TODAY saw more than the passing of a much-loved and admired monarch. For today Elizabeth II set a new mark on history – for hers was the first death of a reigning monarch in the age of wall-to-wall television, the internet and social media.
When at the age of nine I heard of the death of her father, George Vi announced it was on a radio. My family shared letters and postcards to spread their feelings. It took days.
This evening we flicked through the digital channels. Some were off air, pointing viewers to the BBC with a placard. Some were broadcasting but without the adverts; just a station ident.
The BBC had little choice but to combine channels, restrain content and launch into a virtually endless programme of the life and times etc. It was done well; it had to be done. ITV was a little less forelocked.
Friday will dawn and we shall see the results of a night of social media, internet, and all that. How will we feel? What will we think. Willi all be too much, too little, too – digital?
