Tap, Tap.

Thanks, again, feanelwa: she's drawn my attention to an article on BBC News about low rainfall.

That news story is deeply unsatisfactory. We've had a dry January: big deal. How common is it for rainfall in a month be down 70%, year-on-year? Oh dear, it doesn't say. Driest since 1997, and that's all we know.

Ah, but that would mean the BBC publishing statistics, not just sensational numbers.

Okaaayyyy, let's ask if a journalist can put the figures into context. Give a little background. You know, the significance of what you're reading. Did you know that there's a 'replenishment season', a winter period when reservoirs refill from all the runoff that, in summer, is sucked up by growing plants? I knew that. Maybe you knew that already. Now you definitely know it, because you just read it here. But we didn't read it there, and it's a surprising omission.

Why should you have read it on the BBC?

The significance of that little gem of information is that, by mid-March, it can rain, it can pour, it can flood and it'll make very little difference to the reservoirs. Check the calendar: mid-March isn't very far away. How does our cumulative rainfall, in the current replenishment season, compare with last year's?

And what are the current overall reservoir levels - thanks, Auntie Beeb, for giving us a couple of dramatic 'headline' numbers - How much water do we have?

But that would be, like, research. Investigation. Legwork. Journalists don't have time to do that kind of thing, there's celebrities to interview.

Now take a look at February water levels over the last thirty years (if you can find them) and ask: which of those years had hosepipe bans? Low pressure? Standpipes and trucked-in water?

But that would be, like, analysis. You weren't expecting that on a 'serious news channel', were you? No, I thought not.

Not that I'd want to be alarmist, but it would be nice to know how today's situation compares with 1976, when the public drinking water supply failed and we had water tanks at the end of the road.

But that would be, like public service broadcasting, calmly reporting the facts in context, reassuring the public, contradicting the alarmists. But there's far better stories in panic buying and fuel shortages, and everybody, for some reason, rushing to stock up. Me, I blame the Daily Mail for that kind of thing.

Of course, the BBC being all about polemics and politics, they could get one hell of a story by comparing the published wastage figures on a copmpany-by-company comparison, versus their actual rainfall and their eagerness to impose supply restrictions. And maybe a comparison of how much how much they are spending, year-on-year, to cut wastage from their leaky water mains. And, for that matter, how much they are paying their directors, and their shareholders.

But then, that would be like, journalism.

Did you know that BBC news & Current Affairs have over 4,000 staff? I have no idea what they do all day, and I would welcome your suggestions. Make them amusing and well-written as well as factually-inaccurate and informationally worthless, just so nobody will confuse them with real journalism and sue us all for libel.

If I had some spare time - not very much spare time - I could write a short, informative and factual article about this year's projected water shortages. I could also point out that these stories have come out during the week that the water companies are currently in negotiations with the regulator about their charging regime, their permissible return on assets, and investment budget for pipe renewal. I knew that. Some of you knew that, too. I bet you could have written a better article.

Any of you could write one good news article a day, and maybe we all should. Because there are reasons people are turning to the blogosphere, with all its reliability and trust and quality-control problems, and away from conventional news channels. That news article is the best reason I've seen all day, but you can be sure it isn't the only one.


Meanwhile, if feanelwa's getting a rainwater butt, maybe she should invest in some drinking-water filters, too.