Portman 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.

Heat 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.

 
Michael 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.

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.

Dying 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.

Opus 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".

 
BBC 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.'

 
Undercover 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.

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.

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.

NutsTV 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.

Channel 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?

Jonathan 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.

About 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.

BBC 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.

Politically 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.

Forced 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.

Complaints 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.

Ofcom 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.

Near 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.

The 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.

Opus 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