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Veteran international correspondent Michael Buerk has expressed his disapproval of the BBC’s in depth coverage of Liam Payne’s loss of life.
The BBC journalist, 78, identified for his landmark 1984 Six O’Clock News bulletin in regards to the famine in Ethiopia that triggered the discharge of the charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, and Bob Geldof’s 16-hour music marathon Live Aid, described Payne as a “drugged up, faded, boy band singer”.
Payne’s loss of life on the age of 31 dominated information headlines after the One Direction star fell from a 3rd story resort balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 16 October. Multiple substances, together with pink cocaine, have been allegedly discovered in toxicology stories, although the Public Prosecutors Office say the evaluation just isn’t but accomplished.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Buerk claimed Payne’s loss of life shouldn’t have been of such curiosity to any of the BBC information programmes, together with Today and the 10 O’Clock News.
When requested how international reporting has modified since his Ethiopia report, the broadcaster stated there was “more of an appetite for seriousness” on the peak of his profession and slammed the channel’s curiosity in Payne’s loss of life.
“Last week, this programme decided that the most important thing that had happened in the world was that a drugged up faded boy band singer had fallen off a balcony,” he stated.
“Even the 10 O’clock News, which is normally good on these things, thought it was the second most important thing that happened in the world.”
Buerk continued: “If you look at the news these days, they seem to be hammering away at the same half dozen stories while a whole continent goes unmentioned month after month.”
Listeners have been shocked by the broadcaster’s feedback. “Blimey,” one individual wrote on X/Twitter. “He seemed so… disdainful.
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“There was no need for him to be so dismissive, it just felt sneery,” they added.
Payne rose to fame as a member of One Direction, one of the most well-liked boy bands in historical past. The group was shaped on actuality competitors collection The X Factor in 2010, the place Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson every auditioned as solo acts earlier than becoming a member of the five-piece group.
The singer was pronounced lifeless on October 16, after emergency providers responded to a resort supervisor’s name about an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”
The 911 name was made at 5:01pm native time, shortly earlier than Payne’s loss of life round 10 minutes later. The resort worker informed the operator that emergency providers have been wanted “urgently,” noting that the resort room had a balcony.
“We need you to send us someone urgently because, well, we don’t know if the guest’s life is at risk,” they stated. “He is in a room that has a balcony. And well, we’re a bit afraid that he does something that could put his life at risk.”
Alberto Crescenti, head of the native emergency providers, informed Buenos Aires Times that “there was no possibility” for first responders to save lots of Payne’s life as he had “very serious injuries.”
Buenos Aires police later discovered Payne’s resort room “in complete disarray,” with packs of clonazepam, a central nervous system depressant, in addition to power dietary supplements and different over-the-counter medication strewn about and “various items broken.”
They added {that a} whiskey bottle, lighter, and mobile phone have been retrieved from the inner resort courtyard the place Payne’s physique was discovered.
In an announcement issued by Payne’s spokeswoman, his household stated: “We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul. We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space at this awful time.”
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