Amateur-hour GB News is unfortunately live TV on a shoestring
Former DUP leader Arlene Foster covered the Twelfth of July marches on GB News
12th July, 2022.
GB News announcing it would host live coverage of the Twelfth always seemed like a blatant attempt to poke the BBC in the eye.
The upstart TV channel was positioning itself as riding to the rescue after horrible old auntie Beeb axed the live portion of its annual broadcasts.
With former DUP leader turned GB News host Dame Arlene Foster fronting coverage from an Orange parade in Armagh, what could possibly go wrong?
But on the basis of the hour-long programme produced, GB News need not have bothered. It has simply helped justify the BBC's decision for them.
Live television is difficult to execute well, especially a fluid event of this nature. Technical faults can crop up, proceedings may not run on schedule and any problems are magnified.
It is resource-heavy, with broadcasts requiring an unflappable team on screen and an army of people behind the scenes to ensure things run smoothly.
Amateur-hour GB News is unfortunately live TV on a shoestring.
The picture quality was sub-par, with the colours in footage from the parade appearing washed out. Not ideal for a programme aiming to showcase the "pageantry" of the celebrations.
Some camera shots in the pre-recorded segments appeared out of focus, almost like Vaseline had been smudged over the screen.
Sound was also a major issue. Dame Arlene and historian Dr Gavin Hughes were frequently drowned out by the noise levels from the marching musicians passing by.
Every so often the "action" would cut to the not-so-dynamic duo of former Coronation Street actor Charlie Lawson and GB News reporter Dougie Beattie (not to be confused with UUP leader Doug Beattie).
Viewers were treated to some shaky camerawork as they chatted between themselves and to bemused spectators in a manner verging on accidental Partridge.
ANT AND DEC HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT
One of the main problems from the outset was that Twelfth of July parades are not particularly riveting to broadcast live.
While the various different bands are enjoyable for people attending as a family-friendly occasion, on television after seeing a few they soon all look and sound the same.
Former Corrie actor Charlie Lawson telling it how it is in a shared society in NI in 2022.
To make matters worse, at one stage there was a break in the parading - leaving the team with nothing on-screen to talk about.
Dame Arlene did her best to anchor proceedings but the show regularly displayed the worst aspects of live TV, filling airtime with bland non-commentary. There are only so many times you can listen to people saying everything is "lovely" and "great to see".
It was also jarring that this broadcast was on a so-called "news" channel given how entirely unquestioning it was of events surrounding the Twelfth.
A segment on Eleventh Night bonfires made no mention of safety concerns after a man fell to his death, nor how some pyres had displayed flags, election posters and sectarian slurs.
For Dame Arlene and others in GB News who have previously accused the BBC of bias, the editorial choices of this programme showed absolutely zero sense of self-awareness.
Charlie Lawson speaking to GB News reporter Dougie Beattie during the TV channel's coverage of the Twelfth
The former First Minister has spoken about wanting to provide live coverage for housebound people like her own mother, which is an admirable move.
But the GB News coverage fell between two stools of explaining the Twelfth to a wider UK audience and engaging with the already faithful followers of Orangeism. In the end this may have satisfied no-one.
DON'T MENTION THE FLAGS!
We will have to wait for the final viewing figures but based on the YouTube stream of GB News, there was no noticeable uptick in ratings during the show.
Speaking to Dame Arlene shortly before the show began, fellow GB News presenter Bev Turner said: "You know, if you landed in from another planet and watched that you'd think, 'What are these human beings? What are they doing walking up and down like that with the flags?'"
With many thanks to: Belfast Live and Brendan Hughes Politicial reporter for the original publication.
Follow these links to find out more on this story: The 'staggering' cost to the public purse cleaning-up after 'Hatefest' and the 12th of July bonfires.
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