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29th December    Ask the Parents...
   
EU TV parents survey reveals call for more censorship

UPC logoA European viewers’ survey from UPC has called upon broadcasters to curb the amount of sex and violence on TV.

The survey was carried out for cable giant UPC. Parents not only want to remain in the driving seat when it comes to what their children watch, but they also call for more supervision from the local Media Authority for example, on certain TV content, said the study.

Six thousand parents in thirteen countries were surveyed, and the study included youngsters in age groups of under five, six to 12 and over 12 years old.

When it comes to monitoring the TV habits of their children, 57% of the European parents want more supervision of the content of TV, said the survey. Only 3% of surveyed parents wanted less supervision. Of the parents who believe the supervision of content should be intensified, 79% says this is because there is too much violence on TV and 56% said there was too much sexual content on TV. Violent and sexual content are also the main reasons for forbidding children to watch certain programmes, which is done by two-third of the parents (67%) of those surveyed. The 57% of parents that want more supervision of the content can be found in particular in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Poland and Romania.

 

28th December    Slanging Match...
   
Nutters wound up by Catherine Tate Christmas Special

Catherine Tate Show posterOfcom will launch an inquiry into Catherine Tate’s comedy special after nutter complaints that it was the most offensive programme ever broadcast by the BBC on a Christmas Day.

Nutters complained of excessive use of the “fuck” by Tate’s foul-mouthed character Nan. A sketch depicting a Northern Irish family as terrorists prompted accusations of bigotry.

The sketch show attracted 6.4 million viewers to BBC One at 10:30pm on Christmas night. The BBC defended the show, describing Tate as a comedy genius.

Ofcom's inquiry will ask whether the programme was appropriate for Christmas night, when many children would be watching.

Viewers complained that the programme began with an avalanche of strong language from Nan Taylor. Kathy Burke, playing her daughter, embarked upon a swearing competition with Nan.

The representation of a family in Northern Ireland receiving Christmas presents attracted complaints that Tate was exploiting lazy stereotypes. The grandmother opens her present to find a balaclava, which she puts over her head. Her husband receives a knuckleduster which he excitedly uses to punch a chair. The mother’s gift is an apron with a balaclava-clad terrorist and the words Remember Everything, Forgive Nothing. A gay son is handed a chocolate penis.

Tate admitted that the language might have got out of hand. I don’t know how this Christmas special got so depraved because it isn’t what I set out to do, she told Radio Times. The sketch between Nan and her daughter required a climactic aspect when you’re topping each other with greater feats of swearing.

A spokesman for the BBC said: Catherine Tate creates characters who are so over the top as to be almost cartoon-like and this is where her genius lies. Her comedy is never meant to offend any viewer and is always based on satire and grotesque exaggeration. The Nan character’s foul language was fundamental to what makes her funny and the show was preceded by a warning that it contained strong language.

The BBC received about 100 complaints through telephone and internet message boards.

A spokesman for Ofcom said: We have received complaints about offensive language and content in the Catherine Tate Christmas Show and we will look into the matter.

Update: Fucking MPs

6th January

Nadine Dorries, Member of Parliament for Mid Beds, says many children would have been subjected to foul language in comedian Catherine Tate's Christmas special.

She has lodged a formal complaint with the independent broadcasting regulators Ofcom which is investigating.

Nadine Dorries is unsurprisingly one of the nutter MPs supporting Julian Braziers BBFC Accountability bill.

 

19th December  Update:  Faggot Back on Christmas Menu...
   
BBFC relent on censorship of Pogue's song

Fairy Tale of New York singleBBC Radio 1 has bowed to mounting pressure to play the uncensored version of Fairytale of New York after a flood of complaints from listeners and the mother of the singer Kirsty MacColl.

Andy Parfitt, the station controller, admitted that the decision to bleep the word “faggot” from the iconic Christmas song had been “wrong” and said the uncut version would from now on be broadcast. He backed down, saying that the singers did not use the word with any “negative intent”.

The station’s head of music, George Ergatoudis, had ordered the word to be removed from the single, which is in the running to be this year’s Christmas number one, for fear of upsetting homosexuals.

MacColl’s mother, Jean, had dismissed the move as “pathetic and ridiculous”, saying that some of the world’s most famous writers used bawdy language: Shane has written the most beautiful song and these characters live, they really live, and you have such sympathy for them.

Radio 1 listeners also inundated the station’s website with complaints about the decision. Even gay rights campaigners had criticised the decision as “misguided”.

Andrew Gilliver, spokesman for the Lesbian and Gay Foundation, said: I have spent hours ringing around and trawling the internet and I can’t find anyone in the gay community who is offended by this song, in fact it is well loved.

 

18th December    Christmas Puddings...
   
The BBC bleep 'faggot' from Pogues song

Fairy Tale of New York singleFairytale of New York, by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl, has been re-released for the festive period and is a contender for the coveted Christmas number one slot.

It tells the story of two lovers who trade insults on Christmas Eve and one verse ends with the memorable line: You scumbag, you maggot you cheap lousy faggot, Happy Christmas your arse I pray God It's our last.

