BBC investigates PMQs cock-up
Saturday, 30 June 2007
Seems I wasn’t the only one baffled by the BBC’s decision to cut short Tony Blair’s speech on Wednesday. Fending off conspiracy allegations, the corporation is now investigating what happened, after admitting “the wrong decision” was made.
Link to the story on Media Guardian - registration required. Or if you can’t be bothered registering, here is the first bit of the story:
BBC executives Jana Bennett and Helen Boaden have investigated why BBC2 left live coverage of Tony Blair’s farewell speech to Parliament on Wednesday.The BBC director of vision, Jana Bennett, has requested information about the incident from the technical transmission log that records all broadcast decisions be forwarded to her for her assessment.
“A summary has been prepared for her to see if any lessons can be learnt,” a spokesman said today.
Also, Helen Boaden, director BBC News, told viewers via the BBC Editors blog that she had made inquiries into the matter.
“After looking into this, I can at least reassure you that this was a cock-up rather than a conspiracy,” Ms Boaden said in the blog.
“A wrong scheduling decision was taken for which the BBC can only apologise.
“Believe me, no one involved would have wanted you to miss any part of this important event,” she added.
“Sometimes bad mistakes happen on the worst possible day. And that’s exactly what happened this afternoon.
“A lot of you were taken aback and upset by the switch.”
The BBC director general, Mark Thomson, is understood also to have made inquiries about the incident, although the BBC denied that he had ordered an formal investigation into the incident.
No. 1 — August 1st, 2007 at 1:44 pm
This doesn’t sound half as bizarre as the BBC Radio2 coverage which sifted - seams and all - from live coverage, to whisprered, hurried interjections from Jeremy Vine summarising what we just heard, to bizarre musical interludes:
“Tony Blair addressing the house for what may the last time, and this is Style Council with “My Ever-Changing Moods”.
Radio 2 will happily do this while covering any live event, regardless of how badly The Ping-Pong Song may jar with a discussion about euthenasia.
That said the potential to whack on Oh My God or Celebrate Good Times (Come On) after announcing Thatcher’s death gives me pause for hope.