I note that the Guardian's headline is about a BA aircraft catching fire as it was just about to take off. All 172 passengers (only 172, on a Las Vegas to London??) escaped unharmed, and the captain seems to get a glowing report on how he handled the situation.
The same story is well down the BBC's list, and it seems that the Guardian had a reporter actually on the plane and therefore was able to give the story a personal slant. Lucky for them (and him!), but it begs the question about editorial decisions on lead stories. I often ponder on why or how a particular story makes it to the top. Some are obvious, of course, but some are decidedly 2rd rate items masquerading as top billing. The worst situation must be when there is no obvious choice and someone (or more likely a team) have to sit down and do some head scratching on what their paper should promote or relegate. The BBC headlined today with the Queen's long reign - pretty obvious that they would really, and even Guardian gave her second billing ...alongside a terrorist story.
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