Radio 1 bosses have bleeped out the word faggot from the song, for fear it will offend homosexuals, but have provoked the ire of one of their own leading DJs as well as listeners.

The decision was criticised as "ridiculous" by Chris Moyles, the Radio 1 DJ, who is leading a campaign to make the 1987 song the Christmas number one.

The BBC said: This is not a blanket ban but a station by station decision.

 

17th December  Offsite:  Archive of the Banned...
   
The good old days of BBC censorship

BBC logoTo modern listeners, it's about as scandalous as a saucy seaside postcard. But when George Formby sang With My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock in 1937, it sent shockwaves through the BBC - and led to a run in with the censors, research has revealed.

At worst, it could be called cheeky, with lines such as: With my little stick of Blackpool Rock, along the promenade I stroll/ In my pocket it got stuck I could tell / Cos when I pulled it out I pulled my shirt off as well.

But the corporation's moral guardians were so concerned by the song's content that they banned certain parts of it from being aired on the radio.

It is just one of many examples discovered by a trawl of the BBC's archives which has shed fascinating new light on a bygone era of censorship.

Read full article

 

13th December    Stunned by badger killing...
   
Sunday morning TV complaints

Country FileThe BBC has received complaints for showing on morning TV footage of a badger being shot.

Countryfile, presented by John Craven, broadcast the animal being caught in a humane trap and then blasted with a gun at close range.

Many viewers were said to be stunned that the BBC decided to show the pictures at 11am on Sunday. Parents were worried that the footage, in an item about badger culling, would upset children.

The RSPCA has called the images - broadcast without warning - ‘shocking' , but added that they may have helped raise awareness about the plight of badgers.

 

11th December    Setanta Santa...
   
Complaints that a 'couple of puppies' degrades women

Setanta SantaThe advertising regulator is considering investigating Des Lynam's Setanta Claus TV ad after complaints that it degrades women by referring to breasts as "puppies".

Setanta's ad features Des Lynam dressed in a yellow Santa suit in a grotto, while his scantily clad helper "Tinseltoes" flashes a large amount of cleavage.

This prompts a male visitor to the Setanta grotto to grin, stare and absentmindedly mention a "couple of puppies".

The Advertising Standards Authority has received 23 complaints about the TV ad and is considering launching an investigation to see if it breaks the advertising standards code.

Complainants have objected that the ad is offensive and degrading to women because of the use of the word "puppies" as a reference to breasts. Others argued that the ad is sexist, objectifies women and is running at inappropriate times of the day for such content to be shown.

 

10th December    A Watershed for Drinks Advertising...
   
TV restrictions for alcohol adverts

Ice Cold in AlexThe Children's secretary Ed Balls is poised call for a 9pm watershed for drinks advertising.

The move will be seen as the strongest indication yet that the Government intends to push through the restrictive measure.

Balls is understood to have been influenced by a report by Alcohol Concern that claims there is a spike in alcohol ads between 3pm and 5pm.

According to insiders, he has briefed national Sunday newspaper political editors in a bid to get maximum coverage of his views on the subject.

The drinks industry has maintained that a 9pm watershed is an unnecessary measure as the scheduling rules around already prevents them appearing during or around children's programmes. They cannot be shown at other times if the percentage of child viewers rises to 20% above the proportion of children in the general population.

 

17th November  Update:  Swearing at the BBC...
   
BBC taken rapped over Live Earth

BBC logoAlmost 150 people complained about the use of strong language during the Wembley Live Earth concert.

Phil Collins kicked off the swearing at around 2pm while adapting the lyrics to a Genesis song, causing the show's host, Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles, to apologise for his "potty mouth".

US comedian Chris Rock shocked viewers during the concert. Jonathan Ross, hosting the event on the BBC, did the apologising spiel.

After the watershed, Madonna
swore as she exhorted the crowd to jump up and down.

The broadcaster's Editorial Standards Committee said that management should have been more open with the audience after the event and admitted it had made mistakes.

The BBC decided not to use a time delay despite saying it may consider using one in future after complaints about swearing at 2005's Live 8 concert.

BBC management told the committee that they had met Live Earth organisers and contacted artists about swearing before the July concert. They had made presenters aware of the need for apologies if any swearing did occur.

The BBC Trust said: Unfortunately, the BBC's efforts had not been sufficient to prevent the broadcast of the most offensive language, despite the foreseeable risks of a live event with pop stars. The committee therefore considered this a serious breach of the BBC's editorial guidelines."

They went on to say that the issues broadcasters faced with an event like Live Earth were: not insurmountable and in future BBC management would be expected to avoid a recurrence of these problems.

 

16th November    Attacked by Nutters...
   
Complaints about a pub attack in EastEnders

Eastenders logoThe BBC has received more than 600 complaints about a pre watershed episode of EastEnders

The episode, on Tuesday, showed a gang of thugs rampaging through the Old Vic attacking drinkers with baseball bats and glasses and smashing furniture with hammers as they hunted for reformed soccer hooligan Jase Dyer.

The programme, which began at 8pm after a warning, was watched by 9.6million people.

