Ross Recorded

There’s something quite sad about the decision that BBC Radio 2 have taken to ensure that Jonathan Ross’s Saturday morning show be pre-recorded. It shows how far the whole ‘compliance’ thing has gone.

It seems that the BBC think that one of the country’s most talented broadcasters can’t be trusted not to offend anyone on the radio, and therefore to avoid any potentially difficult situations, they’re going to record the show, and then some censorious figure within Radio 2 will edit out anything that may have the potential to offend... well... anyone really, I guess.

As we know, censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself and is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.

This super-sensitive and censorious approach has got to be bad for radio. Radio is best when it’s live and spontaneous and presenter has a sense of place and time, relating to the audience about the things that they are collectively experiencing at that moment. Pre-recording is always second best, and it’s a poor substitute for the real thing.

Of course, many listeners won’t know, and many won’t care... but the principle of the thing just feels wrong. I’m not against pre-recording music specials, or ‘best of’ shows or programmes going out over a holiday period. But a regular Saturday morning show from one the BBC’s most valued presenters being pre-recorded the day before, just in case he says something a bit controversial just feels that the ‘Nanny State’ mentality has seeped into the one organisations that I’d least expected to bow to this kind of thing.

It feels like this has the undertones of a very political decision. The BBC don’t want anything to cause a problem over the next 12 months that the tabloid press (mainly the Daily Mail!) will pick up on, (especially if it’s Jonathan potentially saying something stupid and risqué), as it would land them in a huge political storm with the probable next (Conservative) government who’ve already called for the BBC’s funding to be frozen. I can imagine the BBC hierarchy calling internally for a ‘safe’ period where controversy is avoided at all costs to avoid any ‘problems’ and safeguard the its own revenue situation. “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive...”

If you want to hear the most eloquent argument as to why compliance kills creativity, listen to former BBC Director of Radio, Matthew Bannister deliver a lecture at the Radio Festival in Glasgow in 2008. It’s called ‘Comply or Die’ and you’ll find it here. (Scroll about half way down to find it and listen to the audio. It’s well worth it)

So... what’s next. Moyles on Radio 1 pre-record his overnight in case he uses the word ‘gay’ inappropriately again? The Today Programme on Radio 4 reporting the news a day in delay, so it can check every line for potential Gilligan style problems?

The best radio, is live radio. I hope we can keep it that way for some time to come. The alternative seems a little too Orwellian for my liking...

“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever.”

"So Folks... What Have We Learned?"

It looks as if we’ve almost seen the final word on the Brand / Ross incident with the publication this week of the BBC Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee Report on the whole sorry saga.

It is painstaking in its detail yet admirably thorough in its search for the truth. If the BBC lack in some areas around ‘editorial judgement’, they surely make up for it in ‘really good internal investigations’!

I won’t go into the gory details of the report, as they’ve been really well documented by a great number of worthy individuals and publications, but it is worth making a couple of points under the title of “So Folks... What Have We Learned?”

High-maintenance talent need experienced producers
BBC Radio 2 allowed Brand’s independent production company to let a relatively inexperienced producer oversee production of the show. It’s a tough call to say ’no’ to high profile talent, especially if they effectively employ you, as was the case here... but if you have talent that can be ‘difficult’, make sure you’ve got someone who can deal with them effectively. Managing talent is a specialist skill, so don’t just stick anyone in the studio with them and expect everything to be OK!

Make sure everyone knows what their job is
It seems that the Head of Compliance didn’t think it was his role to listen to an entire programme that was known to contain potentially ‘offensive’ material. If it’s your job to clear stuff... make sure you listen to it all first, or make sure the person whose job it is, knows what they have to do!

