Boris Johnson, J-Lo and the world’s angriest piece of theatre: the weird ways UK TV covered the US election

Boris Johnson, J-Lo and the world’s angriest piece of theatre: the weird ways UK TV covered the US election

Which anchor is part-vampire? Whose coverage was like being trapped in a hellish marriage? And whose was total genius … against all the odds?

Unless you’re in the very top percentile of political wonks, the best way to experience the US election results is to look at your phone when you wake up, groan to yourself and then go back to sleep. This is because, when watching a US election from these drizzly shores, nothing interesting happens until about 4am.

But try telling that to the UK’s media, which has a habit of treating US elections the same way dogs look at bollards they want to wee on. Both the BBC and ITV’s coverage kicked off a bit before 11pm last night, light years before anything worthwhile was scheduled to occur. Channel 4 went off even more half-cocked, diving into its coverage at 10pm. And then there was Sky News, which by 7.30pm was broadcasting endless split-screen footage of empty polling booths and slightly floppy lawn signs, like an awful Slow TV remake of 24.

Continue reading...

Read more at The Guardian

Save story

Topics

Related

Channel 4 ‘fired’ Boris Johnson from US election show for promoting his book, co-host says
World - The Guardian - November 6
Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on new memoir and the U.S. election
Top stories - CBS News - October 31
Boris Johnson and the bestseller trick
Business - Financial Times - November 2
Meta ‘hackathon’ devises ways to use AI system in UK public services
World - The Guardian - 2 days ago
World awaits US election results
Politics - The Hill - November 5
Dining across the divide: ‘The only thing we agreed on was our mutual dislike of Boris Johnson’
World - The Guardian - November 7
What the US election outcome means for Ukraine, Gaza and world conflict
Top stories - BBC News - October 29
Why it’s way easier to call US elections than pick stocks
World - Financial Times - November 8
US probe covers 1.4M Honda, Acura engines
Politics - The Hill - November 11

More from The Guardian

ICC issues arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged Gaza war crimes
World - The Guardian - 1 hour ago
Ukraine claims Russia fired intercontinental ballistic missile at Dnipro
World - The Guardian - 4 hours ago
Police report details sexual assault allegations against Pete Hegseth
World - The Guardian - 3 hours ago
First close-up image of a star outside Milky Way shows supergiant in ‘cocoon’
World - The Guardian - 1 hour ago
Son of woman killed by IRA condemns ‘cruel’ Disney series
World - The Guardian - 3 hours ago