John Beyer, director of the nutters Mediawatch UK, said: This representation of gang violence was completely beyond the pale for a programme that is shown at that time of the evening and repeated in the afternoon on Sunday. It's a ratings game and they seem prepared to do anything to attract controversy.

A total of 622 viewers complained directly, some condemning the brutality as "disgraceful" and "sickening".

There were another 300 complaints about a reference in the same programme to the Hillsborough tragedy. The brawl was followed by character Minty Peterson telling northerner Dyer: "Five years out of Europe because of Heysel, because they penned you lot in to stop you fighting, and then what did we end up with - Hillsborough.

A BBC spokesman said the meaning of the comment may have been misinterpreted. On the brawl, she claimed the violence was "implied rather than explicit". The corporation announced last night that the most violent scenes would be edited out of the Sunday omnibus edition, but the Hillsborough reference will be left in.

 

9th November    Dressed Down by Nutters...
   
Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation

Undress the Nation advertITV has received complaints after a programme in which presenters Trinny and Susannah persuaded women to bare their breasts was screened before the 9pm watershed.

The first in a new series of Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation featured topless women - including the two presenters - from the outset of its broadcast at 8pm.

Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine became notorious for their hands- on approach while fronting What Not To Wear. On the BBC fashion series they had women stripped to their bras to demonstrate their ill-fitting undergarments. Their series for ITV went a step further on Wednesday - and provoked complaints to Internet messageboards.

One viewer described the programme as nasty, leaving a bad taste in the mouth while another said: This is primetime family viewing. I switched on with young children present and was deeply disturbed by the level of nudity at that time. It made for extremely uncomfortable and gratuitous television, particularly when I had to explain it to my children. Another wrote: They belittle and embarrass their victims.

The episode aimed to highlight how many women wear ill-fitting bras.

John Beyer, of Mediawatch-UK, said: I have had a lot of calls from people who were surprised by the level of nudity in the programme. The number of topless women in a programme is likely to be very offensive to a lot of people. Ofcom has a duty to protect young people from this kind of thing.

An ITV spokesman said: The context of this programme fully justified the use of footage of women topless and in bras. The presenters were pursuing a serious subject in an engaging and entertaining way.

 

28th October    Stereotypical Britz...
   
Reinforcing negative stereotypes of being easily offended

British Muslim Forum bannerA Channel 4 drama, which depicts a second-generation British Muslim woman as a suicide bomber, was condemned last night by the British Muslim Forum.

Khurshid Ahmed, the chairman of the forum, called on Channel 4 not to air the film, Britz, which is due to be shown in two parts on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Britz tells the story of a brother and sister, Sohail and Nasima, as they are pulled in different directions by their conflicting personal experiences in post-9/11 Britain. Sohail, a law student, signs up with MI5. His sister, a medical student, becomes Britain's first female suicide bomber. The film's award-winning director is Peter Kosminsky.

Khurshid Ahmed said last night: Channel 4 should be working with us to defeat terrorism and extremism, not sowing hate and division in our communities, and reinforcing negative stereotypes.

The Home Office has viewed the film. A government spokesman said: Having seen extracts from the film and heard Mr Kosminsky's comments, we can understand the British Muslim Forum's concerns. Given Channel 4's remit as a public service broadcaster, they should listen to the views of moderate Muslims who reject violence and extremism, and they should air those views alongside this film.

[Actually the Home Office antipathy may be more to do with the director's criticism of Control Orders:

See Henry Porter in the Guardian see full article:

Pre-trial detention is the greatest possible offence to the rule of law, whatever the threat we face from terrorists, which I do not in anyway underestimate. Peter Kosminsky, the director of two interesting films called Britz, to be shown on Channel 4 next Wednesday and Thursday, explores the issues of control orders and pre-trial detention with the unwavering conviction that they act as stimulants to terrorist recruitment rather than making us more secure].

 

19th October    Bulge Bilge...
   
Complaints about Terry Wogan's 'Wardrobe Enhancement'

Terry Wogan with bulgeThe BBC veteran, Terry Wogan, presented Sunday's Points of View in a pair of moleskin trousers which clung relentlessly to a certain area and left little to the imagination.

The corporation has received a flurry of complaints about Terry's 'wardrobe enhancement'.

Even Sir Terry's most ardent female fans appear to have found the experience a little unsettling, if the BBC's on-line message boards are to be believed.

One said: I have just watched Points of View with my daughter and my husband. When the camera panned out on Terry Wogan, I didn't know where to look. Both my daughter and I were totally embarrassed to see Terry with very revealing trousers on. I'm sure we can't have been the only ones to notice.

 

17th October    Opportunistic Stunts...
   
Whinging at Bremner, Bird & Fortune

Bremner, Bird & FortuneA Rory Bremner sketch on Channel 4 in which Gordon Brown pledges to find missing child, Madeleine McCann, has attracted 32 complaints from viewers.

Viewers of last Sunday's episode of Bremner, Bird and Fortune said the sketch was in poor taste and particularly insensitive because the McCann case is ongoing.

