Good grief that promo is basically evidence that Nine News Queenslandâs sensationalism is beyond help. Whatâs with that exclamation mark? Absolutely hideous.
The latter option is feasible, but can you imagine a large crowd lining up along Queens Road on Sunday afternoon trying to get a glimpse of F1 cars through the barbed wire fence? That will be very dangerous.
This weekâs Moomba festival in Melbourne still managed to attract a large crowd under the cloud of coronavirus.
Well they did think tonight that standing outside a hospital on the Gold Coast was a good idea to anchor the bulletin while ignoring the address to the nation by the PM. Ratings will probably support their decision - who wants to listen to a politician as opposed to hearing about a Hollywood superstar.
Which brings us back to Australian sportsâ strange new philosophical dilemma: If Richmond plays Carlton at an empty MCG next Thursday night, does it make a sound?
Notionally you would think TV rightsholders would be unfazed, given those who donât attend matches would be likely to watch them at home.
But does a match without crowd atmosphere have the same viewing appeal as a frenzied blockbuster?
Iâm surprised that various media companies are not protecting their âassetsâ better from the virus. Just this morning, even on breakfast radio, announcers were needlessly exposed to extra people in the studio - on 4KQ a former cricketer seemed to be interviewed in the studio while on ABC Radio it was a contest winner.
I would be keeping the âtalentâ away from these sort of unnecessary interactions. The same goes for TV where Iâd be having the majority of interviews were possible via live links and have as few people in the studio as possible including no audience - why take unnecessary risks?
ACM need someone with actual grammar knowledge to proof-read (bold emphasis added):
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said events could still go ahead this weekend as authorities were âreally confidentâ there was no community transition of the virus.
âWe have one case of COVID-19 in the ACT and all of the close contacts of that person were tracked down yesterday and either isolating and being tested as required and so we donât have that community transition. And so this weekend, that advice still stands.â
But my opinion is a bit more complex than that. While Coronavirus is obviously a serious issue that should be reported by the media, some elements of the coverage (eg, the panic buying frenzy of toilet paper and other basic products) has been over the top and if anything, potentially adding a can of petrol to the fire of general hysteria.
Having said that, the cancellation (or closing off to crowds) of sport and other major events is an entirely appropriate measure to take because if something were go ahead and a Coronavirus outbreak happened, weâd no doubt have plenty of âWhy wasnât the event cancelled?â commentary and potential class action cases.
Agered. Which is why I stuck with ABC news coverage . They just reported the facts, and they didnât create this huge panic like the commerical news has done in hte past month or so. Can only imagine what Sky News were doing to create panic with the likes of Paul Murray and Andrew Bolt.