We Don't Just Report the News...

[billroper]

As far as I know, no news outlet in the United States has been nearly as stupid as the BBC was when they sent paid hecklers to a Conservative Party campaign meeting where Michael Howard, the party leader, was speaking.

But who knows? It may be the coming thing...

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

The UK press has this tradition of pulling questionable stunts, like trying to sneak a red box with the words "bomb" on it into Charles's wedding site. I thought the BBC was above that kind of thing.

B

[madfilkentist]

The BBC excuse was especially pathetic: they said it was a "completely legitimate programme about the history and art of political heckling."

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's exactly the kind of show BBCs 3 & 4 seem to be making. There's a growing trend over here for shows to be made which are ostensibly "documentaries", but where the topic chosen is something that "justifies" the inclusion of controversial and attention-grabbing material which, if not available off the shelf, has to be generated somehow... Channels 4 and 5 have led the way, and BBC3 now follows.

So I don't doubt that they were making such a documentary, rather than trying to generate "news" as they're accused of. Still doesn't make it right, though...

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

BBC3. It's a digital channel with a tiny audience, which it's trying to grow. How do you do that? Follow the same succesful formula as Channels 4 and 5: Be outrageous and controversial. =:o{