Most have you have by now heard about the latest BBC scandal, involving a prank call by two British comedians to the grandaughter of Faulty Towers veteran. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been taken back by the furor which has ensued after Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand’s distasteful prank on Brand's (now former) Radio 2 slot. Members of the British public were deeply offended describing the incident as ‘appalling’, the 11 day saga has resulted not only in a personal apology from Director-general of the BBC, Mark Thompson but Gordon Brown himself recently jumped to the front line, calling for action by the BBC. What followed was the resignation of Brand from his radio 2 show, Ross being suspended for 12-week without pay (losing £1.5 million!) and the resignation of the BBC controller Lesley Douglas, saying: "I believe it is right that I take responsibility for what has happened.”
Re: Ross and Brand uproar, but what about religion ?
I think the media's response to the Ross and Brand uproar was disproportionate to say the least. Talk about blowing things out of all proportion.
When it was first broadcast, there were two complaints.
Probably from the two people concerned.
A few days later, when the BBC and YouTube help everybody to make a big issue about it, and lo and behold, 30,000 complaints - which were most likely people jumping on the bandwagon for a laugh.
And then Brand, who didn't actually speak the offending message, resigns, while Ross stays. Unbelievable.
What's most unfortunate was that this was the main news story for the week, hogging the limelight while chaos erupted in the Congo and Pakistan recovered from an earthquake.
I see what you're saying about it being a double standard when it comes to media responses vis a vis religion. However, I must say that in regards to the notorious Danish cartoons, the rioting was an obscenely disproportionate social reaction.
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
When you create an account, we remember exactly what you've read, so you always come right back where you left off. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and share your thoughts. Sign Up
Hide
Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
Bookmarks