Monday, January 22, 2007

Racism - Who to Blame.

Channel 4's response to the Big Brother 'racism' row is absolutely pathetic. Chairman, Luke Johnson and the rest of C4's bosses (whoever they might be) are not doing anything more than a little handwringing - and that for public consumption. I believe there should be an independent inquiry to establish whether anyone played a part in setting the whole thing up. And if anyone did, their heads should roll.

Personally, I thought making Jade Goody a national hate-figure (diverting attention from the real culprits) was a bit over-the-top. I don't like hearing the sort of low level racism she was guilty of - and it is good that she was booted off the programme. But it seems that Jade is not the brightest. The producers of the programme and the Channel bosses are a different matter. It seems to me that they must have known exactly what they were doing - and if they didn't, they shouldn't be in charge of producing TV programmes. The truth is, they were after viewing figures.

I just had an email about another case where the punishment for a rascist remark has been directed at the wrong target. Porthmadog Football Club have just been fined £10,000 (£9,000 suspended) and deducted 3 points following an incident in a recent match against Cwmbran FC. Someone in the crowd shouted out a rascist remark. The Club apprehended the individual, gave his details to the FAW and banned him from future matches. The Club has an exemplary record of opposition to rascism. If the FAW had banned the individual for life from all matches,that would have been fair enough - but it seems tough on the club when they seem to have done all they could have done.

Rascism should be stamped out - but we need to make sure the guilty ones are punished.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you entirely. Jade Goody, guilty as she was of making those remarks, has been made a scapegoat. The real culprits who hide behind the wall of Channel 4 and let us not forget Davina McColl or whatever her name is, are the ones who should be made accountable. These are desperate Celebs who will do anything to claw back a lets say 'non spectacular career' and the ones who can make a real difference on whether BB will continue are the public themselves so STOP WATCHING, STOP PHONING and STOP PAYING their wages!!!!