Not made for TV

The TV-news networks here love possible jumpers. This week, there were several news crews on the roof of a 7-story building along with the police and a very distraught man. Usually, the police get him (it's always a man) confused, and then jump him. But this week, it didn't go like that.

They lunged for him, and he broke loose, and then he leaped right off the roof. Then they showed his body on the ground, pixellated for our safety. Pretty bad day for the police, but probably good for the TV networks.

So, it was bad TV, but not as bad as a few months ago, when a fire in an apartment block was extensively covered while it burned. The alley it was in was too small for fire trucks, everyone has bars on their windows, and the emergency descent ropes were screwed up, with the result that the cameras caught several people dropping to their deaths. It was no WTC, thank goodness, but it was much more close-up.