The BBC keeps getting deeper in the mire.
First it puts out a feeble
apologia for the way it handled the non-story of Osborne not asking
for any donation and not getting a penny, when compared with the kid-
glove handling of real and possibly criminal corrupt acts by Mandelson.
The response to that apologia was excoriating. They put up this
apologia and all but one of the readers' comments in the first four
hours - 65 out of 66 - tore them to sheds and dunked the shreds in
boiling oil.
-------------------------------
Now the BBC has really blown it - see below. Two foul-mouthed
overpaid ne'er--do-wells who should never been employed in the first
place behave in an utterly disgraceful manner using BBC (=taxpayers']
resources to bully and intimidate an actor and his granddaughter.
For that alone their contracts should be immediately terminated and
the culprits invited to take the case to trial by jury if they feel
like it.
But it gets worse/ It is said by lawyers that what these two thugs
did was in fact a criminal act. If so they should hauled into court
anyway.
But that's not all the broadcasting of this obscene event was
specifically sanctioned by a senior executive or executives in the
BBC. This/these executive(s) should also have their contracts
terminated without further ado. And then the BBC's chief executive
should have the decency to resign.
The BBC has outlived its function and apart from a few valued pockets
of excellence which should be separately preserved, it should be
wound up. It is now a hydra-headed monster . Abolish it!
xxxxxxxxxx cs
nb I only use Conservative Home's version since it puts the scandal
more succinctly than the others. Most of the press take the same view.
=======================
CONSERVATIVE HOME 28.10.08
John Whittingdale leads concern at Ross-Brand calls
Conservative MP John Whittingdale - Chairman of the Culture, Media
and Sport Select Committee, has asked tough questions of the BBC in
the last 24 hours. His intervention followed a prank message left on
the answer machine of elderly actor Andrew Sachs. Jonathan Ross and
Russell Brand broadcast their controversial voicemail on Saturday
night on BBC Radio 2.
Mr Brand suggested he had slept with Mr Sachs' 23-year-old
granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, an aspiring model.
John Whittingdale said:
"The trouble is, this is not the first occasion on which Jonathan
Ross has crossed the line and has been pulled up by the BBC and told
not to carry this kind of material, and it appears that has had
little effect... [The BBC pays] a very substantial amount of public
money for Jonathan Ross and a pretty large amount for Russell Brand
too. I think they are both talented broadcasters but they have got to
remember that when they are broadcasting on the BBC in particular,
they are not able to use material they might use in a live show. The
message needs to be rammed home. It does raise questions about their
future with the corporation...
I think anybody who listens to Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand has a
rough idea of what to expect but, in my view, this did go too far. To
make that kind of comment to a much-loved, elderly character actor
like Andrew Sachs was pretty offensive in the first place. To then
broadcast it to two million people seems to me unacceptable."
Mr Whittingdale called for OfCom to investigate the matter.
The Mail leader-writers do not require an investigation. They've
already decided: "Is there any reason why we should be expected to go
on paying this vile man [Brand] - or the executives who judge his
filth fit to broadcast?"
1.45pm:
David Cameron has joined this controversy: "The BBC have got some
very straight forward questions to answer.
Why did they allow this programme to be broadcast?
Who made the decision to broadcast it?
How high up the editorial chain did it go?
Who examined it?
Why did they conclude it should be broadcast?
The BBC needs to be transparent about all of those decisions and
explain its decision-making process so everyone can see what more
needs to be done."
apologia for the way it handled the non-story of Osborne not asking
for any donation and not getting a penny, when compared with the kid-
glove handling of real and possibly criminal corrupt acts by Mandelson.
The response to that apologia was excoriating. They put up this
apologia and all but one of the readers' comments in the first four
hours - 65 out of 66 - tore them to sheds and dunked the shreds in
boiling oil.
-------------------------------
Now the BBC has really blown it - see below. Two foul-mouthed
overpaid ne'er--do-wells who should never been employed in the first
place behave in an utterly disgraceful manner using BBC (=taxpayers']
resources to bully and intimidate an actor and his granddaughter.
For that alone their contracts should be immediately terminated and
the culprits invited to take the case to trial by jury if they feel
like it.
But it gets worse/ It is said by lawyers that what these two thugs
did was in fact a criminal act. If so they should hauled into court
anyway.
But that's not all the broadcasting of this obscene event was
specifically sanctioned by a senior executive or executives in the
BBC. This/these executive(s) should also have their contracts
terminated without further ado. And then the BBC's chief executive
should have the decency to resign.
The BBC has outlived its function and apart from a few valued pockets
of excellence which should be separately preserved, it should be
wound up. It is now a hydra-headed monster . Abolish it!
xxxxxxxxxx cs
nb I only use Conservative Home's version since it puts the scandal
more succinctly than the others. Most of the press take the same view.
=======================
CONSERVATIVE HOME 28.10.08
John Whittingdale leads concern at Ross-Brand calls
Conservative MP John Whittingdale - Chairman of the Culture, Media
and Sport Select Committee, has asked tough questions of the BBC in
the last 24 hours. His intervention followed a prank message left on
the answer machine of elderly actor Andrew Sachs. Jonathan Ross and
Russell Brand broadcast their controversial voicemail on Saturday
night on BBC Radio 2.
Mr Brand suggested he had slept with Mr Sachs' 23-year-old
granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, an aspiring model.
John Whittingdale said:
"The trouble is, this is not the first occasion on which Jonathan
Ross has crossed the line and has been pulled up by the BBC and told
not to carry this kind of material, and it appears that has had
little effect... [The BBC pays] a very substantial amount of public
money for Jonathan Ross and a pretty large amount for Russell Brand
too. I think they are both talented broadcasters but they have got to
remember that when they are broadcasting on the BBC in particular,
they are not able to use material they might use in a live show. The
message needs to be rammed home. It does raise questions about their
future with the corporation...
I think anybody who listens to Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand has a
rough idea of what to expect but, in my view, this did go too far. To
make that kind of comment to a much-loved, elderly character actor
like Andrew Sachs was pretty offensive in the first place. To then
broadcast it to two million people seems to me unacceptable."
Mr Whittingdale called for OfCom to investigate the matter.
The Mail leader-writers do not require an investigation. They've
already decided: "Is there any reason why we should be expected to go
on paying this vile man [Brand] - or the executives who judge his
filth fit to broadcast?"
1.45pm:
David Cameron has joined this controversy: "The BBC have got some
very straight forward questions to answer.
Why did they allow this programme to be broadcast?
Who made the decision to broadcast it?
How high up the editorial chain did it go?
Who examined it?
Why did they conclude it should be broadcast?
The BBC needs to be transparent about all of those decisions and
explain its decision-making process so everyone can see what more
needs to be done."
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