C4 said Bremner's intention was to lampoon the lengths that politicians will go to for public support. We can assure you the sketch was not aimed at the McCann family, but was clearly directed at politicians and their opportunistic publicity stunts, a spokesman said. It was certainly never Channel 4's intention to offend or cause distress to the family or to our viewers.

The 32 complaints were made to media regulator, Ofcom.

Update: Tally

25th October 2007

Ofcom have now received 55 complaints

 

5th October   Whinge Binge...
 


Portman Group logoPortman Group whinge about binge drinking scene in Holby City

From Google News see full article
See also It's censorship – so why can't they admit it? by Sam Leith

An episode of the BBC show Holby City included a "gratuitous" display of harmful drinking behaviour, according to a complaint lodged by the drinks industry.

The Portman Group says the scene of two medical staff downing tequila shots in the programme was a "serious breach" of Ofcom's broadcasting code.

It has written to the regulator calling for the episode to be investigated, and complained direct to the BBC. The 8pm Holby City episode, broadcast last month, showed a woman medic asking bar staff for tequila.

She asked for five for starters and urged the bar staff to line them up before telling a male colleague neck these and back to mine.

The pair both downed the tequila shots but the programme showed no "harmful impact" of their drinking, according to the Portman Group's complaint.

The drinks industry body says in its complaint to Ofcom: We would expect the BBC to take greater care with the portrayal of alcohol in programmes. We would not advocate censorship, nor deny that storylines of alcohol misuse can be used to good and positive effect, ...BUT... those which include inappropriate, rapid or excessive alcohol consumption, particularly by otherwise sympathetic characters, can encourage imitation.

The risk of viewers imitating drinking behaviour shown on TV is increased if programme makers do not show any negative effects, the Portman Group said.

 

28th September   Unscripted Fuck Up...
 


Heat Radio logoHeat radio provides nutter fodder

From the Daily Mail see full article

It was an expletive-laiden outburst worthy of chef Gordon Ramsay.

The only problem was that rising radio star Sophie Davidson's rant was broadcast during a news bulletin for Heat Radio. The clip was broadcast the day after the station, a spin-off of Britain's popular celebrity magazine Heat, was re-launched.

The recording, part of a pre-recorded entertainment news bulletin, was never meant to be broadcast. But, much to Davidson's embarrassment, it was accidentally played to listeners tuned into the digital radio station.

Davidson is heard trying making a link to a clip - which failed to play. The audience then heard her shout: Aaaaagh. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. You fucking bastards, it's 'cos I can't fucking print out my fucking script.

One for Ofcom.

 

18th September   Vacuous Comments...
 

 
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas gameMichael Grade criticises video games

From Broadcast Now see full article

ITV executive chairman Michael Grade has criticised video games for existing in a "moral vacuum" compared to TV drama.

Grade said TV had a stronger moral standpoint because it could contextualise video content within the framework of a dramatic narrative.

He was responding to a presentation to the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention by John Riccitiello, chief executive of Entertainment Arts.

Riccitiello said video games were unfairly demonised in the media for their violent content, which he argued was no worse than TV programmes and films. He contrasted violent clips from shows such as 24 and CSI and films including Kill Bill and 300 with controversial video games such as Grand Theft Auto.

The video games industry has acted responsibly to protect children from seeing unsuitable material with measures such as blocking mechanisms on games consoles, he argued. He conceded, however, that video games' ability to tell strong stories and present a moral framework was in its infancy.

 

14th September   Stupid Bunt...
 

John Beyer

Beyer Recommends:
Secret Diary of a Call Girl

 
Beyer Recommends: Secret Diary of a Call Girl

Thanks to Dan
Based on an article from The Mirror see full article

Billie Piper is set to prove she's a big girl now by using the word, "cunt", on TV.

She is set to shock the usual nutters with her saucy antics in a role as a high-class hooker, and her use of strong lnguage.

Billie, who made her name as an actress in Doctor Who, is about to star in ITV2's Secret Diary of a Call Girl based on the bestselling book.

In the first episode on September 27, Billie's character Belle utters the rude word as a prank goes wrong.

John Beyer, director of Media watch was predictably outraged. He said: This is likely to cause considerable offence. ITV and Billie Piper have displayed poor judgement.

ITV said it was acceptable as the show will be screened late.

 

4th September   Respectful Censorship...
 


Sky News logoDying Princess Di pictures aired in UK when retransmitting US news

From the Guardian see full article

Sky News apologised and expressed "regret" for showing the controversial pictures of the late Princess Diana being given oxygen in the Mercedes at the scene of the Paris car crash that killed her.

The broadcaster also promised to review the circumstances leading to the broadcast.

It issued a statement apologising for showing the scenes during a broadcast from US network CBS Evening News in the early hours of this morning, the 10th anniversary of her death.

The first of a series of three black and white photographs showed Diana in the car with no visible injuries, while the second and third photographs showed Diana receiving treatment.

Sky's statement said: We routinely give UK viewers the opportunity to watch CBS's nightly network news bulletin, as shown to millions of people across the USA. In the early hours of Friday morning, Sky News broadcast a CBS bulletin which included an image of the late Princess Diana on the night of her fatal car accident.

