The BBC and the 'c' word............

‘We know of no sight more ridiculous than the British public in one of its periodic fits of morality’.

The meeja, especially the Daily Wail, has been making a huge ruckus because, as they put it, ‘the most offensive word in the English language is acceptable for broadcast’. Yup, the awful ‘c’ word. There has been much handwringing amongst the chattering classes (and the bloggertariat) about ‘further evidence of decline in BBC standards’. The way the Wail expressed it ‘the BBC was at the centre of a new row last night blah, blah’. The clear implication was that the Beeb had broadcast an offensive swear word the previous day.

 

 

So what was the truth of it all?

              
                                                                                                                                                  

According to Private Eye, none of the above.

 

 

For starters, the alleged offence took place 8 months ago.

 

 

It was a joke by Sandy Tostvig – ‘It was the Tories who put the ‘n’ into ‘cuts’.

 

 

The ‘c’ word was never used, it was not cleared for daytime broadcasting as the Wail alleged, and there was only one listener complaint.

 

 

The editor of the Wail is reputed to be one of the most foul-mouthed men in British journalism. Which must be saying a lot.

 

 

This may put the immediate record straight but if truth be told the BBC has brought this sort of vituperation down on its own head. Standards of propriety have been heading south for years. The use of foul language has become commonplace, along with gratuitous violence and sex. A consequence of this is that nothing is funny anymore. ‘comedians’ are filthy not funny.

The competing channels are no better. A couple of years ago I had a 7 hour wait in the appalling airport in Antigua (don’t go there). To while away the time, I watched TV in the lounge. It was showing one of Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant programmes. All the foul language was beeped out. The result was that the dialogue was mostly beeps!