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Published 7 June 2012
BLOG: It’s certainly not unusual for the BBC to be the subject of criticism when it comes to the coverage of any royal event apart from the most straightforward occasions. Getting the tone exactly right is an absolute nightmare and you are never going to satisfy everyone all of the time, especially when dealing with something that’s the least bit contentious.
Published 28 August 2010
It has taken a year after the infamous (and highly predictable, especially in retrospect) James Murdoch speech at the Edinburgh International Television Festival for the official “right to reply” from…
Published 7 January 2010
Jonathan Ross quits BBC Maybe Jonathan Ross jumped – but the BBC weren’t standing in his way It was blatantly obvious that something like this was going to happen, especially…
Published 7 October 2009
BBC to crack down on swearing and violence Draft BBC Editorial Guildelines (PDF) Hmmm… 13.3.8 Any plans to re-use, reversion or make available archive material featuring members of the Royal…
Published 29 August 2009
Broadcast Now: Stephen Fry savages TV box-ticking Perhaps unsurprisingly, it turns out that BBC TV (and radio) producers are now self-censoring much more often than not because of the additional…
Published 24 August 2009
BBC News: BBC to investigate daytime show Yes, it’s another ‘fakery scandal’ rearing its head again, just like the (still) fairly recent events of Crowngate, Sachsgate, etc., that the BBC…
Published 24 July 2009
Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson faces row over new Gordon Brown slurs Perhaps as predictable as night following day, controversial TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has again stirred the proverbial hornets’ nest…
Published 19 July 2009
Dear BBC: No, you can’t have my £142.50. Will I see you in court? There are really only two ways to view Mr Moore’s outburst of civil disobedience. It is…
Published 24 June 2009
BBC’s Mark Thompson attacks plans to ‘top-slice’ licence fee BBC pledges crackdown on ‘intrusive and humiliating’ broadcasts If politicians tend to live in a world of their own, as evidenced…
Published 3 April 2009
BBC fined £150,000 over Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross phone prank scandal ‘Sachsgate’ was basically the culmination of what can happen when star talent who have their own production company…
Published 23 March 2009
Chris Moyles reprimanded over ‘gay’ spoof lyrics to Will Young song The BBC has a problem. Indeed it has several problems, but a recurring theme in recent years seems to…
Published 4 March 2009
ITV admits defeat on content-led turnaround I’ll say this now; Michael Grade had exactly the right idea for a turnaround strategy for ITV plc as it stood, but the ‘r-word’…
Published 15 December 2008
Strictly Come Dancing voting fiasco sparks 200 complaints Although the BBC has promised to carry over all phone votes on this occasion so avoiding any direct accusations of fraud, the…
Published 2 December 2008
John Barrowman apologises for exposing himself on BBC Radio 1 I was going to start this blog entry with the words “You couldn’t make this up”, but after recent events…
Published 1 December 2008
BBC3 and BBC4 face budget cuts At least the downturn in the commercial property market has prevented the BBC from taking the easy, short-term solution of selling the family silver…
Published 7 November 2008
Radio 2’s Dave Barber resigns ahead of on-air apology for Brand-Ross calls Apologies in advance for mentioning the ‘S’ word again, but I’ll try to keep it relatively brief this…
Published 30 October 2008
By suspending Ross and Brand, BBC boss Mark Thompson reveals himself a coward No matter what Mark Thompson and other BBC executives say or do from now onwards in relation…
Published 28 October 2008
Gordon Brown criticises Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross’s BBC phone prank The transcript of what was said What started out as a “schoolboy prank” (except of course neither participants are…