Oct 19, 2008
You can tell we’re heading for a recession when…
…the BBC starts saving money by using stock library shots which date back to the time of the last recession in the early 1990s.
How do we know?
In the evening news report today (Sunday 19th October), there was a report about the credit crunch and its ongoing affect on mortgage-payers, leading to lots of people not being able to pay, and losing their homes, and as a result the government is proposing a package of help measures for those facing repossession.
Over the report narration, a selection of stock footage of homes up for sale was shown, which I captured (sorry for terrible quality of image):
These, presumably, came from the BBC stock footage library and were classified “recession” “property” “mortgage” or similar.
The thing is, while the footage used in the bottom shot is relatively recent, the footage in the top shot dates back to sometime before May 1990. At least.
You can tell by the use of the 01 dialling code on the estate agents’ boards. The dialling code changed in early May 1990 to 0181 (outer) and 0171 (inner), before changing again in 2000 to 020 + 8 digits.
At no point in the news report did the journalist refer to the last recession, or any historical context.
So either this is a researcher slip-up, or it’s a confirmation from the BBC that they regard the current housing situation as, in fact, indistinguishable from the last big property crash of the early nineties – or alternatively, they’ve run out of money to commission new stock shots, and so are recycling old footage wherever possible.
Now that’s a news story in itself.
Hi Meg,
Well spotted, but in usual geek autistic-spectrum fashion I should point out that London numbers changed three times: in 1990 from 01 to 071 and 081; then in 1995 from 071/081 to 0171/0181; then finally in 2000 to 020 (7/8) as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_the_United_Kingdom#01_for_London
(Yeah, Wikipedia for a source. I know, I know)
Cheers,
Tim
Well, yes – as someone who spent a long time tippexing through address books for friends and family, I know exactly when the various changes happened.
But that’s how I came to the conclusion that the stock footage must have predated May 1990 – the number on the board in the shot is clearly an 01 number.
I didn’t bother mentioning the 071/081 1995 change, because it wasn’t really relevant here. But you’re right, in the interests of obsessively full exposition, we should point it out.
I really need to get out more/stop focusing on details…
Tim
Well spotted Meg! I didn’t pick up on that at all, it could (& arguably should) be explored in more detail but then I’m sure most professional news providers have their own tricks for keeping down costs with stock photos and footage so.. I’m fairly sure I see the same photos being used time and again in the free papers, but then I’m commuting when I pick them up so not in the best frame of mind.
& Tim don’t change, the world needs pedants and people who pay attention to the details, keeps the rest of us on our toes!
perhaps they are houses that have been on the market for a long time?