mediawatchwatch.org.uk

The results of the Television Without Frontiers European consultation are in, and John Beyer’s contribution is available to view in .pdf format. Not that it’s worth the download time, apart from a few choice quotes and one barking idea.

The self-appointed defender of “our beautiful language” starts off in typically eloquent form:

We support, in particular, the aspiration and the emphasis placed on the protection of minors and human dignity. These two principles should underpin all other considerations with regard to accessibility to linear and non linear audiovisual services.

He then goes on to suggest that “the country of origin principle is the wrong way round”, and proposes his own “country of reception” principle. This would mean that every country would be required to regulate its broadcast services according to the whim to any other country where the signals could be received.

That seems to us to be the best mechanism in order to ensure respect and the protection of minors and human dignity. This change would also go some way to stopping the abuse and circumvention identified by those conducting the revision.

Not a recipe for broadcasting chaos, then?

On the “right of reply” issue, Mediawatch-UK are largely in agreement:

This is especially true now of some Internet sites where accepted notions of fairness, honesty, integrity and objectivity are absent.

Who can he be talking about?

(Thanks to Paul Taverner)

Sony has been forced to withdraw a series of ads in Italy which celebrate the Playstation’s 10-year anniversary. The ads, which ran in newspapers and print magazines, depict a smirking young man wearing a crown of thorns made up of the PS’s iconic buttons, and bear the slogan “Ten years of passion”.

Antionio Sciortino, editor of the Italian Christian Family, delved into the bag of cliches for offended Christians and came out with,

This time they have really gone too far […] if this had concerned Islam there would have been a really strong reaction.

Class.

(Thanks again to Andrew Nixon)

According to the BBC, former vicar was ejected from a school in Cornwall for using the above words in a talk to 12 year olds. GP Taylor, author of Shadowmancer, was on a nationwide tour promoting modern language.

Head teacher Mrs Barbera Vann:

He is a national novelist and I would expect him to be able to speak to young people without using that sort of language.

Quite right, too. “Ass” is American. He should have said “arse”. The poo-head.

UPDATE: Digital Spy has a different angle on the story. They claim that teachers ejected Taylor for making homophobic comments about Harry Potter: “he’s not the only gay in the village,” claimed the controversial cleric.

(Thanks to Andrew Nixon in the comments)

The Christian Congress for Traditional Values and its mothership, Peniel Pentecostal Church, have been quiet of late. One of the church’s posters was the subject of a couple of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority. It was headlined “MIRACLES – HEALING – FAITH” and showed a photo of a man holding a child with a microphone in his other hand. Presumably it was based on the front page of their website.

The accusation was that it was advertising miracles and cures which it could not provide, and that it was preying upon gullible people. The defence was that

that the poster referred to spiritual, not physical, miracles and healing.

The ad was found “not in breach”.

Insurance salesman-cum-bishop Michael Reid of Michael Reid Ministries/PPC branded the complaints as “nonsense”. As if they would ever make unsubstantiated claims of miracle cures and get into trouble with the ASA!

UPDATE: The Scotsman reveals that Reid was supported by three Conservative MPs: Eric Pickles (Brentwood and Ongar), Andrew Rosindell (Romford), and Angela Watkinson (Upminster).

The editor of the BBC’s Panorama has published a detailed rebuttal of the self-important clowns of the MCB’s complaint against the program A Question of Leadership.

Mike Robinson writes:

I have found there to be no truth in your claims that this programme was dishonestly presented, maliciously motivated or Islamophobic.

The programme’s purpose was to reflect, inform and generate debate in the Muslim community and the wider population about the nature and direction of the leadership of British Muslims.

In the light of the London bombings this is a debate which many Muslims to whom we spoke believe is long overdue.

As this debate goes forward I very much hope that you will desist from unwarranted and wildly inaccurate attacks on the honesty of our journalism.

The rebuttal follows fairly obvious lines (the complaint was pretty pathetic). It now remains only for Ofcom to publish their response. It is unlikely to be very different.

It should be noted, however, that the Panorama programme was regarded by some in the Asian community as a missed opportunity because that it failed to dig up enough dirt on the MCB, and left itself open to accusations of “islamophobia” by neglecting to widen its remit to other self-appointed leaders of other religious communities.

We hate picking up stories from The Sun, so we’ll let the GALHA blog do the talking on this one.

The worst part of it is – as far as we can determine, the Muslim Council of Britain weren’t even consulted. Again.

French Connection have decided to scale back their use of the FCUK logo. Not particularly newsworthy, except for the fact that John Beyer provides a comment for the Mail on Sunday:

We had people call us after their children had seen it and asked what it meant. It’s high time the firm did this and we welcome the decision.

Imagine:
CALLER – My child has just seen the French Connection UK logo and wants to know what it means. What should I say?
BEYER – Tell them it’s an anagram of “fuck”, and make sure you send in your subs to Mediawatch-UK so that we can combat this kind of filth.

FFS.

Ekklesia has a great story today. Premier Christian Radio, one of the main players in the anti-Jerry Springer: The Opera campaign, has written to the BBC complaining about Stephen Green’s appearance on Question Time.

Peter Kerridge, Chief Executive of Premier Christian Media Group, is worried that Green’s extreme views might be considered representative of the majority of Christians in the UK. John Buckeridge, editor of Christianity Magazine, wrote:

We consider the BBC would be unlikely to invite a panellist onto Question Time who held extreme fundamentalist Hindu, Muslim or Sikh views. If this were to happen in the first instance, the broadcasters responsible would face justified criticism if they failed to put their views into the context of the wider and more moderate faith group they claim to represent. As Christians we are asking for similar treatment.

You got it, actually. There were two other self-confessed Christians on the panel, one of whom describes himself as an evangelical.

Nevertheless, Green has fought back with a press release of his own, claiming that he has been “stabbed in the back”.

I can’t see any evidence of any love or unity of Spirit whatsoever in the Premier Press Release. Christian Voice has always supported Premier in their various battles, simply because they are fellow believers. We would defend and unite behind Christianity Today if they came under fire. To have Peter Kerridge and John Buckeridge reward that support by condemning us out of hand, with no prior warning, in public, in this unbecoming way, certainly feels like a betrayal.

To be honest, I am still shocked by the attack. I had no idea there was such animosity to me and to Christian Voice festering in the Premier Radio headquarters. Evangelical Christians are used to attacks from the world (John 15:18), but to be hated and stabbed in the back by one’s brothers is very hard to take.

Heartbreaking.

It is interesting to note that Christian Voice became really well known only in the wake of the JS:TO protests, and that that protest was largely coordinated – presumably at some expense – by Premier Christian Radio. Green’s fame stemmed from publishing the addresses of the BBC producers on the CV website, but he has always been quite happy to take credit for the record 60,000 complaints received by the BBC.

In light of this, we wonder how Green manages to sound both hurt and surprised by Premier’s animosity towards him. He was quite ready to take credit for the hard work of his “brothers” when it was convenient for him to do so.