We regret that this image was not highlighted by our pre-broadcast monitoring process and we are reviewing our internal processes as a result. We apologise for any offence caused to viewers. The image has not been used on any other part of Sky News' output and we will not repeat the CBS bulletin.

Sky's broadcast prompted complaints from some viewers, who were not warned the pictures were being aired.

The report is still running on the website of CBS News.

 

27th August   Update: Re-examining Old Complaints...
 


Waking the Dead Season 3 DVD coverOpus Dei appeal against Waking the Dead rejected

From the BBC see full article

The BBC Trust has dismissed a complaint by Opus Dei that episodes of Waking The Dead portrayed a "negative and false" view of the Catholic organisation.

The Trust ruled the drama was about individuals, not Opus Dei as an organisation.

Opus Dei's complaint went to the Trust on appeal after being rejected by the BBC earlier this year.

The two offending episodes of Waking The Dead were screened on BBC One in January. The shows, subtitled The Fall, contained characters with Opus Dei connections who were "criminal or immoral", according to the complaint.

The committee ruled that the TV audience would have been aware they were watching a drama. It added that Waking The Dead was an established and popular show into its sixth series, which dramatises a police unit who investigate dormant crimes.

It added it was satisfied that the criminal motivations of some of the characters in the dramas were not linked to their membership of Opus Dei.

The complainants were concerned that the BBC had, in its view, chosen to reflect the portrayal of Opus Dei in The Da Vinci Code rather than challenge it.

The committee ruled that the organisation had not been depicted in a "stereotypical" way. It pointed out that one character had told a police officer in the show not to make a fool of himself "by taking seriously the swirls of conspiracy that surrounded Opus Dei".

 

19th August   A Casualty of Censorship...
 

 
Casualty logoBBC stereotyped as politically correct

From The Guardian see full article

The BBC has abandoned plans to screen a fictional terrorist attack by Muslim suicide bombers in the primetime drama Casualty after internal clashes over whether the highly sensitive subject matter would cause offence.

BBC drama executives were keen to push the storyline and may even have started filming, a source close to the production told The Observer. But they were overruled by the corporation's editorial guidelines department, which ordered that the episode be changed so that the Muslim characters were replaced by animal rights extremists.

The source said that senior figures in the drama department supported the idea but were blocked by editorial guideline staff, who oversee the corporation's editorial and ethical standards. The drama staff were overruled because of concerns that the story would perpetuate stereotypes of young Muslims in Britain.

The producers' frustration at BBC policy is likely to be intensified by revelations that Channel 4 is to risk controversy by broadcasting a two-part thriller, written and directed by the Bafta-winning Peter Kosminsky, which depicts a suicide bombing by a young female Muslim causing devastation in London's Canary Wharf.

A spokeswoman for Channel 4 said: 'It's a very sensitive and multi-faceted view of what it's like to be Muslim in modern Britain. It is not sensationalist.'

 

17th August   Mentioned in Political Dispatches...
 

 
Dispatches: Undercover Mosque title screenUndercover Mosque raises questions about media freedom

From The Telegraph see full article

The police decision to complain to Ofcom about a controversial Channel 4 documentary raises serious questions about media freedom, the Tories said yesterday.

West Midlands Police claimed that the broadcaster spliced together extracts from speeches by Islamic preachers to distort their view for the documentary Undercover Mosque.

Paul Goodman, the shadow community cohesion minister, has written to Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, saying the decision caused "widespread concern" and warned that it could encourage extremists.

Goodman wrote: This decision raises serious questions about media freedom in Britain, and about whether public authorities tasked with upholding the rule of law are now, as a matter of policy, giving special assistance to those who seek to undermine the rule of law, and the pluralist, liberal, democratic culture which both underpins it and guarantees community cohesion.

As you know, the decision has caused widespread concern.

It's hard to avoid the conclusion that this is a politically motivated referral, driven by the mistaken belief that the best means of dealing with separatist extremists is to appease them.

If so, this referral is likely to encourage extremists, discourage moderates, damage public confidence in the CPS and West Midlands Police, compromise media freedom and undermine the Government's stated community cohesion policy."


Channel 4 has strongly denied any wrongdoing over the hour-long Dispatches programme. The programme's commissioning editor, Kevin Sutcliffe, said: We are very confident of successfully defending this unfairness complaint against the programme if Ofcom chooses to consider it. West Midlands Police have made a very general allegation of unfairness and have produced no evidence to support their claims.

 

27th July   Nutters Know No Dignity...
 
John Beyer

Beyer Recommends...
Malcolm and Barbara:
A Love Story

 
Beyer recommends
Malcolm and Barbara: A Love Story

Thanks to Dan
From The Telegraph see full article

A documentary is to be broadcast which shows the moment a man suffering from Alzheimer's disease dies.

Malcolm Pointon, a pianist and lecturer who developed the disease aged 51, was the subject of an award-winning programme eight years ago which chronicled his battle against illness and the devotion of his wife, Barbara.

