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Sky News slammed for reaction to reporter getting interrupted by son on air

She handled the situation but was cut off

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Sky News has been criticised for its reaction to a reporter getting interrupted by her child on air.

Presenter Mark Austin was interviewing Deborah Haynes when her adorable son walked into the room with an important question.

The little boy asked her if he was allowed two biscuits as Deborah apologised.

Sky News interruption
Deborah Haynes was interrupted by her adorable son (Credit: Sky News)

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What happened?

Deborah said: “David Cameron was talking about…” as her son barged into the room.

She quickly said: “I’m really sorry, that’s my son arriving. Sorry, really embarrassed. Sorry.”

Mark austin on Sky News
Deborah was cut off (Credit: Sky News)

The little boy asked his mum: “Can I have two biscuits?” to which she replied: “Yes, you can have two biscuits.”

The camera then cut back to the studio showing presenter Mark.

He said: “Yeah okay, we’ll leave Deborah Haynes in full flow there with some family duties.

“That’s what happens during lockdown and trying to report in lockdown.”

Backlash

However, viewers watching weren’t impressed with Mark’s response.

Many said Deborah looked as if she was ready to continue talking after tending to her son.

One person said on Twitter: “She was multi-tasking just fine and had resolved the whole thing.

“Did he really cut off the interview at the point when the biscuit negotiation had already been concluded?”

Another wrote: “Someone please tell me the interviewer didn’t cut off this woman after a minor inconvenience when he could have carried on and let her finish her sentence??”

After that, a third added: “This mum had it under control, very poor she was cut short.

“Embarrassing for the mum and very short sighted of the news presenter.

“It’s stressful enough working from home with children the new normal means we all should embrace these types of moments.”

Meanwhile, others told Sky News to “take lessons” from the BBC after a similar incident happened on air.

Dr Clare Wenham was being interviewed by journalist Christian Fraser on BBC News on Wednesday (July 1).

What happened?

However, Clare’s daughter Scarlett gate-crashed the interview as she apologised.

BBC News interrupted
Clare’s daughter gate-crashed her interview (Credit: BBC)

Little Scarlett was trying to find a place to put her unicorn painting and demanded to know Christian’s name.

Christian then gave Scarlett advice on where she could put her drawing.

Scarlett, I think it looks better on the lower shelf.

He said: “Scarlett, I think it looks better on the lower shelf, and it’s a lovely unicorn.”

Viewers praised Christian for how he handled the situation.

One person said: “Sky should take lessons from BBC. This is how you deal with minor interruptions instead of being patronising and condescending.”

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In addition, another tweeted: “BBC wins again. Pure class.”

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Rebecca Carter
Associate Editor (News)

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