Value of silence

JOE BIDEN’S inauguration was spoilt for me by the BBC’s US correspondents, Katty Kay and Jon Sopel, who kept talking over the live speeches I really wanted to hear – like many other viewers, I suspect.

BBC editors should remind them of one of the basics of TV journalism – the value of silence. If they play back a recording of the inauguration, they will find that they repeatedly transgressed by offering inane chatter. There is always a problem when TV journalists fall in love with the sound of their own voices.