Now filmmaker Paul Watson has returned to the family to make a sequel which ends when Mrs Pointon calls him into a room in Thriplow, Cambs, where her 66-year-old husband is dying.

It is only the second time a person has been filmed for British television passing away from an illness.

But John Beyer, of Mediawatch-UK said: There is a certain dignity in death that is not appropriate for people to gawp at on television. The way that broadcasters seem to want to intrude on every human activity undermines that dignity. We are entitled to privacy and dignity, and television destroys all that.

Watson, whose documentary will be shown on ITV1 on August 8, said It is only Barbara's fortitude that keeps me from weeping for Malcolm. It was she who asked me to film 'to the bitter end. The film includes his moments of happiness and love for Barbara up to his death surrounded by his family. I don't want our ITV audience to be frightened of death.


4th August   Update: Lack of Reality...
 
John Beyer

Beyer Recommends...
Malcolm and Barbara:
A Love Story

 
Alzheimer's death faked, Beyer gets his say

Thanks to Dan
From Mediawatch-UK

ITV eventually admitted that Malcolm Pointon had passed away days after the cameras had left his bedside.

The new furore over television “fakery” came about after Pointon’s brother Graham posted a message on Times Online, disclosing that ITV had misrepresented the final scenes.

The incident came to light days after Michael Grade, ITV Executive Chairman, promised “zero tolerance” over any cases of misleading viewers.

It seems that Mediawatch-UK were somehow blamed for the 'wrecking' of the worthy Alzheimer's project and John Beyer took the opportunity to write t the press:

I simply do not agree that this praiseworthy project has been “wrecked”. As a result of the controversy the programme has attracted a great deal of advanced publicity and Mrs Pointon has had many opportunities to set out very well the case for greater resources to be given to Alzheimer’s patients and sufferers. We have no quarrel with that whatsoever.

On the wider issue, we do believe that our intervention has given rise to a healthy debate about the role of television in our society and whether or not it is right for this medium to broadcast into the public domain the solemn moment of death and the private grief that accompanies it. It has had the additional benefit of focusing on the internal processes by which programmes get to the screen and the ‘spin’ that is attached to attract viewers.

 

 

31st July   Nuts to TV...
 


Nuts magazineNutsTV lined up for Freeview

From Brand Republic

IPC Media, the publisher of Nuts, is hoping to buck the downwards trend afflicting men's magazines with the launch of a branded TV channel, to be broadcast nightly on Freeview in association with Turner Broadcasting System.

NutsTV, which is believed to be a first for a men's lifestyle magazine, will launch later this year, backed up with interactive offerings and a website. It will be available on the next available entertainment channel on Freeview.

NutsTV will offer four hours of live studio programming five days a week with hosted highlights on the remaining two.

Like the magazine, the programming will cover girls, sport, entertainment, gadgets, cars and news.

 

26th July   Comment: Clapham Junction...
 


Channel 4 logoChannel 4 challenges paranoia of porn, violence & children

From Tony

Re the film Clapham Junction which was screened to millions of people on channel Four ( Monday 23/07/07 ).

Bearing in mind the current state of obsessive behaviour, on the part of the law and other groups of people, the film contained brutal scenes of gay-bashings and murder on Clapham Common.

In another clip, an actor playing the part of a 14 year old boy (As far as I am aware he looked and played the part of a 14 year old) buggered a 29 year old man in a graphical four minute sex-scene.

If any of your readers have Virgin Media they can see this film again on digital playback until next Saturday at no extra cost.

I thought the film was excellent but in the light of some people’s paranoia towards child porn images and violence, I'm surprised Channel Four screened the film. Even more concerning is the hypocrisy surrounding a child-sex scene and channel Four’s endorsement of child porn?

 

20th July   The Mother of All Obscenity...
 


Jonathan Ross BiographyJonathan Ross cleared

From The Telegraph see full article

The BBC has cleared the presenter Jonathan Ross of breaching standards during an interview with Nigella Lawson.

Ross told the TV cook she was a "Milf" (Mothers I'd Like to Fuck) during an interview on his BBC1 chat show Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. He did not spell out what the acronym stood for - but many viewers would have been aware of its meaning.

In the same interview, broadcast in December 2006, Ross insulted vegetarians by saying: Serve them fucking right when Lawson mentioned they would be unable to eat a Christmas dinner containing roast potatoes cooked in goose fat.

He also stated that if anyone offered him goose for Christmas lunch he would shit on their couch.

A viewer complained about the use of foul language and inappropriate references.

But the corporation's editorial standards committee did not uphold the complaint, ruling that Ross's comments and use of sexual innuendo were part of a litany of grotesque over-reactions which derived its comic effect precisely from its outrageous exaggeration. The committee said Ross had a well-established reputation for robust humour and language.

 

10th July   Temperatures Rise...
 


BBC logoAbout swearing during Live Earth concert

Based on an article from This Is Derbyshire see full article

Almost 150 people complained about the use of strong language during the Wembley Live Earth concert.

Phil Collins kicked off the swearing at around 2pm while adapting the lyrics to a Genesis song, causing the show's host, Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles, to apologise for his "potty mouth".

