SM
For anyone who missed Jack Malvern's column in yesterdays "Times", here it is:
People with Jack Malvern
Red faces at BBC over election colourage
THE BBC’s commitment to impartiality remains intact, but its occasional devotion to stupidity is also apparent in the corporation’s plans to cover the forthcoming general election.
Over the past few weeks the broadcaster has spent hundreds of man-hours devising a suitable set of graphics to inform its viewers about party campaigns in a balanced way.
Senior executives, including Helen Boaden, head of BBC News, were delighted with the plans until one bright spark spotted a problem.
The design was almost exclusively red, a colour even hermits living on the estates of country squires would recognise as the hue of the Labour Party. “It looked like a Labour propaganda channel,” an insider said. “All that was missing was the red rose.”
A senior manager confessed that the designers were sent back to the drawing board. “We approved it in principle because the BBC corporate colour is red,” he said. “But when we saw the detail we realised there was a problem. We aren’t alone in this, though. ITV has the reverse problem because its corporate colour is blue.”
(Times - Friday 25th February)
People with Jack Malvern
Red faces at BBC over election colourage
THE BBC’s commitment to impartiality remains intact, but its occasional devotion to stupidity is also apparent in the corporation’s plans to cover the forthcoming general election.
Over the past few weeks the broadcaster has spent hundreds of man-hours devising a suitable set of graphics to inform its viewers about party campaigns in a balanced way.
Senior executives, including Helen Boaden, head of BBC News, were delighted with the plans until one bright spark spotted a problem.
The design was almost exclusively red, a colour even hermits living on the estates of country squires would recognise as the hue of the Labour Party. “It looked like a Labour propaganda channel,” an insider said. “All that was missing was the red rose.”
A senior manager confessed that the designers were sent back to the drawing board. “We approved it in principle because the BBC corporate colour is red,” he said. “But when we saw the detail we realised there was a problem. We aren’t alone in this, though. ITV has the reverse problem because its corporate colour is blue.”
(Times - Friday 25th February)