Comments on: Brand and Ross are innocent

By: Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:55:26 +0000

Interesting idea but I’m not sure it would work

By: Ashton

Ashton — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:59:56 +0000

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By: spanking fun

spanking fun — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:55:29 +0000

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By: Little Richardjohn

Little Richardjohn — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:33:04 +0000

Milton’s Famous Defence of Liberty. (400 anniversary this year)

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/608

“If we think to regulate printing, thereby to rectify manners, we must regulate all recreation and pastimes, all that is delightful to man. No music must be heard, no song be set or sung, but what is grave and Doric. There must be licensing dancers, that no gesture, motion, or deportment be taught our youth but what by their allowance shall be thought honest; for such Plato was provided of. It will ask more than the work of twenty licensers to examine all the lutes, the violins, and the guitars in every house; they must not be suffered to prattle as they do, but must be licensed what they may say. And who shall silence all the airs and madrigals that whisper softness in chambers? The windows also, and the balconies must be thought on; there are shrewd books, with dangerous frontispieces, set to sale; who shall prohibit them, shall twenty licensers? The villages also must have their visitors to inquire what lectures the bagpipe and the rebeck reads, even to the ballatry and the gamut of every municipal fiddler, for these are the countryman’s Arcadias, and his Monte Mayors.”

By: Little Richardjohn

Little Richardjohn — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:53:02 +0000

After the Daily Mail’s Ministry of Approved Entertainment has finished, broadcasting in Britain will be an eternity of 70’s knock-knock jokes sprinkled on a bed of soft porn. And everything which breaches its code of political correctness will be banished to outer darkness.
It seems that the Mail still can’t decide whether it likes political correctness or not, it all seems to depend on which way it’s pointing.

By: Jake Brumby

Jake Brumby — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:39:34 +0000

Some people, rather, most people, will find the show vulgar. But these people weren’t listening. There is plenty of choice on both radio and TV and if Ross/Brand is not your cup of tea, you can tune out.

However, I can relate to Peter Aspden who writes about how vulgarity is creeping into our lives. Whether we like it or, it’s becoming unavoidable.

http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto110720081938441042

By: rockmother

rockmother — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:14:27 +0000

I agree with you. I got the sense they all got a bit carried away but really the bottom line is: it was a pre-record. What is the purpose of a pre-record? So the pre-recorded content can be monitored and edited if neccessary. Furthermore, the thing that really pissed me off is that 26,989 of the so-called 27,000 offendees were more likely people who had read about it in The Daily Scrote (Mail) rather than actually listened to it. I have not really known quite what to do with myself now there are such gaping holes in Saturday radio programming. Ross and Brand were an integral part of the cooling up if you like of Radio 2 – other than that what are we left with? Sarah Kennedy and Terry Wogan! They too have their place but not the place that Ross and Brand filled. The big lesson and sadly the main issue here was that the BBC did not have their eye on the ball fast enough and have lost not just two great revenue/ratings earners but quite a bit of respect in the long run.

By: John Pitcher

John Pitcher — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:42:47 +0000

I’m 54. The Russell Brand Show was my favourite radio programme. I found it to be an honest and frequently hilarious report of an ascent up the celebrity ladder. I think things went slightly awry when his mate, Matt Morgan, was not available to calm his more hyperactive rantings. Anyway, the Daily Mail has succeeded in making my life just a fraction less enjoyable by forcing his resignation.

By: Seb Atay

Seb Atay — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:03:13 +0000

I’m 21, I detest the Daily Mail and I really never had any time for Russel Brand’s style of comedy. Leaving an abusive answerphone message isn’t ‘edgy’ – it’s pathetic and mundane. True, Sachs knew what he was letting himself in for by agreeing to go on the show to promote his book – but did that really entitle Ross and Brand to treat him however they wanted?

My strong opinions aside, I (like any other right-thinking person) recognises that this whole thing has been blown way out of proportion. I also wish that Thomson had called out the Daily Mail for its insidiously planned incitement to quasi-religious hatred and dealt only with the specific issue at hand (i.e the offensive language and tone of the show being appropriate or not). The BBC should not have to defend itself from criticism of everything it does everytime something goes wrong. All that will achieve is a dilution of quality, which is the opposite of what most people want.

This being said, the reason that the story has stayed in the public eye is because other, related issues – celebrity pay and influence, the BBC’s relationship with Ofcom and the effectiveness of the BBC Trust, concern over the responsible spending of license fees – have all caught fire from the initial debate. These are clearly areas people feel very strongly about, and so it would be prudent of the BBC to keep this in mind and at least make some movements to show that it is constantly thinking about how best to address these concerns.

I think that the blog-based response system that you spoke about, whilst certainly not ideal, would therefore be a solid step in the right direction.

By: Daniel Weir

Daniel Weir — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:21:54 +0000

My rage has reduced my ability to write reasonable English – I apologise and hereby resign.

DW x