US comedian Chris Rock shocked viewers during the concert. Jonathan Ross, hosting the event on the BBC, did the apologising spiel.

After the watershed, Madonna shouted another swear word during her headline act.

There have been 149 complaints, 134 to the BBC and another 15 to Ofcom.

A BBC spokeswoman said: It was a live broadcast with no delay so we did all we could to remind the artists that they were going on live on TV and to refrain from swearing. When any of them did get carried away we pulled away from it immediately and apologised.

 

28th June   Iggy Popp Shopped...
 


Iggy Pop the anthology CDBBC apologise after complaints about the word 'Paki'

From the BBC see full article

The BBC has apologised after rock star Iggy Pop used the term 'Paki' during the coverage of the Glastonbury Festival.

During a studio interview, the veteran musician made the remark while talking about visiting 'Paki shops' in Camden.

Hosts Jo Whiley and Mark Radcliffe made no on-air apology on Saturday night, prompting three viewer complaints.

A spokesman for the corporation said: We would like to apologise if anyone was offended.

The presenters on the BBC Two programme made no reference to the word after it had been said.


26th October  Update:  Pop Shop Strop...
   
Ofcom whinge at tardy apology over Iggy Pop comment

Iggy Pop the anthology CDThe BBC presenter Jo Whiley should have made an immediate apology to viewers after the singer Iggy Pop used the phrase “paki shop” in a live Glastonbury Festival interview, Ofcom has said.

The regulator criticised the BBC’s response to the lapse, which occurred in a late-night television interview with the controversial performer. Pop told Whiley that his transparent trousers solicited admiring glances when he walked down Camden High Street at a paki shop.

The BBC said that the veteran American punk star was probably unaware that a term commonly used 30 years ago has now passed out of ‘polite usage’.

Ofcom said that the term “paki” was racial abuse which is generally considered very offensive. Although the term was not intended to be pejorative, its use was offensive.

The BBC said that the programme’s producers discussed Pop’s appearance when the BBC Two show came off-air and concluded that the presenter should have been told to apologise at the time. An apology was issued later that day on the BBC News website in the light of complaints made directly to the BBC.

 

26th June   A Black Knight...
 


The Worst of Bernard Manning videoPolitically incorrect jokes about the politically incorrect

From The Telegraph see full article

Sir Trevor McDonald's ITV show drew more than 100 complaints from viewers after he made a joke about Bernard Manning, the comedian who died last week. Manning, 76, was notorious for his politically incorrect humour.

The show, News Knight takes a satirical look at the week's news.

Sir Trevor introduced an item titled: This week's racist and dead. He said: This week it's fat, narrow-minded comic Bernard Manning. I never thought he was a racist. I just thought he was a fat white bastard.

ITV said yesterday it had received 77 complaints and Ofcom, the television regulator, said it had received 26 and would be assessing them.

Sir Trevor's remark about Manning was described by the comedian Jim Bowen as "appalling" and Lynn Moran, Manning's "companion", was said to be "very shocked".

An ITV source said: It's a satire show. I'm sure Bernard would find the whole thing hilarious.

 

22nd June   A Complaint is Born...
 


Eastenders logoForced caesarean birth story line on EastEnders offends

Based on an article from Bounty see full article

At least 80 viewers have made complaints about the recent scene in EastEnders which saw pregnant Dawn chained to a bed and threatened with having to undergo a caesarean section.

The storyline was already under scrutiny as the scriptwriters admitted they were forced to rewrite scenes in the light of the Madeline McCann disappearance, but it seems the unnerving story with Dawn, Rob and May was too much for a few viewers.

A BBC spokesman has since apologised, adding: We are sorry if some people were offended by this drama unfolding. He also stressed that the corporation will be addressing complaints fully in due course.

Update: More Complaints

25th June 2007

The number of complaints to the BBC about the EastEnders episode has risen to 183.

 

8th June   The Oxygen of Publicity...
 


Diana Witnesses in the Tunnel promoComplaints about the Diana documentary

Based on an article from Monsters & Critics see full article

The screening of photographs showing Britain's Princess Diana's "dying moments" has triggered an investigation by Ofcom.

Channel 4 received complaints from 'outraged' viewers after airing their documentary Diana: The Witnesses In The Tunnel on Wednesday 6th June, which included images of the princess receiving oxygen from paramedics as she lay slumped in the wreckage of the 1997 Paris car crash that claimed her life.

24 people complained to them directly, and 2,000 viewers complained on the Channel 4 website.

More than three and a half million tuned in to watch the documentary. A spokesman for Channel 4 said: This is a strong performance for a history documentary and it seems viewers tuned in to make up their own minds.


25th September   Update: Witness to a Crash Photo...
 


Diana Witnesses in the Tunnel promoOfcom rejects complaints about photos used in
Diana: The Witnesses in the Tunnel

From Broadcast Now see full article

Ofcom has rejected 62 complaints over Channel 4's controversial documentary Diana: The Witnesses in the Tunnel, ruling that the use of photographs of Princess Diana's fatal car crash was justified by their context.

