News, not quite as it happens

Next to my desk at work is a small TV monitor so we can watch News 24 in case of major news stories. But because we work in an open-plan office, we have to keep the sound down. It means that sometimes we get the headlines from one story, with pictures from another, or sometimes the odd headline that just cracks us up.

A few weeks ago, David Cameron tried to maul Tony Blair with a few terrier nips, some of his focus-grouped soundbites designed to hide the real policies of the Tories and give away the fact that they agree with labour most of the time. As BBC News 24 showed us the footage, the rolling headlines gave us this little gem:



Of course, in the interests of balance, the headline was still there for the reverse shot of Blair:



As debates go, it was a bit of a train crash for both sides. I'd imagine. I couldn't hear it.

Sometimes, News TV offers up an unexpected treat, such as this expert on Climate Change (what we used to call 'the ozone's being fucked by big factories but my aerosol is getting the blame' in the old days). Fans of the TV sitcom Friends might remember one of Phoebe Buffay's old pseudonyms and get why I think this is so funny.



This reminds me of one of a sketch from The Day Today in which Gerry Adams (played by Steve Coogan) was undermined by having to breathe in helium before delivering his speech. How clever to get a man called 'Felangi' to be a TV pundit on global warming. Makes us feel like it's not even happening, doesn't it?