Over here we have a man called Moyle (or Moyles – can’t remember which) who gets paid far too much for blathering away in the morning on BBC radio.
His chief characteristics appear to be homophobia, anti-semitism, an ability to sink lower than even the lowest dregs among his audience and being employed by the BBC, whose desire to appeal to the moronic millions knows no bounds. Since none of the BBC bosses does what they are supposed to he has never been fired.
I often wonder if the people who run things at Broadcasting House ever stop to consider the difference between quantity and quality, and that getting an audience of millions of half-wits is not what good broadcasting is about and doesn’t reflect their charter in the least.
You can plough through that charter if you like, though I don’t recommend it as it is 48 pages of turgid stuff with many misprints clearly designed to discourage scrutiny, but the only bit that matters says the BBC should be:
(a) sustaining citizenship and civil society;
(b) promoting education and learning;
(c) stimulating creativity and cultural excellence;
(d) representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities.
I didn’t make that up. That really is what they are required to do by Royal Proclamation, and they only do maybe half those things. More to the point it says a lot about the people who run this country that none of them, not one, seems to have asked anyone, anyone at all, at the BBC why they don’t do their jobs. If I had a copywriter who didn’t write or only wrote half time I would fire him or her. Why should they be different?
In fact every one of the top BBC apparatchiks deserves to be picked up and thrown violently on to the pavement at Great Portland Street without a pension for:
a) not even attempting to do the job they are required to do, with such clear instructions;
b) wasting too much of our money on people who have nothing to with broadcasting and paying them more than the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world an oaf called Kyle Sandiland on 2DayFM in Sydney has sounded off on air at some poor woman who didn’t like his show with this barrage of fourth form wit:
“Some fat slag has already branded us a disaster … What a fat bitter thing you are, you deputy editor of an online thing. You’ve got a nothing job anyway. You’re a piece of shit … You are supposed to be impartial, you little troll … Yeah, and your blouse, you haven’t got that much titty to be wearing that low cut a blouse. Watch your mouth, girl, or I will hunt you down.”
Rare command of language amidst the megalomania – but it’s got him in trouble with his sponsors who are all deserting him. The reason that made me laugh most was from Holden, who were Australia’s biggest car manufacturer until Toyota came along and cheated by making cars that cost less and were more reliable.
They said they think the show is “no longer in line with Holden’s core values.” Ah! Dear old core values, second cousin to key issues and beloved of Chief Marketing Officers everywhere.
Incidentally, the show the lady criticised, which was on TV, started out with 1.4 million viewers – because it followed an episode of the X Factor – of whom 1.2 million had switched off by the time it ended. God, it must have been bad.
More to the point, he just may have betrayed 2DayFM’s core values, which are to make as much money as possible in any way not actually criminal and never upset the advertisers.
I should say, by the way, that I find Australian talk radio utterly fascinating and have done ever since I first visited in 1971. It’s amazingly outspoken and often extremely funny. Compared to the pallid stuff we get here for the most part it is far, far better.
That applies to Australian language generally, which reflects the national character and is tons more vigorous than what we trot out over here. But that’s another subject.
What makes you say Chris Moyles is anti-semitic and homophobic? Certainly he comes across as self-obsessed, ignorant, rude and arrogant a lot of the time, but one of his closest friends on the show is a gay man and Moyles is always very supportive of his relationship issues, and seems very comfortable (more than most heterosexual men I know) around gay men. I listen to his show every morning and can honestly say I've never heard him say anything anti-semitic, so I'm very curious as to how you came to this conclusion!
In February 2006, Moyles while “teasing” a mother of three said: “You've got three kids from some
fuckin'…”
How witty, and how good she must have felt.
In July 2006, communications watchdog
Ofcom found him in breach of rule 1.5 of their Code Rules when he called female listeners “dirty whores”.
Is that how you see yourself, Debs? It's how he does.
