With today’s crowded skies, you might think at first glance that this headline from the Peterborough Evening Telegraph website was a bit of a case of dog bites man…
The plane truth later emerged however when it was revealed that the aircraft was a Nato surveillance plane on a training flight around the UK. The headline was duly changed to ‘NATO pilots use Peterborough airspace for training.’
First headline probably written by a reporter and changed when someone more experienced saw it
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I love the idea of there being ‘Peterborough airspace’.
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The “Peterborough airspace” reference reminds me of a management policy handed down some years ago at my multi-district workplace. Headlines on all stories, large and small, had to include the relevant town or village as a reference point. Hence some little gems like “Rye dog hit by car” and “Broad Oak cow escapes from field.” It was a sad day when the policy was abandoned.
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This story caused hilarity on the Telegraph’s website – the reader comments were better than the story.
Many were mocking, along the lines of: “Hello, Telegraph Newsdesk – I’ve just seen a big lorry on the A1. Would you like a photo?”
It was a complete non-story: these planes fly over the city and large parts of England all the time. There are bases in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. It just happened to be a clear day and one circled the city a few times creating an interesting contrail.
It’s a shame the newsdesk didn’t ring the RAF. Perhaps it was a slow news day?
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