The BBC

Almost expecting to see Van Morrison popping up chucking a molotov at a police van.

Kenny is not Taoiseach, pinefox. That quote is from 2016

We have a fella called Micheál Martin in the job now, although he's not entirely convinced of the fact himself

I'm also frankly surprised to be reminded that Enda Kenny is Taoiseach again (or still). I can't keep up with these rotating characters. Sinn Féin won an national election about a year ago, didn't they, but have been completely shut out of power ever since?

Thanks Number None, I'd heard of Martin, and was confused about Kenny as you can see, and the idea that Foster's statement was from today. I can remember some daft things Kenny said in the past.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_one_relax

👀

ah, the fabled service E. i was wondering what the r was for in the logo but it's right there in the url.

How did the BBC get hold of all my MiniDiscs?

Wait, is this really a whole channel of found sound or something? At the moment it sounds like tropical birds squawking in a forest.

Are they playing the sound of the Eurostar passing through Ashford International later?

That is what’s known as the “barker” and no, it’s merely a piece of placeholder audio that’s there between the time that the transmission chain is set up and the schedule properly begins. The actual programming will be a mix of music and speech, more along the lines of this sort of thing:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09668p5

I experienced something like this, it must have been over 20 years ago, when - was it XFM, or something? was set up, and I would turn the radio dial and just find birdsong, which I liked, because the programming didn't start for months. I think even taped some of the birdsong.

"Classic FM launched in September 1992, but in the preceeding months, Howard uses the birdsong recordings to test the transmitter network. Millions of listeners heard the continuous broadcast of birdsong, interrupted every 30 minutes by the required statutory announcements, also voiced by Howard. National newspapers began carrying stories about the mysterious sound of birds as media pundits and journalists scrambled to figure out what the real sound of Classic FM was going to be."

there was another channel recently.

2009?
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/jun/03/birdsong-radio-digital-station

as TH says barker channels are usual before the full playout transmission is set up. it’s also useful for basic end to end testing. i’m curious because a team i’ve just inherited is setting up a barker channel next week and now i want to know what sounds they’re using.

Koogs, it must indeed have been Classic FM. Alarmingly long ago!

EXC: Robbie Gibb, Theresa May's ex-director of comms, is joining the BBC Board. A critic of BBC bias. Will be their England representative.

He tells me: “The Corporation has a big job to reform and make sure it once again becomes the gold standard for broadcasting impartiality"

— Ben Riley-Smith (@benrileysmith) April 29, 2021

He seems nice

they’re not sending their best really are they

Before that he had a 25-year career with the Beeb, including as editor of Daily Politics and head of BBC Westminster.

It's been a privilege to work for the BBC. I will always be a supporter because of its values and commitment to impartiality.

— Robbie Gibb (@RobbieGibb) July 6, 2017

seems to suggest it all went to hell in the ~4 years he wasnt there.

The @BBCNews needs to make a statement was their building in Gaza housing Hamas militants firing rockets a simple yes they did or no the didn’t will suffice as that’s why it was targeted according to Israeli military.

— Ian Hodson (@IanBFAWU) May 15, 2021

My friend who is a reporter for Al Jazeera (and also ex-BBC) says that AJ’s Gaza bureau was also bombed to fuck.

They were in the same building.

Critical support for Bashir as a royal family wrecker

Haha.

as i've said elsewhere the bashir part of the story is the least interesting really. the diana connection is what makes the story front-page news but it's the sort of grimy bullshit that reporters have pulled forever and will keep pulling. the real story here - and actually kind of shocking to me, even though i should probably know better - is 1) the deliberate sabotaging of whistleblowers' careers and simultaneous protection of senior management and 2) the absolute shower of lies that tony hall poured into everyone's ears about this. tony was always the smiley guy who made inspiring speeches but behind the scenes it appears he was utterly corrupt!

