"Breaking News" - China style

News: "as it happens"

There is nothing more wonderful than watching BBC news broadcasting round-the-clock coverage of unfolding news stories, such as they did last week for the student protests in London.

They had a helicopter circling over Whitehall, and numerous cameramen actually in the streets, filming the protesters as they marched together.

You could tune in and watch every surge of the crowd, every slogan shouted and every explosive thrown onto the fire. The aerial shots allowed you to watch the mounted police group up, trot their way through the streets and then minutes later at ground level, you could see them appear - pushing the protesters back into contained areas.

To have such freedom in the media to report what is happening, openly broadcasting the people of this country in their outspoken attempts to change the things they disagree with - the whole scene was just beautiful.

 

China also employs this technique in their media. 

Officially though, protests don't happen in China, and therefore are never shown on TV.

So, baring in mind that Tiananmen '89 was never even acknowledged, what type of news story could possibly be of such urgent national interest to the Chinese people for it to be covered continuously, as it happens?

Well, the riveting news which occupied the majority of broadcasters airtime in China today was the live rescue of a young boy from a washing machine.

I kid you not.

Click HERE to watch the footage.

It was even jazzed up somewhat by the addition of several firefighters helping to free the three year old, by using a grotesquely large circular saw.

It makes one wonder what else might have been happening in the world today that was so embarassing the Chinese government may have wanted their people to remain ignorant of it...

"Ahem!! Wikileaks, China's U-turn on their North Korean 'brothers' Ahem!!"

I'm not saying anything...
;)