It's Not Too Late.
The British media are in a proper stushie right now. It follows the screening of a Beeb advance schedule showreel.
Part of it was a documentary following a year in the life of Queenie. And the clip shown features a photo session with Annie Leibovitz, with the Queen apparently stalking out in a right old bait after Leibovitz asks her to remove the crown because it's "too showy".
To which the Queen, gesturing to the rest of the regalia, acidly enquires with a venomous smile : "And this isn't?". Cut to walk-out. Only it isn't - that's actually the Queen making her entrance, several minutes BEFORE the sarcasm.
An external production company has botched the sequence. Apparently.
BBC One controller makes the most abject, most immediate apology on public record. He may just keep his job.
Well, was it deliberate? I'd like to think not. But part of me suspects some junior idiot deliberately sexed it up in a foolhardy attempt at publicity / notoriety. His ass is out the door for sure.
But it goes deeper - this is the sort of thing that drove me out of journalism in 1996. Where crews are withdrawn from the genocide of former Yugoslavia, so more of the budget can be spent on sat feeds of the OJ Simpson trial. Celebrity over atrocity any day, folks. Well, fuck that.
See, people like Bobbsy and me were born of a generation where best objectivity possible is the professional aim. We did take our ethics seriously. For many years, I was indeed proud to be a journalist. But not the profession as it exists now.
Celebro-Trash.
When Bobbsy and I put film together, it was on a strictly linear basis. You do NOT fuck with the time-line. Sure, nick a scene-setter cutaway from later, maybe, but the actual story line stays intact. You may be fucking with history. That's a basic. But no longer observed, it seems.
Grump.
Part of it was a documentary following a year in the life of Queenie. And the clip shown features a photo session with Annie Leibovitz, with the Queen apparently stalking out in a right old bait after Leibovitz asks her to remove the crown because it's "too showy".
To which the Queen, gesturing to the rest of the regalia, acidly enquires with a venomous smile : "And this isn't?". Cut to walk-out. Only it isn't - that's actually the Queen making her entrance, several minutes BEFORE the sarcasm.
An external production company has botched the sequence. Apparently.
BBC One controller makes the most abject, most immediate apology on public record. He may just keep his job.
Well, was it deliberate? I'd like to think not. But part of me suspects some junior idiot deliberately sexed it up in a foolhardy attempt at publicity / notoriety. His ass is out the door for sure.
But it goes deeper - this is the sort of thing that drove me out of journalism in 1996. Where crews are withdrawn from the genocide of former Yugoslavia, so more of the budget can be spent on sat feeds of the OJ Simpson trial. Celebrity over atrocity any day, folks. Well, fuck that.
See, people like Bobbsy and me were born of a generation where best objectivity possible is the professional aim. We did take our ethics seriously. For many years, I was indeed proud to be a journalist. But not the profession as it exists now.
Celebro-Trash.
When Bobbsy and I put film together, it was on a strictly linear basis. You do NOT fuck with the time-line. Sure, nick a scene-setter cutaway from later, maybe, but the actual story line stays intact. You may be fucking with history. That's a basic. But no longer observed, it seems.
Grump.