Destroying Trust
The head of the British Broadcasting Corporation, Mark Thompson, has warned employees that they are in serious jeopardy of losing the public's trust in the aftermath of the fraudulent editing of the documentary on Queen Elizabeth. The controversy has already led to a humiliating public apology by the BBC for deliberately reversing the order of two scenes to falsely portray the Queen as having "stormed" out of a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz. Thompson has now ordered a formal inquiry into the matter. And people are calling for heads to roll.
In a hard-hitting email, a copy of which has been passed to The Daily Telegraph, Mark Thompson said that the BBC had to put its house in order urgently.
The humiliating apology to the Queen came only days after the BBC was fined £50,000 for cheating on a phone-in on Blue Peter, the children's programme.
Mr Thompson has set up an inquiry into how the BBC incorrectly declared in a trailer for A Year with the Queen that she had flounced out of a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz, the American photographer, after objecting to the suggestion that she should remove her crown.
RDF Television, the independent production company that edited the trailer, may now be sacked as a BBC contributor.
Peter Fincham, the controller of BBC1, who fuelled the controversy by saying that the Queen had "lost it" and walked out in a "huff" was last night insisting that he would not quit. He was buoyed by a private message of support from Mr Thompson.
Prediction: Fincham is toast. He actually made the entire thing worse by trumpeting the fraud as fact. There is no way the inquiry will let him off for that one. Helen Mirren, who just won an Oscar for her portrayal of the Queen, is calling the entire situation a disgrace. She's right and there will be some folks out of work as a result. Of course, back in the old days, the rolling of heads would have been quite literal rather than figurative. Today's media would be incapable of functioning under the old rules, wouldn't they? The turnover would be too high.
Media, World news | Gaius Saturday, 14 July , 2007
By Ted Goldman, Saturday, 14 July , 2007 @ 9:06 am
I can see it all.
Peter Fincham, one of those responsible at the BBC for its’ fraudulent and malicious coverage of the Queen of England, is “decapitated” for his actions.
Reminiscent of the BBC coverage of Daniel Pearl’s beheading, one would expect a BBC story to begin:
“British community activists, who were incensed at Fincham, justifably beheaded the insolent one”
By feeblemind, Saturday, 14 July , 2007 @ 9:13 am
Hope you are right, Gaius, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it all blows over and the status quo continues. UK has morphed into a cross between 1984 and Alice in Wonderland.
By rlpete2, Saturday, 14 July , 2007 @ 10:49 am
They reversed the order of the footage? Isn’t that a wonderfully conservative concept, turning back time, like the delightful “Agnew clocks” that ran backwards?
The biggest embarassment is that the royal family has done much more itself to embarass itself.
By Purple Avenger, Saturday, 14 July , 2007 @ 11:22 am
Michael Moore school of film editing. Nothing to see here, just move along…