Brand & Ross issue

[Mark]

There seems to be an awful lot of fuss about this, to the extent that they've now been suspended and will likely be fired from their jobs.

Of course it was monumentially stupid, but radio DJ's have done prank calls since the start.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7696714.stm

[Dave B]

The fact that only 2 people complained at the time of broadcast, and that Andrew Sachs has accepted Ross' apology says a lot.

Nobody was remotely bothered until nearly a week later the Daily Mail dragged the story up and feigned self-righteous indignation.

It was at worst a childish prank which overstepped the mark, but it provides the public with a way of venting their anger at Jonathon Ross' perceived massive licence fee funded salary (conveniently forgetting that the £18 million figure which is so often quoted is actually the fee for his production company to provide a hell of a lot of television at well below the market rate).

Sach's grand-daughter isn't exactly a moral compass herself, being in a dance troupe called the Satanic Sluts and admitting that she did indeed sleep with Russell Brand (but who hasn't?). She was boasting on her MySpace about being mentioned on Brand's show, but seems to have changed her tune today.

I cannot understand why, in the middle of an economic downturn and less than a week before the US elections, this is the lead story on almost every broadcast

Storm in a teacup, mountain out of a molehill, and many many other clichés.

[MrJan]

Blown outof all proportion. Daily Mail doing their stuff again no doubt. Only 2 complaints when the thing was first aired but it just took a few numpties who hadn't heard it to decide that they were offended and all of a sudden Ofcom has 20,000 complaints

Stupid thing to do and they overstepped the mark but effectively the line has been drawn in the sand now and people know that this is a step too far. No need to fire anyone because the statement has been made by the public already.

[jim mcglinchey]

What does it say about Brown and Cameron, that they have time to comment on this crapola in the middle of the current economic mess?

Ah well, at least I can stay tooned to Radio 2 at 10.00 on Saturday morning for once.

[Daniel]

Brand is a fool and I hope he gets fired. It was a dumb prank and I think Ross looks like an idiot for it but I've never understood why Brand is doing anything more than flipping burgers.

[PuddleJumper]

The people who should be sacked are those that allowed it to be aired.

[Dave B]

This is an interesting snippet, if true:

MediaGuardian.co.uk understands that on the day the Brand and Ross's calls to Sachs' answerphone were recorded, a producer from the BBC rang the former Fawlty Towers actor to ask if he would mind them being used.

It is claimed that Sachs said they could be, as long as they were toned down a bit.

[Hazell B]

Sach's grand-daughter isn't exactly a moral compass herself.......

So not the point, though. Even if she's charging for a quickie outside a burger bar, it doesn't excuse what her grandfather was forced to listen to - especially after he'd asked for it NOT to be aired.

I dislike Ross for some of the rubbish he spouted a couple of years ago about Heather Mills. He'd never met her but called her mad, a loonatic and all sorts on live and recorded shows. Never watched him on anything but Film ....since. His wage annoys me - whatever it is - as he's also well known for showing off about it. Even his film reviews have become an utter heap of steaming manure as he never says a film's bad if he knows anyone in it

Brand's clever but mean spirited, so I've never really decided about him. He makes me laugh then a moment later wince.

They won't be sacked. Within two days (I'm thinking by the start of Ross's Radio 2 show this weekend, in fact) they'll be back at work and saying sorry.

By the way, it's not a mountain out of a molehill thing I don't think. Some people are sick of pointlessly nasty comments and sketches on TV and radio aimed at individuals. This just happens to be the story that's opened up debate. Frankie Boyle's bile might have sparked it, or any number of otherwise funny comedians', but it was going to hit the headlines sooner or later. Twenty years ago it wasn't okay to name somebody and lie, etc. about them on air - yet now it is. It had to reach a point when viewers said no more.

[Daniel]

Thing is though Hazell, why should someone like Heather Mills who has done something to deserve a bit of hatred be immune from comments? I think there comments were needlessly nasty and unnecessary and Neither Mr Sachs or his grand-daughter have done anything to deserve this sort of treatment.

[Dave B]

So not the point, though. Even if she's charging for a quickie outside a burger bar, it doesn't excuse what her grandfather was forced to listen to - especially after he'd asked for it NOT to be aired.

Fair point, what she does is perfectly legal and is entirely seperate to the voicemail messages Sachs heard. I was just trying to add a bit of context.

I dislike Ross for some of the rubbish he spouted a couple of years ago about Heather Mills. He'd never met her but called her mad, a loonatic and all sorts on live and recorded shows. Never watched him on anything but Film ....since. His wage annoys me - whatever it is - as he's also well known for showing off about it. Even his film reviews have become an utter heap of steaming manure as he never says a film's bad if he knows anyone in it

Again, fair point. Ross seems to polarise opinion like very few others.

By the way, it's not a mountain out of a molehill thing I don't think. Some people are sick of pointlessly nasty comments and sketches on TV and radio aimed at individuals. This just happens to be the story that's opened up debate. Frankie Boyle's bile might have sparked it, or any number of otherwise funny comedians', but it was going to hit the headlines sooner or later. Twenty years ago it wasn't okay to name somebody and lie, etc. about them on air - yet now it is. It had to reach a point when viewers said no more.

But the trouble is, people weren't offended - at least the target audience who actually listened to the show at the time of broadcast. 2 out of ~400,000 listeners complained, 0.0005% of the audience. Even Andrew Sachs himself seems to have given his blessing to a "toned down" version being broadcast.

It only became an issue when the Mail got involved, a paper with more of an anti-BBC agenda then even the Murdoch rags (and I say that as a Times reader). I'm willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of the complainants still haven't heard the broadcast, and even those who did have only sought it out after reading the article.

Georgina Baillie - the grand-daughter - laughed it up when the story broke, even boasting about it on her MySpace. It's interesting to note that she's only recently changed her stance, co-incidentally after an approach from Max Clifford and a nice generous offer from The Sun.

Maybe standards are declining, maybe Brand and Ross shouldn't have made the calls, almost certainly the BBC should have been more robust in their pre-broadcast checks. But when only 0.0005% of the audience feel compelled to complain I don't think they did that much wrong.