Beyer is pissed off because Ofcom wrapped Live Earth for swearing but
not the Catherine Tate Christmas show.
But the reason Ofcom reprimanded Live Earth and not Catherine Tate is
because the swearing during Live Earth was before the 9pm watershed
whilst the swearing in Catherine Tate was after.
From Mediawatch UK:
Catherine Tate Christmas Show cleared
In the latest Broadcast Bulletin from Ofcom the Catherine Tate
Christmas show is cleared of breaching the Broadcasting Code. Ofcom
says that the show “is an established comedy sketch series” and the
BBC, in their response, described the show as a “landmark
contemporary comedy”. Concerning the complaints about obscene
language the BBC said that it does not regard any word as being more
obscene on one day than on another.
In the finding Ofcom said it bore in mind that it had been broadcast
a full hour and a half after the watershed and that there had been
very clear information at the start … making clear that the
programme included strong language. Ofcom said: “Overall, in Ofcom’s
view, this episode was typical … and would not have gone beyond the
expectations of its usual audience. Ofcom concluded that the
sequence of sketches “were not in breach of the Code.
Ofcom News Release 14/4/2008
Ofcom’s Broadcast Bulletin No 106
Speaking today John Beyer, director of mediawatch-uk said that this
finding “is a disgrace” and “seriously inconsistent” with Ofcom’s
finding last week about the obscenities used in the Live Earth
concert. “No wonder the viewing public is confused and have lost
confidence in the regulation of broadcasting. Considering that Ofcom
has itself found that the majority of viewers believe there is too
much swearing on television, this finding is all the more
extraordinary. The Communications Act 2003 requires that “generally
accepted standards” are applied to the content of television and
radio services and it seems to me that Ofcom is failing to take
public opinion into account – and that is a breach of trust and
certainly not what Parliament intended when setting up the new
regulatory regime.”
Beyer says the finding is a disgrace. What he really ment to say was….WHAT A FUCCCCCCCCCCKING LIBERTY!!!
LOL!
Ofcom’s ruling is right. The show was broadcast well after the
watershed and there was enough warnings about it’s content before
hand.
The difference between this and Live Earth is that people did not
expect there to be swearing during a live broadcast shown before 9pm
which children were watching.
There is no inconsistancy and Beyer is as usual getting his nickers
in a twist over nothing.
If you want to read the story about Live Earth being told off by
Ofcom you can see it on Mediawatch UK’s website.
