BBC Is it any different today
21 January 1973
I am returning from Washington DC on a VC10 and at 03:00Z I am invited on to the flight deck and listen to the BBC World News.
Headline story "Washington DC was a nervous city yesterday ringed by 30,000 troops for the inauguration of Richard Nixon."
Fact 1: Washington DC is always ringed by at least 30,000 troops because of the number of bases in area.
Fact 2: We had driven in from Maryland through 14th St and K St passing within half a mile of the White House and then by the Lincoln Memorial and onto the George Washington Parkway to go out to Dulles Airport.
Fact 3: A few extra Police around than normal and a few extra road closures but never saw a US Serviceman.
So has the BBC changed a lot or is it because with the extra news channels and the Internet we are able to judge it performance against others