'Republican' BBC

[quizfan]

Was the BBC's coverage of the Queen Mother's death disrepectful and intrusive?

[dogbreath]

No. What a fuss about nothing.

[incitatus]

I could have coped with less of it, certainly. "Extraordinarily ancient lady dies" is not really news. I will show more respect for the old girl than is customary and not go into what I thought of her, but on the whole the coverage went on too long, rather than being particularly intrusive.

[larabell]

Amen, Incitatus! Is it safe to turn the television back on yet?

[Tammas]

What??!!! She's DEAD????!!

[claudio]

Yes, it was intrusive. It intruded into the football match I was listening to on Radio 5 Live. Within two hours, every single terrestrial TV channel, every single BBC national and local radio channel and many independent radio channels were all broadcasting nothing but tributes, reports, 'updates' (what, like rigormortis is now setting in, the lips have gone deep blue and so on) and analysis. It was completely over the top, and as a licence payer I found it objectionable that was there no choice whatsoever. There was even a classic moment when some eejit phoned it to a radio station in tears and said she 'was completely shocked and surprised'. At what? A 101-year-old woman known to be at death's door, died. Where the hell is the shock in that? Oddly enough, several thousand other people, dearly loved by their families and friends, also died that day, but for some reason the BBC left them in peace. Roll on the republic, or at least a sense of proportion.