Water blogged

I couldn't help noticing while watching both ITV and BBC news reports on the flooding last night that both news channels seem to be trying to outdo each other in "total immersion" TV coverage.

If they weren't up in their helicopters they were thigh deep in brown water. Wellies and a mac simply aren't enough for the intrepid flood reporter. But why stop at thigh waders? I'm surprised that a BBC requisition for breast waders hasn't gone out yet to get its news teams even deeper in to the story.

A smug ITV reporter stole a march last night, however, by reporting from his canoe. I'm wondering, given the BBC's reputation for honesty, whether there might be extra crew among the outdoor units with wind makers and buckets of water to ensure weather extremes on camera.

The BBC even had its weatherman out on the streets of Gloucester yesterday. Is this a kind of punishment, the sort that shoots the messenger? I can imagine the producer saying: "You gave us this bloody weather so get out and get under it."

Shark bait

John just sent me a picture of a Great White shark following a canoeist. Great picture if it's real, I said. The trouble with so many Photoshop images today is that it's hard to tell what is real and what has been doctored. Then he sent me the full magazine article so see for yourself. Would you test the benign tendencies of a Great White in your little canoe? Personally I would have been paddling fast enough to take off.

There's some interesting examples of picture doctoring alongside some genuine photographs here at Snopes.com.