NANAIMO REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE

MEDIA PERSONNEL NEED TO REMEMBER
THE REASON BEHIND THE SERVICE

The well attended Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph in downtown Nanaimo shows that many of us have not forgotten.

The forty minute service helped those in attendance call to remembrance the sacrifices that have been and are being made to protect the way of life we all cherish and perhaps take for granted.

Someone needs remind the 'media' types that this service is not being put on so they may fill some dead air at news time and that during the actual ceremony is not the time to be milling about getting your footage.

There was one news camera set up on a tripod, in a fixed position which I presume provided coverage for Shaw cable. This is not the coverage I am referring to however. It was the three other media types who were milling about around the Cenotaph while the ceremony was in progress that was offensive.

Of note was the Channel A camera guy who at one point had his camera about two feet away from the RCMP honor guard on one corner of the Memorial. You would think the news guy was at the circus or something. There were at least two other guys taking stills, which while not as offensive were getting in peoples way during the service so they could get their 'pics'.

I would like to suggest to those in charge of this solemn service that these media types be given five minutes at the start of the service to get their shots and then for the duration of the Service they stand quietly with the rest of the crowd and remember why we are all really there.

Note: The picture above was taken by myself before the Service started and was taken from behind the fence with a fairly inexpensive camera with limited telephoto capacity. The point? There is no need to be 'in the faces', during the actual conducting of the ceremony.