it, maybe because their rivals weren't......or is that just me being cynical.
Hi Mike,
I think Sky's interest ties in with their Environmental leanings which they have tended to have from the start. I remember they sent a camera crew to Pennington Flash for the black-faced bunting twitch, and also when there was a crag martin at (I think) Rutland Water a few years ago. Can you imagine the Beeb or ITV doing that. More recently they took up the case of doing something about plastic in the seas quite a while back, certainly before BBC took notice (although I think Blue Planet may have brought it to the public conscience). I don't trust the BBC to cover things like the march on the grounds that too many in their upper echelon mix with those who shoot/fox hunt and that kind of thing. Possibly I'm being too judgemental there?!
We are talking about the "People's Walk for Wildlife" that was covered on BBC Breakfast with an interview with Chris Packham at the start of the event on the Saturday morning and not some other event taking place elsewhere? Just checking.
Mike,
I am only quoting what Packham highlighted on his Twitter account, that neither the BBC nor ITV covered the actual walk on their news programmes once it had got underway.
Was he surprised? It's very rare for the BBC to cover any of the walks/marches that take place in London most weekends on the news bulletins. I've been down visiting when some have been taking place and they haven't even made the local news. Given he's an employee he might have expected to get less coverage to avoid any accusations of bias from the regular Beeb-bashers. Not having watched ITV news for years I don't know whether they have a policy as to what marches/rallies they cover but I suspect it might be the one of avoiding accusations of bias by not covering any that don't produce an extra item of news, like a disturbance. More of a surprise that Sky covered it, maybe because their rivals weren't......or is that just me being cynical.
We are talking about the "People's Walk for Wildlife" that was covered on BBC Breakfast with an interview with Chris Packham at the start of the event on the Saturday morning and not some other event taking place elsewhere? Just checking.
Mike,
I am only quoting what Packham highlighted on his Twitter account, that neither the BBC nor ITV covered the actual walk on their news programmes once it had got underway.
We are talking about the "People's Walk for Wildlife" that was covered on BBC Breakfast with an interview with Chris Packham at the start of the event on the Saturday morning and not some other event taking place elsewhere? Just checking.
There are just too many reasons to go in to as to why I think it is too late for our wildlife (just as it is for the plastic bandwagon to have got rolling now - about 30 years behind time), but I will stick to one - the population of the planet. Hardly anyone dare speak of it, and unless it stops rising now, and goes into reverse, all the measures that anyone cares to take will amount to nothing. Believe me, I hope you are right about things looking brighter, but personally I do not see it happening around me right now.
Just a personal view from someone who has been active in the Labour, Trade Union and Environmental movement for over 30 years. Whether the event is covered or not and whether it has an impact or not isnt really the point here. Im with James on this. The point is that if individuals feel strongly enough about an issue then it is important that they collectively support such events. The alternative is to simply sit back and accept that nothing will ever change. Yes the elite are currently runnng the show to their own selfish advantage, but thankfully kids are no longer being sent down mines or up chimneys etc in the UK, which goes some way to proving that collective action can still have a positive impact. With the onset of climate change and the negative impact this will have on the planet, the human race, the environment, the fauna and flora etc, its even more important and necessary for the dissenters to organise against what is going on.
-- Edited by Paul Beachcroft on Friday 28th of September 2018 06:10:03 PM
-- Edited by Paul Beachcroft on Friday 28th of September 2018 06:13:05 PM
I personally think it was the most important protest event in support of the democratisation of the UK countryside since Kinder Scout
Andy, I think you'll find that the BBC chose not to cover the event rather than ignoring because the crowd number wasn't big enough, 100,000 marched past the Tory Conference in 2013 past BBC Reporters staring at them and it didn't even get on the BBC national news, they regionalise and ignore events such as protests to reduce their impact, this was very interesting, though, as it was Chris Packham, one of their top presenters, who hosted the event and got rather miffed at the Beeb on Twitter for blanking him
Also, this was just the first "Peoples Walk For Wildlife" and it was a great starter for ten, campaigns are very rarely wildly successful straight away, it's a marathon not a sprint and you have to be in it to win it
Here is a Birders Eye View of the "Peoples Walk For Wildlife"
https://youtu.be/B6FJegutwDs
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Sorry. This will change nothing. 100,000 might have even made the BBC & ITV news sit up and take notice, but it was left to Sky to cover. That just about sums it up: a minority channel for a minority concern. We who genuinely care for wildlife are outnumbered by about 50 to 1 at best, not enough to influence any political party to make wildlife a priority. It's sad, but understandable.
A big day in the South! 10,000+ people gathered in Hyde Park for a festival-style event and then marched to Downing Street to the sound of bird-song played on mobile phones, nice to see so many people walking the walk! The organisers promised a "Natural Revolution" and this might just be the start of something very big!
BBC Springwatch presenter Chris Packham is hosting the Peoples Walk For Wildlife on Saturday 22nd September in London
Everyone who cares about our wildlife is invited to participate
The Peoples Walk For Wildlife is not a protest, it is a polite, very firm request for urgent action from all of society, including government, on the big issues of our time such as climate change, species decline, habitat loss and pollution