"For the anonymous BBC leakers without whom we would never have known about Bashir's dishonesty there was only excoriation - briefed against by the BBC to the newspapers as "jealous colleagues" and referred to in an internal management document as "troublemakers." Because of "this sordid saga", says the document "we can either go the formal disciplinary route, which needs proof and may be messy or pick off the troublemakers one by one with a stiff warning and ensure they are found work elsewhere as speedily as is practicable".
The only named whistleblower Matt Wiessler would never again get any BBC work, Hall assured the governors. Wiessler paid a heavy price - his freelance graphics business eventually collapsed so he left London and in his own words became "a bit of a drifter… I tried lots of other things, but at heart I was always a television current affairs guy."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56680229

i mean this is real dark shit!

just passed a car with a bumper sticker that said ❤️ Honk if you miss Princess Diana :[ and jason very solemnly honked

— Patricia Lockwood (@TriciaLockwood) May 21, 2021

it's what she would've wanted

I heard she later became an advocate for distracted driving prevention ... ho ho ho!

Glad to see Hall has gone; there’s shit to answer for from 2016 let alone 1996

i always remember that she had been photographed a lot visiting minefield clearance sites just prior and when i heard she died i immediately assumed she had stepped on a landmine.

I can never get that Archbishop Of Canterbury cut-up on Blue Jam "Lord Of Landmines .. give them AIDS " out of my head!

i'll put this here rather than the tennis thread but I am so fucking angry i'm shaking, after listening to BBC Five Live's Sonja McLaughlan ponder out loud whether Naomi Osaka's depression might be an excuse because she's not great on clay, or whether she just needs to suck it up and talk to the media cos it's a weakness like having a weak forehand

i dunno if this'll get picked up anywhere but jesus fucking christ

The Sonja McLaughlan who sat 'sitting in her car crying' after receiving online abuse over an interview with an England rugby player?

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/six-nations/sonja-mclaughlan-reporter-interview-questions-farrell-jones-b1808781.html

oh shit was that her?

i hope she gets bullied out of a fucking job for this but i doubt it

"There's a school of thought, isn't there, around Naomi Osaka, that suggests, y'know, look, clay isn't her favourite surface, and she didn't really want to be challenged, about, by the media, should she underperform in Paris...Is there any merit in that school of thought?"

"Look I believe Naomi Osaka is quite a shy person. If she had a weakness in her game, for instance, if she had an underperforming backhand, y'know an elite athlete would work on that...so if media is not her strength is that not something to work on? Because players have their responsibilities and commitments to sponsors and the media."

Transcribed it for the record and to reassure myself i'm not, in fact, going mad.

what the fuck

How much better to be a miserable surly cunt like Andy Murray and treat the media like the shit on your (tennis) shoes.

in her own hideous way she is actually doing a very grand job of justifying Naomi's decision 1000%

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E2yadaLXMAA0dLU?format=jpg&name=900x900

apologies for CWS content NV, but this one was pretty good I thought!

I've sent a formal complaint, never thought I'd be that kind of listener

disgraceful. Barry Cowan on sky sports news earlier blithely stating that scrutiny is just part of the game and you can't change the rules for one player. BARRY COWAN FFS! what did you ever achieve other than wild cards into Wimbledon you miserable fuck?

Thank fuck all these broadcasters don't have to do mental health awareness for 51 weeks of the year

disgraceful. Barry Cowan on sky sports news earlier blithely stating that scrutiny is just part of the game and you can't change the rules for one player. BARRY COWAN FFS! what did you ever achieve other than wild cards into Wimbledon you miserable fuck?

Even his name is terrible.

Good for you NV. Even if nothing substantial comes of it those complaints get read and are responded to and at the very least her producers will know about it. There is a massively paranoid culture at the BBC around audience complaints so they may even feel a momentary twinge of terror.

i didn't ask for a reply, just felt like it should be registered. these will be the same idiots who wring their hands when a celebrity kills themself, utterly unaware of the slow steady drips they add to a poisonous narrative themselves

Holby City is being axed after 20+ years. Meanwhile, when the Euros start, Eastenders is going to have each week's worth of episodes put on iPlayer on the Monday so they can be watched at viewers' leisure. Both of those decisions make sense to me (Holby is terrible, in a way that even Casualty manages to not be), but it feels like a significant move in how UK drama is valued.

I agree with Chiles.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/02/its-not-just-naomi-osaka-no-one-really-likes-post-match-interviews

what the fuck is going on with this programming

Abused By My Girlfriend
I Am a Men's Rights Activist
I Am Not a Rapist
Inside the Secret World of Incels

first one might be fine idk but there's clearly a pattern here & I don't like it