Coverage of D-Day

[Andrew Curnow]

I have to start by saying that I'm not for one minute suggesting that the anniversary of D-Day shouldn't be commemorated and marked in some way, of course not. It's entirely appropriate, and it's hard not to be by both proud and deeply moved by the site of the surviving veterans.

However--

What I have felt a little... uncomfortable about, are things like (for example) the Radio 2 breakfast show coming live from Arromanches. Or Benedict Cumberbatch reading the news reports of the day. Or, especially, the huge wave of publicity for the BBC's show this evening, "featuring Patrick Stewart, etc".

I'm sure it's all well-intentioned, it just worries me that it's a very fine line between respectful commemoration of a real event, and making almost an 'entertainment event' out of it. There's a risk, I think, that in getting actors to give performances full of gravitas, and putting in some emotional music, that you start to move from marking the occasion, to dramatizing it. Is it really TV/Radio's place to, as it seems, lead the way in marking this anniversary?

I'm probably not expressing myself very well, but I am curious to know if anybody else feels the same?

[Perry Vale]

It's entirely appropriate, and it's hard not to be by both proud and deeply moved by the site of the surviving veterans.

Agreed.

I watch very little mainstream telly (and the BBC) these days, so it's difficult for me to directly comment, but I think I understand what you're saying. And that's probably the reason I don't watch much, it's a general dumbing down of output, hanging everything on the coathook of celebrity.

My own problem with the coverage is the pandering to Washington's script, or narrative, with news coverage framing the story into "bad guy Putin having to share stage with western leaders". Some more mention of Russia's (or the Soviet Union) huge sacrifice in turning the tide in WWII, would have been respectful.

And then they fawn over Obama's speech, a man who regularly kills innocent civilians, women and children across Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere with Drone strikes. A man who won't close down Guantanamo Bay. A man who legalises indefinite detention without trial for his own people. A man who wanted to bomb Syria on false pretences. Shameful.