Use your “Spidey Sense”
BBC Radio 2’s now former Controller, Lesley Douglas, provided the unfortunate ‘smoking gun’ in this case... a one word email sent at 12:22 on Friday 17th October, where she clears the plan of action suggested by the Head of Compliance, which in fairness was slightly misleading and perhaps encouraged her to agree based on the ‘comedy value’ of the item. If something feels like it needs a further discussion, tempting as it may be to give a monosyllabic reply to the email from your Blackberry whilst sourcing a Blueberry muffin and skinny Latte from the nearby Starbucks, this may not always be the best course of action, as poor Lesley found out to her cost.

We should actively support talent and encourage risk-taking on air, and as my previous posts have suggested we shouldn’t allow this over-hyped incident to neuter creativity, but please make sure your own radio station has a system in place to guarantee that a “catastrophic breakdown of editorial and compliance control” doesn’t take place on your watch.

"Que?" - Brand / Ross... What does it all mean?

The hysterical reaction to the last week of activity surrounding the Brand / Ross saga seems almost farcical. It's even got it's own name... 'Sachsgate'!

This media feeding frenzy has ensured front page coverage on all national newspapers, led all our news bulletins and become the main topic of conversation of the chattering classes. Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on this. (And most I think, have not even heard the programme in its entirety, if at all!)

Some working in non-UK radio industries can't quite believe that the Prime Minister is being asked about a prank phone calls in press conferences whist the economy is crumbling around his very ears!

As predicted, scalps have been claimed. Russell Brand thought that by resigning from his Radio 2 show, that may placate those wanting blood. Frankly, his star is rising in Hollywood and a late night Radio 2 show is not the end of his ambitions. But no... one scalp is not enough! The exceptionally talented Lesley Douglas then felt duty bound to fall on her sword; a noble thing to do, as the incident was something that occurred on her network. BBC Director General, Mark Thompson was probably grateful she did so, as it took some of the heat off him. And the hunters main prize? Well... as we know, Jonathan Ross has been suspended for 3 months without pay.

Will that be it? Will there be more blood on the studio floor? Quite probably. I'm certain that's not the end of it.

When they write the history of the BBC and its place as a public service broadcaster in the 21st century, Hutton, 'Queengate' and now 'Sachsgate' will all feature prominently.

But why has this incident captured the imagination of the country in such a momentous way? I believe there are 3 main reasons:

1. The BBC is involved; the great British public have a strange relationship with this institution. On one hand, many are quite rightly proud of it, especially its reputation abroad. I still maintain it is the finest broadcaster in the world. However, when it makes a mistake, it becomes an easy target, because everyone's suddenly reminded that it's “our money” that funds it, and anything that's publicly funded can't possibly make a mistake!

2. Celebrities are involved; we're obsessed by celebrities. We love reading about them. They fill a hole in many people's unglamorous lives. They sell newspapers. And when a celebrity is involved in a scandal... well... it's manna from heaven for the papers and news broadcasters alike.

3. A morality tale is involved; nothing excites the press in the UK more than a story chronicling the decline of standards of our nation. Whether it's hoodies, lack of respect in school or teenage mums... any indicator of this country going to 'hell in a handcart' is blown out of all proportion by a press pack keen to amplify the end of civilisation as we know it.

So there we have it. A perfect scandal that started as a misjudged item on a late night radio show 10 days later becomes symbolic of the 'decline and fall' of a once great nation. Only in Great Britain!!

This is another example of the ‘British disease’ where we enjoy elevating our celebrities, but then when they get too successful (or are perceived to be paid too much licence fee payers money perhaps), a section of the media strive manfully to drag them down over one particular incident.

Provided the checks and balances of a strong editorial team are present, some radio presenters should be encouraged to take risks and explore the limits of acceptability. If they don’t, we will breed a generation of broadcasters whose programmes are the radio equivalent of beige; uninspiring, undistinguished and uneventful.

"He fucked your Granddaughter!"

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross… where do I start?!!!

(For those who’d like a quick précis of the story, click here)

I think we need to separate 2 things here.

