My impressions have been mainly from the ABC 24Hrs TV –
Little comment about the often large fuel loads shown in vision – grass thigh high – to what extent were the fires just natures hazard reduction burns a bit late.
Ludicrous comparisons to Ash Wednesday –
Rare and poor use of illegible map, I only ever saw one map, the reporters seem cartographically very limited –
Use of old footage without time/date stamp saying it is old –
One reporter at Montacute showed the same scene of smoke in far distance for days without any guide to viewers as to directions – where was north etc –
Too much reporting of the Premier – IMHO viewers want to hear from fire experts –
Days passed before we heard of the larger water bombers –
I recall a young lady reporter on a hilltop – was it Monday or Tuesday referring to six properties up there but the broadcast scene showed little evidence of fire and the camera never panned around – do reporters get sent out without a camera operator ?
The issue of not being able to get a count on lost homes went on for days.
At a time Wednesday late afternoon when BoM radar showed useful rain moving through the fire area – news services were v slow to mention the rain –
But the inevitable whinge about slippery tracks had to appear later.
I see Judith Sloan at Catallaxy has a post – Wrong again: journalistic standards fall even lower – on the issue of the PM being in Iraq at the time of the fires.