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I did like the US election website and especially liked Justin Webb's blog.

Perhaps, given the wide access to broadband in the UK, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ could limit their vast coverage of similar stories to specific web areas rather than flooding the terestrial news with the same material?

That way those who want to know as much as they can about a subject can get all they need to know at the click of a mouse and the news can be a general overview of many different stories? 15 minutes out of a 30 minute news broadcast was far too unbalanced.

Several points;

1 since when is a rise from 6million to 9.2million a 65% rise? It is a 53% rise. Mr Hermann has clearly got his statistical knowledge from a Florida college.

2 Half these people were from the UK, and half from abroad (27% from the US). A proud boast from a man who seems to forget that the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is paid for by UK license payers, not from international or american people.

3 People were actually only interested in the vote by state and the victory speech. Or in simple terms, the facts and statistics thart mattered, not the bland rhetoric, not the pollsters, not the unending interviews with political party lobbyists 'bigging up' their candidate. What a shame the whole ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ didn't just stick to announcing the results as they came in, and the post result speeches by Obama and McCain. Instead, they swamped our airwaves for weeks with rubbish, that your own report now clearly shows went unwatched and disregarded by the paying public.

Your blog clearly shows that the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ should have had 1 person in a studio in London announcing the results. Instead, almost every ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ reporter was flown to the States, at the license payers cost, put into hotels and fed in fancy restaurants. With the whole sports team having had freebies in China this Summer, is it surprising that we (who pay for the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳) get no real news coverage, no world affairs, no mainstream sport and constant repeats.

You forgot one thing

Impartiality

It was a RAH RAH OBAMA parade from start to finish

Congrats on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s Great results....

I'm sorry. I really am. But I just cannot get used to this flooding of the US of A with all things ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.

Let us be quite American about this.

What's in it for us?

Walrus:
I'll be "quite American" about it and say I found the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s coverage spot-on and a welcome relief from the glitzy gimmicks on CNN and MSNBC. It was a bit pedestrian at times, but unlike almost any of the US MSM, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ have a global audience to reach, and they tried very hard to make sense out of what is certainly a complicated event for any media outlet.

Kudos to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ for pulling off the best coverage of the election online--it was a class act.

@emamel (post number 2)

Just to mention something about your second point that seems to get missed all the time: The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is not just paid for by UK licence-payers, but by advertising revenues from their operations abroad (³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ World etc).

Perhaps we can get confirmation on this, but I think it's fair to assume that ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ World would be picking up the majority of the tab for the election night coverage. And even if that's not the case I think it was money well spent. This election was extremely significant and I think the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s coverage did it justice.

I think I'm right in saying, however, that bbc.co.uk is funded by the TV Licence.

The point is that we should be proud that such a large number of Americans were visiting a British broadcaster for news of their own election. Are the websites of the American TV networks your first port of call when there's a big UK story you want to find out more about?

Just a thought...

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

On the topic of 'grammar', which seems a big issue at the moment on this blog. Perhaps Mr Herrmann may wish to know that time does not go through anything. Knives go through butter. But time does not pass through. It goes 'from' and 'to' and may go 'until', but never through.

I think on the main issue, there was far too much coverage. The important thing is to report the facts. However, in an election where 99% of people living in the UK (and paying the licence fee) are not eligible to vote, going through all the minutae of every state, every speech, every campaign leaflet, every change of costume, etc., was a tad too much.

time fly's like an arrow, fruit flys like a bannana ..duuh?

I find it quite hard to believe that you folk are getting at each other for grammatical mistakes and original spelling?

I suppose when all ensconsed in such aminority interest site as ..um ..the USA presidential race that it was bound to go bad when you were denied your daily fix.

May I say, on behalf of the British people, those of us who have luxuriated in our great democracy based on individual soakings as we walk to the booth, are glad that this show is over and off our air waves.

It is done thank God, now let us do better things and ponder how Obama's Billionair advisor is going to kill of their Car Industry ..

.. or hadn't you guys heard about that one? :-)

The US elections were covered brilliantly by the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳. Balance, objectivity and verve gave readers and viewers an excellent insight into the US political landscape and the power of democracy in ensuring timely change. The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ ensured that viewpoints of Democrat and Republican politicians were fully aired. Now that the elections are over the fasciinating transformation of putting election promises into reality will be zealously reported by the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳. Following the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ documentaries and in-depth reporting our understanding of the United States has grown exponentially. Keep up the excellent work editors.

The coverage would of been a lot better if the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ hadn't been so obviously rooting for Obama to win.

I know most people wanted him to win, myself included, but i expect more from the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.

Why do i pay a license fee for a organisation to effectively be a propoganda machine for a U.S political party?

Am i to expect the same standards of behaviour during the next UK general election?

Will i see pro labour/brown popoganda spewing from the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳?

What is the point of putting short news videos on the website when we have to sit through a 30-second advert, then the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News logo EVERY SINGLE TIME? I can't be bothered with ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ video anymore.

#10 Dear Blog originator at the Beeb.

Thank you for actually reading the comments of the public, I find this very reassuring.
I should have been even more impressed if you had spelt my username correctly!

Well, I just wanted to comment on the sad news of Harold Pinter's death, but couldn't figure out how to go to that specific place. No "comments" on the story page.

Sooo-oo, many years ago we were in London (from the U.S.) and saw Pinter's "Betrayal" with that brilliant artist, Michael Gambon at the Royal Theatre on the Thames.

I can recall every moment of that breathtaking experience as if it were yesterday.

We have seen Michael Gambon in many productions on stage and on TV and of course, he is the master interpreter of Pinter's work. He opens this week in another Pinter play. how lucky England is that these two men appeared on the World stage at the same time.

Thank you Mr. Pinter, for all the richness you have added to my life.