Thursday, December 12, 2013

'Move, move!' A glimpse of the manic mess of pre Nelson Mandela memorial service live footage the SABC deemed fit to send into the world.


Is this Safta winning news coverage?

Just a few seconds of the erratic, crazy, terribly bad, SABC pool camera pre coverage the South African public broadcaster filmed and piped live to other TV news channels and international broadcasters of the memorial service of Nelson Mandela at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday.

You just don't show this on television - live or otherwise - even if you have access to it and are filming it. Why the SABC's editors and control room operators, let alone the cameraman, didn't do better or know better, is anyone's guess.

You simply don't see this kind of messy, raw footage on other channels, networks and live major events (although it also exists and are fed to the control room) during other broadcasting events.


Who's this? Squatters? No. They're the ordinary South Africans who came to show last respects and to honour Nelson Mandela at his memorial service on Tuesday.

But in the rain they were forgotten. The people who really should have received top billing at Nelson Mandela's memorial service and who were literally left out in the cold, and who had to "hide" and find shelter underground from the rain and in the numerous access tunnels to the stadium.

Because the focus was on celebrities and international dignitaries and foreign notables, for these people there were not shelter against the rain. For them there were no umbrellas; no aides carrying cover. No swift walk-through VIP access, or servers offering tea and coffee.