On BBC radio news tonight - BBC DG Mark Thompson has stated that Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas "was aware of the content" of the Brand show before it went out. There seems to be a groundswell of support for Douglas from BBC insiders, who held her in high esteem - Thompson's predecessor Greg Dyke described her departure in the Times as "arguably deeply unfair". Perhaps this revelation is designed to explain why she had to go. Comments: 2 (unread) - Biased BBC Home Hugh # For all the distaste of the calls to Sachs there's been some understandable frustration here that it's this issue the public and papers have got upset about, rather than the constant bias. This, though, would seem to suggest the result is the same – a lack of trust in the Beeb that can't help but hit its unwarranted reputation as a impartial source of news: The PoliticsHome Phi5000 Public Opinion Tracker, powered by YouGov, consists of a politically balanced panel of 5000 voters across the UK... [and] has tracked public perception of a variety of institutions on a daily basis. Since records began, the BBC has been the country's best loved institution, with an average net approval rating of 30... The BBC’s approval rating, however, has plummeted this week as the Ross/Brand affair has dominated the media. In just four days, it has fallen a huge 24 points to only 6. My favourite bit, though, bearing in mind the complaint that this has all been whipped up by the press, is this: This places the BBC for the first time below ‘Broadsheet newspapers’ There's also this, which will surprise no one: Among Conservative supporters (who initially had a lower opinion of the Corporation), the BBC now has a negative net rating (-3). Comments: 37 (unread) - Biased BBC Home Peter # One of the lines I've been hearing a lot lately, in the wake of BrandRossSachsGate, aside from all the usual "It must never happen again - lessons have been learned" baloney one has come to expect from such furores, is the idea that the BBC must maintain its right to be"provocative and original". Which got me thinking... when was it ever? I mean, this is a station that won't even repeat "It Ain't Half Hot, Mum!" Indeed, the BBC is so uncutting edge you could rub your hands all over it for two hours without spilling any blood. I suspect the supporters of this view also mean... "and good". After all, trying to turn Ian Wright into a tv presenter was indeed both provocative and original. But when was this golden age? Or are we living in it now? Ross and Brand themselves don't qualify as original BBCers, either. Ross was doing a Friday night tv chat show twenty five years ago. Brand started on MTV. So who do they mean? Ricky Gervais? He was knocking around Virgin Radio and Channel Four before Aunty Beeb got her grubby mits on him. Chris Morris? I'd say he was p and o ( and g ). But it's fifteen years since he last appeared on the BBC. So who are all these zany, extremist provocateurs who we all ought to cut some slack from time to time because they all make us all look at life in a new and edgy way? Chris Moyles? John Humphries? Brian Matthew? I'd love to know.
Saturday, 1 November 2008
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