The complaints largely centred on the use of the photographs and the purpose of the programme. Some viewers said screening the programme was disrespectful to the wishes of Prince William and Prince Harry, who had called for it not to be broadcast.

Ofcom said Diana's death was a sensitive issue and that any documentary treatment of it could offend some viewers.

But it said the images and themes of the programme were in line with viewers' expectations of an investigative C4 documentary and that the use of the photographs was therefore not gratuitous: The photographs were integral to the credibility of the argument being made and the corroborated first hand testimony.

 

7th May   Raising Hell...
 


Hellraiser 1-3 DVD box setNear the watershed

From Ofcom

An appeal about a previous decision regarding Hellbound: Hellraiser II on Rapture TV, 15 May 2006, 21:00

Introduction

Rapture TV is a general entertainment channel. Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a well-known 1980's horror film rated 18 by the BBFC. A viewer complained about the broadcast of graphic violence so near to the watershed on a channel which is not PIN protected, and therefore widely accessible. Rapture TV was asked to comment in relation to Rules 1.6 and 1.21 of the Broadcasting Code which state:

Rule 1.6: The transition to more adult material must not be unduly abrupt at the watershed or after the time when children are particularly likely to be listening. For television, the strongest material should appear later in the schedule.

Rule 1.21: BBFC 18-rated films or their equivalent must not be broadcast before 2100 on any service except for pay per view services, and even then they may be unsuitable for broadcast at that time.

Response

Rapture TV said that the film was preceded by an 18 visual and audio warning and that it was transmitted after the watershed. It said that the EPG description was clear and highlighted that the film was a horror film and therefore unlikely to be family viewing. It commented that the weekly slot promoted by the channel for a horror movie should have meant that the audience would expect a horror film at that time.

Decision

This film contains graphic sequences of violence from the start, e.g. a scene of a man, whose face is impaled by hooks, being torn apart; graphic scenes of bloodied mutilation which explained how the main character, Pinhead came to be; and an image of a corpse covered in maggots.

The film was preceded by a visual warning which included the BBFC's 18 rating symbol and text noting that the film was not suitable for persons under 18. An accompanying audio warning stated: The following film is not suitable for any persons under the age of 18 years. It may contain scenes of an adult nature and contains bad language from the beginning.

The information given before this film was in both audio and visual format. However the wording of the on-screen text was insufficient to fully inform viewers of the nature of the content to follow. Similarly, although the audio information was more comprehensive, this suggested that the film may contain scenes of an adult nature which would not have prepared viewers for the sequences of graphic violence which were present from the very start of the film.

We accept that regular viewers of the channel may be familiar with this weekly horror slot and that some information had been provided before the broadcast of the film. However, given the extreme violence in the very early scenes of the film, it was unsuitable for broadcast so soon after the watershed on a free-to-air, general entertainment channel. The violent and extreme nature of the imagery at the beginning of the film resulted in the transition after the watershed to more adult material being unduly abrupt. For the same reason, this film was not suitable for broadcast at 21:00.

The scheduling of the film was therefore in breach of the Code, rules 1.6 and 1.21.

 

18th April   TV Filth...
 


Mary WhitehouseThe Mary Whitehouse Story to air on BBC

From The Mirror see full article

Julie Walters is to play moral standards crusader Mary Whitehouse in a film by her archenemy, the BBC.

Devout Christian Whitehouse became a household name after starting her campaign against "blasphemy, bad language, violence and indecency" on the airwaves when she heard The Beatles say "knickers" on a show in 1964.

Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story was written by Amanda Coe, who helped script Channel 4's Shameless. It will reveal how former BBC director general Hugh Carleton Greene reacted to her attacks by commissioning a nude painting of her with five breasts for his office.

Executive producer Leanne Klein said the 90-minute film, based on first-hand accounts, would be filled with humour.

 

12th April   Update: Shadowy Complaints...
 


Waking the Dead Season 3 DVD coverOpus Dei complaints rejected by BBC

From The Telegraph see full article

A Complaint by Opus Dei that its members were unfairly portrayed as "murderers, thieves and adulterers" in the television crime drama Waking the Dead has been rejected by the BBC.

The Roman Catholic lay organisation, whose members include Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, claimed that the drama had presented its members as "self-serving hypocrites" who cover up evil actions while hiding behind a veneer of piety and penitential rituals of self flagellation.

But Andrew Bell, the director of the corporation's editorial complaints unit, said he could not uphold the complaint as he thought most viewers would not take the programme seriously.

Bell said Waking the Dead was a highly fictionalised format in which unlikely conspiracies, guilty secrets and unexpected revelations are the order of the day.

The controversial Catholic organisation complained about two episodes in January which featured an Opus Dei member shooting his lover, a married woman who is also a member, and a rival.

The award-winning drama also depicted the fictional head of the Catholic organisation as a shadowy figure pursuing money and power and implied that it was involved in the real-life murder of the Italian banker Roberto Calvi in 1982.

Jack Valero, a director of Opus Dei, said the portrayal of the organisation was unremittingly negative. He said all the characters linked to the group were "cr