Archive for January, 2005

Christian Institute to take BBC to High Court

Press Release – BBC to face the High Courtfollowing Jerry Springer opera
Colin Hart, the director of the Christian Institute, has issued a press release which announced his plans to prosecute the BBC for breach of its Royal Charter and discrimination against Christians.

Speaking today, Colin Hart (Director of The Christian Institute) said: “I think this is the most offensive and spiteful show ever broadcast by the BBC. There may be many shows running in West End theatres that I find offensive, but I am not paying for them to be pumped into my living room. I am appalled that a publicly funded body should be so contemptuous of the people who pay for its upkeep. The BBC has a duty to respect the religious beliefs of its viewers

Does the BBC have a duty to respect the religious beliefs of its viewers? I didn’t know that…




Green washes his hands of email circular

Stephen Green

The ongoing investigation by Manic at Bloggerheads into the source of the anti-Springer-circular has elicited a denial from Christian Voice leader Stephen Green.

Apparently, it contained too many “explanation marks” for his style.

So the origin of the email remains a mystery. More will be revealed as requests for information from Ofcom and the BBC finally get back to Bloggerheads.




Wrestling with logic

John Beyer’s position as The Daily Mail’s chief TV critic was bolstered today when he was called upon to comment on ITV’s upcoming Celebrity Wrestling show.

“I guess it could be pretty undignified seeing women wrestling with each other,” he opined coyly, before going on to admit that “it could be quite entertaining”. He also mentioned the huge popularity of Celebrity Come Dancing, and went on to say that “viewers are tired of getting celebrities fooling around.”

Such perspicacity! Is it any wonder The Mail calls on mediawatch-uk whenever they need a comment on a TV show?

With typical Daily-Mail integrity, the webpage containing the article has link which invites you to “meet the Celebrity Wrestling contestants”, and the actual newspaper illustrates the story with photos of Kate Lawler and Annabel Croft, although they are not, I’m sad to say, engaged in hand-to-hand combat.




What the papers said

A very funny download of Mark Steele presenting the BBC show What the Papers Say is available at Big Daddy Merk. Thanks, BD.




The wisdom of Solomon

Trinidad News

Insult is not discrimination. A ban on discrimination is a guarantee of democracy. A ban on insult is an attack on freedom, and therefore a restriction of democracy. We should be free to insult and curse to our heart’s content, with no restraint except good manners. Anything should be a legal butt of satire, however scabrous. The right to express views offensive to others is the litmus test of freedom of speech. It also tells you where everyone stands.

What Denis said!




Looking for ignorant bigots?

…But don’t know know where to start? Google is your friend!




Beyer extends MediaWatch-UK remit

dailyrecord – BEEB’S £60M TAXI BILL
The BBC has spent 60m on taxis in the past five years, and John Beyer doesn’t like it:

This seems a vast sum to have been spent on cabs. All expenditure by the BBC should have to be justified because of the way it is funded.

Has all the recent public exposure gone to his head? Has the Beeb’s taxi bill become “an issue of taste and decency in the media”?

I can’t find anything on the revamped website which would suggest anything of the sort. But it’s nice to see that not all of the links are broken anymore – even if some of the images have disappeared.




Christians for Springer

Christians continue to fight amongst themselves over JS:TO. Johnathan Bartey of Ekklesia (linked above), in a debate on live radio, even branded Stephen Green’s Christian Voice website “blasphemous”, but added that he “didn’t want to ban it”.

Another surprising supporter of the show is Melanie Phillips of the Dail Mail.




The Principality of Darkness

icWales – Welsh theatres ready tostage’Springer’
Several theatres are willing to stage JS:TO in the backyard of Stephen Green, the Christian Voice boy.

According to Stevie, the show will face “stiff oppostion” when it comes to Wales. Wonder what the ignorant bigots have up their sleeves this time?




The inspiration

In December 2004 a group of Sikhs succeeded, by the use of violence and intimidation, to get a play in Birmingham cancelled. This seemed to excite a number of Christians, who thought “We could do that”, and, when the opportunity arose in the form of the BBC broadcasting a production of Jerry Springer: The Opera, organised an email campaign which resulted in death threats being issued to the show’s producer.

The roles of MediaWatch-UK, the Daily Mail, and Christian Voice are well documented at Bloggerheads. This site will keep a close track on developments.