1 - What happened on the radio and why
2 - The reaction to it

What happened on the radio and why
Let’s take the first of these. When you tune into Russell Brand’s show on BBC Radio 2, you do so probably in the knowledge that it will be mix of obvious innuendo, childish pranks, indulgent narcissism, multiple drug references and decadent interviews. It’s like no other show on the radio. That’s what makes it good. That’s what I pay my licence fee for… to have something different and challenging that the market doesn't provide.

So, when I hear that Russell Brand and his guest on that week’s show, Jonathan Ross, left offensive answer-phone messages for actor Andrew Sachs, then it hardly surprised me. Out of the 4 messages they left (!) the first one did the real damage. Take a listen right now...

Boomp3.com

Now, did they cross the line? Probably… yes. Was it funny? Depends on whether you find that kind of thing amusing. (It did make me laugh – but I’m very liberal and don’t read The Daily Mail) It was actually Jonathan who blurted out the most offensive bit. But the real issue is not the fact that 2 talented and well-loved presenters went too far. (Many presenters have gone too far in the past) The real issue is that the show was pre-recorded and the whole thing could have been avoided if the Producer or Senior Producer had spotted that this might blow up in their face. So, if anyone should take some heat, it should be them… and not the presenters.

I want presenters like that to take risks. Russell Brand was not hired by Lesley Douglas to play “10 in a Row”. That’s what he’s there for: to push boundaries. And that’s what producers are there for: to know where the line is. The production system failed, not the presenters. But that's not a sexy story.

The reaction to it
So a couple of listeners complain when they hear it, but the main damage is done by a Mail on Sunday journalist who picks up the story and calls Sach’s agent for a comment and then runs with it. As a result of that, Andrew Sachs makes a complaint to the BBC. That’s then picked up by the mainstream media as they all know that this is a story that will sell newspapers, increase viewers on TV shows etc. It’s about 2 of the UK’s most high profile media stars, so its light relief from the ‘Credit Crunch’ and ‘Recession’ doom and gloom stories that don’t sell papers.

Then as soon as the press get hold of it, the snowball effect happens. After a relatively minor number of complaints, people who haven’t even heard the original broadcast start to complain. They’re complaining about something that they didn’t hear, and weren’t originally offended by. They’re just complaining about the fact that it happened. Complaints breed complaints. Remember the Big Brother race row? And what has happened here is that those people who don’t like Brand or Ross and what they stand for finally have an opportunity to stick their small knife in, hoping for ‘death by a thousand cuts’. There is no doubt that ‘Middle England’ still has an enormous voice when it comes to morale outrage.

Once that Middle England is morally outraged, then it’s only a matter of time before Gordon Brown and David Cameron get dragged it to the debate, both eager to deplore a decline in standards within the BBC etc. One conservative MP today has suggested that Radio 2 encourages anti-social behaviour!! Oh dear.

As the story gathers pace and the front pages of national newspapers are packed with the details, the BBC has to act. It’s constantly afraid of having its wings clipped as a result of appearing too liberal so it has to do something seen as ‘strong’ and ‘in touch with the sentiment of the nation’ And it has just acted, suspending both Brand and Ross. And there we have it. Two of the most talented broadcasters in the country are suspended for mistake that a Senior Producer has made in allowing the item to be broadcast.

It’s part of the British disease. We like to build people up, but we seem to revel in a moral panic that allows us to drag them down again. It’s un-British to be too successful (especially if you’re being paid licence fee payers money.) This rather sanctimonious standpoint is nearly always driven by the tawdry organ of hate, otherwise known as The Daily Mail / Mail on Sunday. I’m embarrassed that those papers are read by so many, otherwise normal, people in this country. One ironic twist to the whole thing; Andrew Sachs says he now wishes the whole thing would go away. Well Andrew, it’s unlikely to if your Granddaughter, the lovely Georgina Baillie (a member of Satanic Sluts!), sells her story to The Sun for a front page spread. Just a thought.

