UKC

I find it very strange that through out the reporting of the disaster in Glencoe this weekend that the leader of GMT has been quoted on the tel and in most news accounts, why strange well the guy is on holiday in Spain, do they not have a deputy leader, seems odd.

In reply to elcid:
taking the load off a deputy who was involved in a rescue or simply that the journalists had the leader's mobile number would be obvious reasons

In reply to elsewhere:

Got it in one...

In reply to elcid: What a bizarre post. Of course Glencoe MRT have a deputy. But do you not think he may have been just a wee bit busy?

In reply to drunken monkey:
So who had the time and give the chap in Spain all the details?? or do you mean that he's position is such that he's kept up to date even when sitting on the throne in spain??
That's what's called bizarre

In reply to elcid:

I know nothing about how Glencoe MRT operate but that's probably a lot more than you.

One phone call to their leader in Spain would give him the details needed for the many news outfits that would want information. This leaves the team free to get on with their grim task.

MRT members have to earn a living like the rest of us, the leader of the Glencoe team has to go to Spain with his work, maybe you should pay him to stay at home to answer the phone.

In reply to elcid:

Wtf. Get out :p

In reply to elcid:
I find it astounding what some people will find to complain about in situations like this.

In reply to elcid: Who d'ye think the local press are going to try and call?

And do you honestly reckon that even in Spain, that John Grieve (or any other MRTTL for that matter) will not know when there is a job of this magnitude going on on their area of responsibility?

Even though he wasnt in Glencoe at the time, he may have been helping out remotely.

Also, a lot of the MRT's call their members out by Text message nowadays, so he could well have found out initially that way.

In reply to elcid:

This isn't hard. Modern comms make it easy for experienced team members and specialist officers to provide support remotely.

John Grieve is allowed a holiday and there are plenty guys in Glencoe MRT who can run a rescue. However, though good press engagement is always a good idea, it is not essential to the rescue and therefore if police officers, or team members, not engaged in the rescue can deal with it then that is helpful. John is undoubtedly one of Scottish Mountain Rescue's most experienced practitioners in the field of press engagement.

In reply to elcid:

I sometime wonder if these posts from brand new users about "newsworthy" incidents are actually fishing trips by media types trying to get a different line on the story - rather than miserable trolls - either way it's a pretty unedifying effort at using the forum.

In reply to elcid:

not as odd as you.

In reply to Jim Fraser:

Also a policy of one spokesperson. The rest of the team keep quiet.

In reply to cander:

My thoughts exactly. Either a very poor taste troll given the circumstances, or a ploy by a journo to allow him to use "Sources in the climbing community have claimed.." in some shit stirring article. Either way probably best not to respond any further.

In reply to elcid: This is a dreadfully researched posting as there was at least one tv report in which the Deputy Leader was on camera briefing on the basics of the incident and, amongst a number of other immediate responses by some folk on the hill nearby which have not been detailed, he commented on the rapid response from a Naval flight that was already in the area and on-scene very swiftly.

In reply to estivoautumnal:

That was my thought. It means that any gruesome details don't need to be revealed to the press. also keeps the facts and opinions separate

In reply to elcid:

All of the TV footage i've seen and comments i've read in the papers have been from Andy Nelson who is the Deputy Team Leader..... think your post is a bit irrelevant!

In reply to elsewhere:

Yep, my old job involved talking a lot with journalists and they'll give you a call anywhere anytime when a story breaks. I've done interviews from campsites in France, a number of different ferry ports, in a museum for instance. The tv news sent a crew to the airport to do a piece to camera in the 10 minutes spare I had before leaving to go on holiday once. Having a "work phone" and turning it off is the only way to avoid it once journos have your number.