Grenfell and the media.

[astrologica]

I'm sticking my head above the parapet here..I'd like to ask if anyone else on here thinks that the media have gone totally overboard with their coverage of the Grenfell fire? There is yet another March in London again today, which will be extensively covered. Is there a danger that the public will become totally fed up of constant references to it and begin to think 'oh no...not Grenfell again'. I do wonder if political correctness has taken over.

On Thursday, there were endless TV and radio stations in London covering the memorials. I actually heard James O'Brien on LBC say that the Grenfell fire was ' The greatest peacetime tragedy to befall these islands since the 2nd world war, since the Blitz'. I would urge him to do some research before opening his sanctimonious PC mouth. Has he not heard of Aberfan, 1966 ..116 little children and 28 adults dead? Zeebrugge..1987..193 dead. Bethnal Green tube station..1943.173 dead.Piper Alpha..1988..167 dead. Stockport 1967..Hillsborough..the list goes on. 

Grenfell was a tragedy, and heads should certainly roll, and no doubt we will hear endless reports about that. 

Apologies for the rant, but my BP has been up ever since I heard O'Brien say that. I listen to LBC a lot, but I usually switch him off as soon as he opens his mouth...but I was just a little too slow on this occasion.

There....you can shoot me now!

[cee-dee]

Nope, I ain't shooting you, I wholeheartedly agree with what you said.

It seems to me that "the press" have caught the ailment afflicting a lot of the UK, no-one wants to do any work, they want the money for little or nothing.

Take a stroll through the BBC website, click "England" and then "Regions". Spend a while looking at each area and also scroll to the bottom of the pages and read the links to the regional newspapers/sites.

The whole lot are full of trivia. It seems the easy way of getting news is to copy what someone else has already said.

I remember Aberfan, I remmenber women crying in the street and I lived a very long way from Aberfan. I also remember all the other tragedies you mentioned (except Bethnal Green).

[023mjc]

I agree 100%.  No one is suggesting the victims or the event should ever be forgotten, but I see no need to interview survivors - including children, a whole year later.  They can never hope to start healing if it's constantly shoved back in their faces. 

It seemed to be on every channel at every time of day - same interviews, same reporting.  I don't mean to sound callous, but quite frankly it got boring.  It's not entertainment. 

I too remeber all those other tragedies, but there are not constant reminders and memorials for them.

[angelah1847]

I won't shoot you but I don't agree.

I have no problem whatsoever with the 1st anniversary of this tragic event being marked or covered by the media.

We have so many health & safety and fire regulations in this country, in the 21st century this was an horrendous tragedy that should not have happened.  73 people lost their lives and that could have been avoided. The media reporting it and the anniversary being marked by the local residents shines a light on that.

Not taking anything away from the tragic events you mentioned in your post, some good came out of them and hopefully the same will come out of Grenfell too.  There are still buildings in this country where this could happen again and nobody would want that would that.

[upthecreekyetagain]

I do not have a problem with marking the anniversary either - all the time there are still hundreds of people living in blocks, being treated in hospitals and learning in schools all clad with the same type of materials as those used in the Grenfell building it is vital in my opinion that what happened isn’t forgotten.

But for the determination of individuals to keep the Hillsborough tragedy in the public eye we would never have learned the truth of what happened - without keeping people reminded of what happened in the Grenfell tragedy then there is every chance that nothing will change for those still at risk.

[joe_bloggs*]

To all those sick of the media coverage of the 72 dead people in Grenfell,ther's always the off switch,something sadly the relatives and friends of the dead don't have the luxury of,Get mad about the causes,not the "heritage" of those who died !

[astrologica]

Joe.....I am just as mad as anyone else about the causes of the fire.Indeed, my own daughter lives in a flat that is clad in very similar materials. Reading my post, I don't see any mention of anyone's 'heritage'...that is just your interpretation. A needless death is always tragic, irrespective of the person's heritage. I got mad because of the total saturation coverage, and the political takeover by certain sections of the media. And the lazy commentary broadcast by the odious James O'Brien.

[joe_bloggs*]

Astro,it was Archie who said: "if one looks at the names of the victims and compare them to the school kids who died at Aberfan I guarantee you would see a notable difference in heritage..."

[cee-dee]

The occupants had strange advice/instructions to stay put?

Didn't the fire brigade used to have standard advice "Get out, call us out and stay out"?

[margaret*e]

If anyone watches newswatch early on Saturday morning they would have seen a few complaints about the coverage and questioning of  children.

[angelah1847]

In most situations that is the advice, for instance if you live in a house, however the advice is different for tower blocks such as Grenfell and if it hadn't been for the dodgy cladding whipping the fire up and around the building and into other flats that advice would have been appropriate.

[cee-dee]

If. Small word, big meaning?

[angelah1847]

The advice to stay put for residents in high rise blocks is because the buildings are designed to resist fire and stop the spread of smoke. Most fires are contained and don't spread beyond the flat they originated in. 

Once the fire was out of control the fire service have been criticised for not changing that advice/policy but the question has been raised as to how they would contact those still in their flats to evacuate.

[cee-dee]

Airliners have to be capable of being evacuated in 90 seconds. How long does it take to evacuate a tower block like that?

[j_uk643]

if one looks at the names of the victims and compare them to the school kids who died at Aberfan I guarantee you would see a notable difference in heritage, and therein lies a problem!

What a callous comment to make over the deceased 

[angelah1847]

---

@cee-dee wrote:

Airliners have to be capable of being evacuated in 90 seconds. How long does it take to evacuate a tower block like that?

---

I have no idea.  There is a big difference between the 2 though.  With an airliner you have the crew there to give out instructions and guide those on board who are altogether in a group, with a tower block it's just the residents and they're spread  out across xx number of flats.  Also with an airliner they know exactly how many people to account for, they wouldn't know that for tower block.

[j_uk643]

Ah yes one must be allowed to talk about race & immigration, whatever the actual topic in question.Indeed one must try to skew everything in that direction to endlessly repeat the same propaganda, trying to pretend some actual concern in the process

Kellogg Kalahari you understand

[angelah1847]

Then I shall bow out of this discussion and close the door behind me as I'm not really into political conspiracy theories.

[j_uk643]

Tears & crying on the nightclub floor dahlinks