Divide and Fools

This is going to the BBC right now.

Following an interesting and touching piece on Alzheimer's (ironic, since I only heard it having had to drive to Gloucester to collect the card I left in the chip 'n pin doo-dad on Sunday. Oddly Sainsbury's have no policy on letting you, or your bank know. They just keep it a while and then bin it), the Jeremy Vine show descended into the worst example of the sorry state of ratings-driven media I have ever heard.

I think this will be cited as one of the nails in the coffins of our public broadcaster being accorded any credence as an objective news organisation, and certainly raises questions as to why it is allowed a fine-supported, non-opt-out monopoly to collect funds to create and broadcast such trash.

First up we get a 'piece' 'inspired' by some Yuppie Hooray with contacts in PR, who makes a kids' level version of Why the US Is Lovely, condensing several decades into a few tens of seconds of 'what if?' nonsense. Maybe it got 1/4M 'hits' on YouTube. So what? But it was enough to get him in to boost his ad banner rates by sticking him up against some bonkers ex-Guardianista US-phobic who could barely string a sentence together, let alone allowing any form of reasoned debate get in the way of her single-minded prejudices. Then it gets thrown open to 'us', the listening public, so after the break for music we get a bunch of raving pro and antis selected especially by researchers to vent their ill-informed spleens over a completely staged, specious premise. And so it spirals down...

That was bad enough. Then, in the era of discredited phones-ins, to follow we have an 0900 'vote' to see which vehicles should be banned, with another set of twofers from each extreme venting spleens and spewing half-considered, factually irresponsible bile at each other, and us, as Mr. Vine and his producers wet themselves over their soaring ratings.

What public service was served by any of this claptrap? And with this complaint how do I get past the low-level munchkins in the 'file and fob-off' department who will a) sit on this for a week, b) claim they have looked into it thoroughly, then c) find no issue to answer so d) they won't.

This is not a valid process of sincere self-improvement, from a public-service and public-funded entity that has done little lately beyond losing the plot.

I demand to be put in coherent contact with some form of decision maker who can explain these decisions from a position of responsibility and accountability.

The world's a bad enough place without our national broadcaster dividing us all in warring camps for cheap media points. It must be stopped before it is too late. Or... I want my money back.

9 April - It took a while (doesn't it always?) but they have come back as, of course, they have to. What do you think? A fair reply? one deserving of file & forget?

Thank you for your e-mail regarding 'Jeremy Vine' transmitted on the 6
March 2007.

Firstly, please accept our apologies for the delay in replying. We know
our correspondents appreciate a quick response and we are sorry you have
had to wait on this occasion.

I understand you have some concerns about the above programme.

I must explain that this was a week-long poll giving the British Public the
chance to select the vehicle they would most like to vote off our roads, if
they could.

It is hoped the programme team can raise the findings of this poll on the 9
March edition [I got this a month later] with those in Government who make/influence transport policy.

Ultimate aim to tackle some big, important questions about road traffic and
the positive measures that could be taken by those in power to alleviate
the anger that so many road users feel: i.e.: How can speed limits be
enforced? Should there be compulsory road tests for cyclists and
horse-riders? Who should pay for the upkeep of the roads and how should
that tax be collected? Does the driving test need to change or be repeated?

Nevertheless, I appreciate you may continue to have some concerns about the
two items you have specified as a whole. Please be assured that I have
registered your complaint and concerns on the daily log, this is an
internal document which will be made available to the 'Jeremy Vine'
production team as well as the senior management of the BBC.

May I take this opportunity to thank you again for taking time to contact
the BBC.

Regards

Katherine Tsang
BBC Information
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