All this media-esque chatter about avoiding built up areas really is the preserve of sky news anchors who have to fill air time.
You are presumably implying that the AAIB report into the last time this happened at Heathrow, and their conclusions and recommendations, all referred to above, was somehow written by Sky News journalists .....
Furthermore, the westerly approach to Heathrow is about the only one in the South-East of the UK which is sustained over a built up area. Any who are actually looking out of the window on approach to Gatwick, Stansted, etc will have noticed they are almost entirely over clear country. It follows that comments like "you would need London airport in the Hebrides to avoid built up areas" are just unprofessional hyperbole.