The Newsroom

Westminster Security Incident

Firearms incident on Westminster Bridge (March 2017)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
DV
dvboy
BBC News branded bulletin at midnight, not Newsday as is usual.

No back half hours until the 4:00 hour according to the EPG. Wednesday in Parliament moved to 4:30 (from 2:30), presumably there was no Hard Talk on World today either.
Last edited by dvboy on 23 March 2017 12:36am
LL
London Lite Founding member
BBC News branded bulletin at midnight, not Newsday as is usual.


No Newsday on World either at 11pm, simulcast of the NC instead.
AS
AlexS
Mike Embley starting an hour early with a BBC News Special from studio C.
MO
Mouseboy33
cat posted:
A technical question: I noticed both Sky and the BBC almost immediately using their live Westminster birds eye cameras (don't know the correct term). Sky have had theirs in the same vantage point (top of QEII?) for years

Sky had theirs up straight away, meaning they had live pictures moments after the event happened, as the news broke

- how are these controlled remotely? It seemed to take Sky a few minutes to start moving their camera and zooming in to the scene

- and why aren't these more commonly used. It always surprises me there aren't similar arrangements at Heathrow or Gatwick, given the frequency of incidents/weather problems etc there

I've always wondered and today seems to have proven their worth.


They are great arent they for immediate live pictures and very useful for weather shots and live breaking news. Some have derided tower cams on this site in the past, but they do prove to be a valuable source for getting pictures on air immediately. This serious incident was one such case that proves their value for a visual medium such as television. Until a reporter can arrive on scene or a chopper is scrambled to do a fly over these pics can be use to enhance coverage. These should be deployed in most major UK cities and at the major airports. (A couple atop the Shard in London, The Beetham in Manchester, Bullring in Birmingham, etc.) Brings to mind the ALFA Insurance Camera network in 3 Southern US states.
http://www.waff.com/category/95970/waff-48-alfa-camera-network
https://www.alfainsurance.com/about-alfa/newsroom/media-kit/weather-camera-network
DE
deejay
Around the turn of the millennium the BBC had lots of 'weather cameras'. They were often used on Breakfast weather forecasts and sometimes during the day on News 24. These were often a rooftop camera on each BBC building, sometimes in addition to each station's 'Window on the World' camera, which provided the backdrop for the regional news.

The Westminster camera, while not a weather camera officially, was certainly very useful yesterday in getting the first pictures to air.
MA
Markymark

The Westminster camera, while not a weather camera officially, was certainly very useful yesterday in getting the first pictures to air.


The camera on the roof of Millbank Tower (I think) that provided the horrendous pictures of the car driving across the bridge, I assume that footage came from a continuous loop recording device, that runs 24/7 (for just this occurrence) ?
Whose camera is that, the BBC's, pooled broadcaster one, or police/tfl etc ?
JV
James Vertigan Founding member
I remember during the Docklands bombing in 1996, L!VE TV had a camera pointed out of one of the windows of Canary Wharf instead of their usual programming.
HB
HarryB
Sky News Sunrise began at 5am today with Sarah Jane in Westminster
SP
Steve in Pudsey
I've seen shots from the Westminster roof camera behind a generic and low-tech apology graphic when BBC Parliament has fallen off air on one of the pres sites.
BC
Blake Connolly Founding member
I remember during the Docklands bombing in 1996, L!VE TV had a camera pointed out of one of the windows of Canary Wharf instead of their usual programming.


If I remember right, the building was evacuated and the last thing they did before leaving was to switch to that camera, so it was left up all morning the next day.

Can't entirely trust my memory, though, because my other memory of that had always been this front page, but looking at the date it was clearly an earlier and much smaller bombing:

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03355/daily-telegraph-fr_3355190k.jpg
LX
lxflyer
BBC Breakfast (Charlie & Sally), BBC World News (James Menendez) and Sky News (Sarah Jane) all broadcasting from the street at Millbank.

ITV GMB (Piers and Susanna) broadcasting from the far side of Westminster Bridge.
RK
Rkolsen

The Westminster camera, while not a weather camera officially, was certainly very useful yesterday in getting the first pictures to air.


The camera on the roof of Millbank Tower (I think) that provided the horrendous pictures of the car driving across the bridge, I assume that footage came from a continuous loop recording device, that runs 24/7 (for just this occurrence) ?
Whose camera is that, the BBC's, pooled broadcaster one, or police/tfl etc ?


Maybe it was one of those horrendous IP cameras that use a standard internet connection shared by many others. They've become prevalent enough in the US and have been used by networks.

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