Many of us may have slightly embellished a CV during our younger years in order to land a job. Such youthful indiscretions, however, can sometimes lead to unexpected twists of irony, as is such in the case of Marianna Spring, now the BBC’s Disinformation Correspondent and chief fact-checker. Earlier this week she was praised in the Guardian for her services to exposing fabrications across social media…
In a bid to secure work at the US-based news site Coda Story back in 2018, Spring claimed to have worked alongside the esteemed BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford. However, once Coda Story’s editor-in-chief Natalia Antelava did a bit of digging, it turned out Spring had never worked with Rainsford at all. It was, to use a BBC turn of phrase… misinformation. To Spring’s credit, she went on to atone for this self-described “awful misjudgement“. Awkward…
Hat-tip: New European
With the BBC facing falling viewing figures and increasing calls for the abolition of the licence fee, clearly they need to innovate to survive. Something to revive the brand, bring in new audiences, and justify the compulsory £159 required just to watch live television. It’s no easy task. Luckily the Corporation have a solution: today they’ve announced a new “astrology based black queer dating podcast“. Whatever that is.
The press release from BBC Radio 1 attempts to explain:
“Love knows no bounds, and now, with the launch of BBC 1Xtra’s Swipe Your Sign Nathan and Ro are embarking on a cosmic journey to find their perfect match. Never before has there been a Black, queer focused dating podcast and this ground-breaking 12 episode series invites listeners to explore the intersection of astrology and dating by following the pair’s series of blind dates with a diverse mix of potential partners, carefully chosen based on their zodiac signs…”
And people say the BBC is losing its star power. Of course they’re right to say this will be the first astrology based black queer dating podcast of its kind. Whether it’ll be a barnstorming success is another question. Guido’s guessing ‘no’…
Tory peer Zac Goldsmith has told BBC HARDtalk he would be “very tempted” to back the Labour Party at the next election if they showed “a real commitment” to “protect[ing] the natural world” as part of their green agenda. While he still has “concerns” about Labour, Goldsmith laid out the conditions upon which he’d back Sir Keir anyway:
“The simple truth is there is no pathway to net zero and there’s no solution to climate change that does not involve nature, massive efforts to protect and restore the natural world.
“And at the moment, I’m not hearing any of that from the Labour Party if I do, if there’s a real commitment now the kind of commitment, frankly, that we saw when Boris Johnson was the leader, then I’d be very tempted to throw my weight behind that party and support them in any way I could.”
Goldsmith quit as Rishi’s climate Minister just two months ago, penning a scathing resignation letter which accused Rishi of being “simply uninterested” in green politics. Rishi claimed he’d actually demanded an apology out of Goldsmith for his attacks on the Kangaroo Court, and Goldsmith stood down when he refused. Either way, it looks like the rift between the pair hasn’t closed much since…
Ofcom have published their latest annual report into TV viewing habits, and it confirms what everyone – including the BBC – already knows about the licence fee model: it’s outdated. Broadcast TV’s weekly reach had its biggest ever annual drop, falling from 83% to 79%. Meanwhile, viewing of broadcast TV fell by 12%. This decline was greatest amongst young audiences, where viewing dropped by 21%, yet even the “core” 64+ audience is switching from broadcast to streaming. Over 64s watched 8% less broadcast TV, as subscriptions to Disney+ rose from 7% to 12%…
While commercial TV revenues did rise, this was driven by online video, where revenue rose by 4.5%; Public Service Broadcasters saw their revenues fall by 1.8%. BBC One saw its weekly reach fall by 12% on 2017 as all BBC portfolio channels, combined with BBC Two, failed to reach even half of audiences. Streaming Video on Demand increased 21.5% year-on-year. A subscription-based BBC funding model can’t come soon enough…
Co-conspirators can read Ofcom’s full report below:
Rishi Sunak was firing on all cylinders during an interview with BBC Radio Scotland this morning. After a testy interview, in which the Prime Minister confirmed his plans to provide hundreds of new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, presenter Martin Geissler finished by pressing Rishi on his private jet usage. Going by Rishi’s response, he’d clearly had his Weetabix this morning…
“I’ll be flying as I normally would and that is the most efficient use of my time… If you or others think the answer to climate change is getting others to ban everything they’re doing [Geissler interjects] to stop people flying, to stop people going on holiday – I think that’s absolutely the wrong approach.”
The government’s green energy announcement is off to a flying start.