On 20 January 2009, he referred to trips to Ireland while filming: “I went off
to Ireland and other places to film and unlike a lot of the Who Do You Think You Are? shows I didn't go to Auschwitz. Pretty much everyone goes there whether or not
they're Jewish. They just seem to pass through there on their way to Florida”Very droll.
Drayton, I think you are being a bit harsh on the BBC. Whether or not they completely fulfill the four core requirements of their charter is a matter open to debate. I'd argue they do a pretty decent job on (b), (c) and (d). (a) is fluffy nonsense I wouldn't know where to begin quantifying.
As a disinterested observer from outside the UK, I think you have an excellent national broadcaster. They do a great job in promoting the UK around the world. If you compared it to RTE, our national broadcaster in Ireland, you would count your blessings.
The BBC manages to consistently produce a wide range of high-quality programmes and services which appeal to a diverse cross-section of society. Sure, there are definitely some lemons in the mix, Moyles is probably chief among them but they also provide a lot of gems; the BBC World Service, BBC4, BBC News, regional programming, high-quality dramas and documentaries.I think the Beeb comes in for a lot of undeserved flak because it is funded by the taxpayer but I think the UK taxpayer gets a great return on their investment. We have a license fee in Ireland too but RTE also runs ads and the quality of programming is abysmal compared to the BBC.The commercial stations in the UK pale in comparison to the BBC and further a field, mainstream US network television is, by and large, an insult to even the most basic levels of human intelligence.I think the BBC is the classiest media organisation in the world and something that every citizen of the UK should take nothing but pride in….
You are the voice of sweet reason, Alan. I agree that the BBC still produces (or has produced for it) some tremendous stuff, with many very talented people committed to doing so and results that put others to shame. It is the people running it and the stooping to the lowest level I hate. ________________________________
Dear Alan, As an 'disinterested observer from outside the UK' you may not be interested in the following I stumbled upon when writing an article recently. But here it is anyway.
On the wall in the main entrance of Broadcasting House is a Latin inscription. It reads:
‘This temple of the arts and muses is dedicated to Almighty God by the first Governors of Broadcasting in the year 1931, Sir John Reith being Director-General. It is their prayer that good seed sown may bring forth a good harvest, that all things hostile to peace or purity may be banished from this house, and that the people, inclining their ear to whatsoever things are beautiful and honest and of good report, may tread the path of wisdom and uprightness.’
Maybe SirJ R would turn in his grave?
Dear Drayton,
Apart from a lack of craft, you now seemed to have added lack of research and possibly hypocricy to your blog outpourings.
The man's name is Moyles.
If you look at the entries in Wikipedia, a little more carefully, this time, you will realise that he is mainly guilty of “Shock-Jock” errors, which given a Daily Show where he is fighting for listenership against Chris Evans, is not an unlikely outcome.
Homophobic? He satirises 'Camp'. A number of homosexuals quite enjoy Camp satirisation, even by heterosexuals: have a look at the recent interview with Russell Grant in the Radio Times.
Ant-semitic? Not in the context, he made the remarks.
Sexist? Well, over a 3 year period, observing your behaviour at fairly close quarters, there were a number of – let's be generous – off-colour moments, which shocked, even me, a little.
Kind regards
Shannon O'Hara
Look, Shannon, it's a long, long time since we fired you. Could you either just get over it or sit in a corner somewhere and suck your thumb or whatever else you want to play with? ________________________________
Dear Drayton,
Thanks for this!
Looks like sniper hit target again.
Mind you – with you, it's a bit like shooting fish in a barrel.
Kind regards
Shannon O'Hara
Hi Mary,
I fear you may have confused the meanings of 'disinterested' and 'uninterested'. I can think of no other explanation for such a snippy reply. Well, I can think of a few but let's keep it civil.I admire the lofty sentiments above the main entrance but you can't encourage people to 'thread paths of wisdom and uprightness' if they don't tune in to begin with.I, too, despair at the 'dumbing-down' of modern society but I honestly feel that the BBC is being left way behind in this race to the bottom.I think it would serve better to compare the 'Beeb' to fellow broadcasters rather than flowery Latin aspirations carved in stone above their door…