Giant seagull appears behind Nine newsreader Peter Hitchener

By Antonia Magee
Herald Sun
October 22, 2009 12:01am

IN A scene reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's classic film The Birds, a giant seagull stole the show on the Channel Nine News in Melbourne last night.

The massively magnified bird walked across a real-time projection of the Melbourne cityscape behind newsreader Peter Hitchener's head while he was reading a story about a 27-year-old murder on the 6pm news.

Ever the professional, the news stalwart only mildly flinched on noticing the seagull but later told 3AW radio the studio cameramen hid behind their cameras to hide their laughter.

"I was reading away, and it was a serious story, and I suddenly thought, 'Oh my gosh that seagull's back again', because we had bit of a problem last night," Hitchener said.

"About 50 seconds to 6 o'clock this seagull arrived and started pecking at the camera and it had the beadiest huge eyes you've ever seen in your life."

In another case of the news becoming the news, earlier this week an ABC news presenter was forced to apologise to a Coalition senator and viewers after she was caught on air pulling a face and twirling a finger in the traditional manner of calling someone crazy.

ABC2's Virginia Trioli was shown making the gesture on ABC News Breakfast just moments after vision of Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce talking about the Government's proposed Emissions Trading Scheme to tackle climate change was aired.

Trioli fronted the cameras and made an apology.

“Yesterday on the program I made an inappropriate gesture after we played a segment from my earlier interview with Senator Barnaby Joyce," Trioli said.

“I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to you – our viewers – for my lapse in judgement.

“I have also spoken to Senator Joyce, and he very graciously accepted my apology.”

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,28383,26244142-10229,00.html

(Submitted by Peter Darben)