So – no doubt this will rumble on until a scalp is claimed and peace and order can be restored to 'this Sceptred Isle'! And I’m sure I’ll again feel obliged to defend the need for talent to be allowed to push boundaries and encouraged to take risks. I’ll also feel obliged to write about the need for Senior Producers to understand more effectively how to edit out pieces of pre-recorded audio that are going to cause a national crisis!!

"If Winning isn't Everything, Why do they Keep Score?" - Sony Awards 2008

The starter was a nice warm vegetarian tart of some description… the main course was lamb… (I think) … and frankly the desert could have been anything, as by that stage a good quantity of the ‘table wine’ had been consumed!

I’m of course referring to the obligatory meal that accompanies UK radio’s annual back-slapping fiesta, otherwise known as the Sony Radio Academy Awards, or Sonys… or as most of the newspapers like to call them, the ‘Radio Oscars’! (It helps people understand it’s an awards ceremony I believe!)

The BBC traditionally does very well in these awards for 2 reasons. First, they make really good programmes and second, they don’t have much competition in areas such as drama and features and their news output is plentiful to say the least. This year didn’t disappoint for them, with the Beeb picking up around twice as many Gold Awards than the commercial sector.

A glut of famous names picked up some top awards, Jonathan Ross (who’d obviously been tipped off because he doesn’t turn up if he doesn’t win!) for Music Radio Personality, Russell Brand (who’s show I’m now warming to) for Entertainment Award… and Chris Moyles for Breakfast Show. His speech was a little like his show… very funny in parts, but there was no-one there to say ‘enough… move on!’ Even host Paul Gambaccini was unnaturally lenient in allowing the ceremony to drag on endlessly as Chris introduced his team one by one. Mind you, as he said himself, he’s unlikely to be there again, so he’ll make the most of it. The presentation of the award by his Mum and Dad was either really quite a sweet moment that brought a tear to the eye, or a hideously naff stunt designed to create a very crass ‘This Is Your Life’ moment onstage. You can watch it again and make your own mind up!

Commercial Radio did well in categories more suited to it’s natural home, like The Competition Award, Promo Award and Community Award which was picked up by Capital’s rather wonderful ‘Lights Out London’ initiative. Two awards that are normally very dominated by the BBC are Music Broadcaster of the Year and Specialist Music Award… but it was nice to see that the former went to Andi Durrant of the Galaxy Network, and the later to Krystle, a DJ I had the natural foresight and wisdom (!!!) to put on the air several year ago when I was PD at Forth. Being mentioned in her acceptance speech was really lovely and I have no doubt she’ll move on to bigger and better things in the years ahead. Well done Krystle. And beating Zane Lowe is no mean feat either!!

The list of guest presenters was varied as ever ranging from Joan Collins to Christopher Biggins… Boris Johnson to Tony Benn… and a genuinely moving appearance on stage by Edwin Collins, who’s still recovering from a cerebral haemorrhage he suffered several years ago. It kinda put the whole thing into perspective for me.

Needless to say, the merriment continued after the ceremony. Why the resident DJ feels that by playing the cheesiest 70’s disco records the dance floor will fill up is still beyond me, however he persisted with ‘Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel’ and ‘Young Hearts Run Free’ until some poor 'Tape Op' wearing a rather ill-fitting dinner jacket was dragged onto the floor by a tanked up Sales Exec to begin what, at best, could be described as “shit dancing”!

And as the strains of ‘Rock the Boat’ wafted through the barmy May night, and the queue of cabs lined up hoping for an expenses funded fare to Reading, we left it for another year, safe in the knowledge that we’ll all be back again in 12 months time.

Ghandi once said that there are two kinds of people… those who work and those who take the credit. He suggested being in the first group, as there was less competition there. On the evidence of Monday night, there are plenty of people who work, and work very hard… and it was nice to see them actually get the credit for a change.