The birds and the BBC and Mr G
Gary and Dave are undeniably both British media institutions for very different reasons. This week the top football pundit of his generation got into hot water with far right politicians and the government for comparing British policies on immigration with those of Nazi germany. Ok not subtle but far worse insults get traded most days of the week in Westminster. The Beeb responded by pulling him off MoTD and the domino effect meant that within hours there was little prime time football coverage left on a busy footballing weekend and what could have been dealt with cleanly (if not satisfactorily) has turned into a circus that has dragged the Chairman and the Chief Exec of the corporation into a row about their continued tenure. It has become a free for all with no less than five different pieces appearing on the Spectator website, the most entertaining being by that toxic headline grabber Julie Burchill who bizarrely managed to weave Brexit, Charles Dickens, Israel, taking the knee, racism and women’s rights into her condemnation of a man whose opinions she described as ignorant, preposterous, and revolting and saying that “anything he touches with his cheese-and-oniony hands tends to end up smelling none too sweet.”
Actually Gary hasn’t always covered himself in glory and some accusations of disingenuousness are probably fair but the debate has gone off the rails very quickly. And at least it’s grabbing headlines which is more than you can say about Wild Isles, the five part series by the iconic planet defender David Attenborough. Except there is a mysterious sixth programme as well which talks about the damage caused to wildlife in the U.K. by climate change. Mysteriously the BBC have decided not to put this on the telly which comes across as odd. I mean the man is a legend, his audience figures are guaranteed, the subject matter is important.
They’ve bought it but stuck it away on iPlayer where they hope it won’t be noticed. And why? BBC insiders have said it’s because it would incur the wrath of right wing climate change deniers, farmers and gamekeepers. Never mind that Dave has been using a unique blend of science and compassion for over half a century to make the perfectly reasonable point that we are abusing Mother Earth to the point at which she will soon just roll over and die rather than take the continued beatings. Never mind that his credibility levels are up there on a par with Nelson Mandela, Joan of Arc and Tom Hanks combined. Attenborough’s last and hardest hitting message has to be hidden away online so as to avoid causing offence to the oil companies and the tories who sit on their boards.
I thought I would have a bit of fun on The Spectator website with this and got a predictable set of reactions. I’ve put the screen grab below just for the sake of entertainment. In the meantime the drama of Lineker will no doubt throw up a few more twists and turns before the weekend is out.
“Attenborough’s last and hardest hitting message has to be hidden away online so as to avoid causing offence to the oil companies and the tories who sit on their boards.’
I predict that the BBC will come up with some sort of face saving retreat strategy, they will sack their head of HR for not having clear policies on the engagement of contractors like Lineker, whilst Emanuel Macron will arrange for Gary to host Telefoot the French equivalent of MoTD on the condition that he has to rip the piss out of Sunak and Braverman at every opportunity. I also predict that the mysterious missing Wild Isles programme will appear on mainstream BBC after all in another quiet U turn. Watch this (commentary free) space ….
Eyecatching 