The Newsroom

RIP Sir Alastair Burnet

(July 2012)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
AS
Asa Admin
A nice report and lovely tribute with Alastair's anecdote, the old NAT theme and slide to fade. Not someone from my era but clearly a well respected broadcaster.
DF
DrewF
Doesn't that wonderful music just walk all over the wishy-washy one we have now! A great tribute from Alistair and ITN.
IT
itsrobert Founding member
DrewF posted:
Doesn't that wonderful music just walk all over the wishy-washy one we have now! A great tribute from Alistair and ITN.


Absolutely. It should never have been dropped, even in 1992. What an amazing piece of news music. All the ITV News themes since 1995 have been based on that piece, and each one has become more wishy-washy. Retro is definitely fashionable now so I think they'd get away with bringing it back given the history of the programme.
VM
VMPhil
Someone has uploaded Sir Alastair's final News at Ten to YouTube:

WO
Worzel
Very sad news, another legend passes on. Sad
VM
VMPhil
Apologies if this has already been posted.

Sir Alastair Burnet 'was everything I ever aspired to be' - Alastair Stewart
http://www.itv.com/news/2012-07-20/alastair-burnet-was-everything-i-ever-aspired-to-be/

Burnet 'set the bar high and we merely looked up' - Mark Austin
http://www.itv.com/news/2012-07-20/itn-colleague-alastair-burnet-set-the-bar-high-and-we-merely-looked-up/
JW
JamesWorldNews
I think it kind of says it all about ITV News today that on a day where a News at Ten legend has passed away the News at Ten is bumped to 10.30pm to make way for a light entertainment show.

Not sure if this is playable outside the UK, but the ITV News tribute from the website: http://vimeo.com/46097021


Thank you very much indeed for that clip.
JW
JamesWorldNews
Here is the video for those who missed the tribute at the end of tonight's News at Ten (Thirty).



Wonderfully fitting tribute and well done to yesterdays ITN team for piecing all that together. As possibly one of the oldest members here and who grew up right through his time on News at Ten, I can relate to each and every comment stated in Alastair Stewart's commentary. And I often wondered what he would say at the end of the bulletin as the lights faded. It would always appear to be something jovial, almost ribbing.

And the old News at Ten theme at the end? What a marvelous tribute that was too.

Thanks, VirginMediaPhil for posting the video. I appreciate it.
JW
JamesWorldNews
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2176770/Sir-Alastair-Burnet--A-fellow-newsreader-pays-tribute.html

Selina Scott on Sir AB.
DF
DrewF
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2176770/Sir-Alastair-Burnet--A-fellow-newsreader-pays-tribute.html

Selina Scott on Sir AB.


It is a shame to see Selina's bitterness shine through in that article.
IT
itsrobert Founding member
DrewF posted:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2176770/Sir-Alastair-Burnet--A-fellow-newsreader-pays-tribute.html

Selina Scott on Sir AB.


It is a shame to see Selina's bitterness shine through in that article.


Maybe, but what she says is in my opinion an accurate assessment of British broadcasting in 2012. No modern newsreader comes close to his professionalism and dedication. Can you imagine Alastair Burnet prancing about on a dancing show? Or 'tweeting' about random nothingness? His type of newscaster knew their stories inside out, wrote their own scripts and saw the news itself as far more important than themselves. Whilst many newsreaders may well still write their own scripts, how many can you say don't have big egos alongside or could throw the scripts out of the window and tell the news? I know someone who worked alongside John Suchet for several years and he told me that Suchet would regularly stray far from the autocue; he knew the stories so well he could just tell them to viewers. Isn't that what a newscaster should be? These days a lot of "talent" gets on TV because they're attractive. To deny this is an insult to the likes of Burnet, Gall, Suchet and the rest of the old guard, for it suggests that modern newscasters are as qualified for the job as they were. In many cases, they're not.
DF
DrewF
Yes, I agree absolutely with what you are saying itsrobert and I do agree with some of things Selina was saying too - however there was definitely some bitterness in that article that I think would have been better left out. No matter anyway - it still gives a new insight into Sir Alistair's way of working!

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