Thursday 11 November 2010

BBC under fire as woman swears, man wears jeans

During the live broadcast of Film 2010 this week, a member of the crew was heard swearing. It went out after 10:30pm and host Claudia Winkleman apologised soon after.

But this happened on the BBC, so inevitably the Mail and the Sun thought they would report on the 'shock' this had caused.

Their articles have a certain similarity. Here's the Sun:

BBC1 viewers were left stunned last night when a foul-mouthed rant was accidentally broadcast during the live Film 2010 show.

And here's the Mail:

BBC1 viewers were left shocked last night when a four-letter-word rant was accidentally broadcast during Claudia Winkleman's live Film 2010 show.

Sun:

Embarrassed host Claudia Winkleman was describing Jamie Lee Curtis's new rom-com You Again as "contrived and awful" when the four-letter outburst was heard over the top.

Mail:

Claudia, who also hosts Strictly Come Dancing's live results show, as well as spin off It Takes Two, had just described Jamie Lee Curtis's new rom-com You Again as 'contrived and awful' when the outburst was suddenly heard over the top.

Sun:

A woman - thought to be backstage in the studio - was heard saying: "... are you scared of his fans? And I'm like, No! I couldn't give a f*** about a load of... "

Winkleman, 38, apologised after the technical blunder.

Mail:
A woman with a Geordie accent - thought to be backstage - was heard saying: "...Oh, are you scared of his fans? And it's like, No! I couldn't give a f*** about a load of... "

Winkleman, 38, who co-hosts the show with film critic Danny Leigh, apologised after the technical blunder.

It's hard to work out exactly how someone saying one f-word makes it a 'foul-mouthed rant'.

And were viewers really left shocked and stunned? Neither article quotes a single messageboard comment from an angry viewer. Even the couple of mentions of the incident on the BBC Points of View messageboards, a favourite source for Mail hacks, contain very little 'shock'.

The Mail did manage to rustle up one critical comment for a 'story' they ran a few days ago about BBC weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker:

The forecaster dispensed of the usual smart suit, shirt and tie for the more casual look of a dark blue V-neck jumper and blue jeans during the broadcast on BBC1.

If this had been one of the usual weather forecasts the lack of a suit and tie may just have been worth mentioning. But it wasn't. As a comment by Peter Tarrega pointed out:

This was from 'Weather for the Week Ahead' during 'Country Tracks' yesterday. Weather presenters always dress down for it as it's not a news programme and the main presenters of the programme are normally in jeans and wellies themselves as they march around the countryside. It's not as if he presented the weather on the 10 o'clock news in a T-shirt.

So a complete fuss about something that happens every week on the same show (indeed, one person at Digital Spy noted Schafernaker's casual dress for the Country Tracks programme on 24 October).

It's hard to believe that the Mail didn't know that this wasn't a main weather bulletin, even though they imply it was. But if they had revealed that fact, the thinness of the story would have been even more evident than it already is.

Yet according to the Mail - who wouldn't dream of overplaying this non-event - Schafernaker's appearance on 7 November:

caused a storm

and

provoked upset

Really? With who?

Viewer Stephen Jones, 35, from Bournemouth, Dorset, said he was stunned by the weatherman's casual appearance yesterday.

He said: 'I thought I had tuned into Newsround or Blue Peter for a minute when I saw the main presenter wearing jeans and a jumper.


'I've heard of having dress-down days before but I didn't think the BBC went in for that.


'When you are presenting to the nation, especially on the BBC, surely you should look as professional as possible, not like someone who's just come in from off the street.


'I've read that Tomasz might be moving to radio in the near future - maybe he is just preparing himself for a role on radio.'

It's hard to imagine how anyone could feel that offended by this.

(Hat-tip to the Mailwatch Forum)

11 comments:

  1. I clearly have rants every time I have see dumb stories like this...my "ranting" is so bad I clearly have Tourette's that probably also causes cancer but may also save my life but that is according to "experts".

    My head hurts just reading the summary of these "stories"...

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  2. Daily Mail calling out another media organisation over swearing? And who edits the Daily Mail?

    That would be the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre. What colour is that pot again?

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  3. What on Earth is "a four-letter-word rant"? Or did they mean "the four letter word 'rant'"?

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  4. Winkleman, 38?

    Why are papers so obsessed with informing us of people's ages?

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  5. Haha, the Tomasz stuff if funny, and slighlty reassuring in that the majority of positive comments are along the lines of "seriously? how is this news?".

    Although I do like this contribution:

    "I pay my licence & don't wish to see low-life like this in my home, which is where he is if my TV is tuned to this channel when he happens to be on."

    Surely a piss-take?

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  6. "The forecaster dispensed of the usual smart suit, shirt and tie for the more casual look of a dark blue V-neck jumper and blue jeans during the broadcast on BBC1."

    "Dispensed with", I think. Mail has poor quality subs shock!

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  7. Let's see. This presenter not only works for the BBC but has a foreign sounding name. The mail have probably been waiting for ages to wag thier finger at him and just got a little impatient!

    I fully believe that comment from "Stephen, 35, from Dorset" is a complete fake. Maybe not made up in the Mails offices, but certainly was said as a piss take. No one, and I mean NO ONE, not even a Daily Mail reader would get worked up about what a weather presenter is wearing.

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  8. Thomas doesn't even work for the BBC. He works for the Met. Office.

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  9. Winkleman, not Winkelman...

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  10. Anonymous - Indeed. Corrected. Thanks.

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  11. Does nobody find the two similar stories odd? like someone has fed the outline to the two papers?

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