[LDN]

With the emergency alert going off a minute early, BBC News (UK) was still in the middle of a guest interview. The alert klaxons could clearly be heard in the background as the guest waffled on, and the presenter evidently wasn't sure whether or not to interrupt for what seemed like a very long time. He eventually did so, precisely as the alert ended.

Perfect timing for what followed.

"We've heard the alert going off as you've been speaking... Let's go to some of our live shots now, up and down the country, of people receiving this alert." (Edited gif below - the live footage from each location was considerably, awkwardly longer).

ibb.co 
 

[*]Bristol: A curiously small cluster of people for such a buzzing city, sitting on a low wall, staring at their phones. Nothing is happening. There's no obvious reason for why we're being shown this footage. We could be looking at any group of people sitting in a park on any day of the year. 
[*]Cardiff: A view of another oddly quiet corner of another large and thriving city, in which absolutely no-one is looking at their phones, or giving even the slightest indication that they've received any kind of emergency alert. We're essentially being shown a handful of people having a nice day out in town. 
[*]Glasgow: A busy street! With many people! However, with the exception of a lady walking past as she speaks on the phone, the dozens of other people visible aren't even looking at their phones, and appear as oblivious to any alerts as the Cardiff shoppers did. Again, this is just more bafflingly worthless footage of people milling around a city. 


The "WTF was that" look on the presenter's face at the end of that footage speaks volumes. 

And if that weren't enough, then comes the torture of members of the public being asked, at length, for their vacuous thoughts and reactions regarding this thrilling event, because the new BBC News loves opinions more than ever! More time on opinions means less time and money wasted on all that dreary, expensive journalism! 

Lord (Reith), give me strength.