Post by Teddy Bear on Mar 29, 2009 0:00:26 GMT
Questions for BBC and ITV over Daniel Hannan speech coverage
The BBC and ITV are facing questions over their failure to screen an MEP's blistering public attack on Gordon Brown which has become an internet sensation. (Can be viewed here)
By John Bingham and Anita Singh
Last Updated: 8:32AM GMT 27 Mar 2009
Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP for South East England, topped international viewing figures on the video sharing website YouTube after he lambasted the Prime Minister as a "devalued" leader who sounded like a "Brezhnev-era apparatchik".
The speech, his official response to Mr Brown's address to the Strasbourg parliament on the financial crisis, was initially ignored in the main British television bulletins in reports about the visit.
But a clip posted on internet was picked up by overseas media, including US networks, and was on course to top one million viewers on YouTube last night.
The speech has since been featured on programmes such as the Daily Politics on BBC Two following its success on the internet.
Both the BBC and ITV News defended the decision not to include the speech in their original coverage of Tuesday's visit saying that they were concentrating on the Governor of the Bank of England's warning about the level of Britain's debt.
But Conservative MPs attacked the decision, describing the YouTube clip by contrast as the "ultimate in public service broadcasting".
A handful of viewers echoed their remarks on the BBC's message boards.
"I think it certainly demonstrates how out of kilter the ivory tower at the BBC is from what the general public think," said Philip Davies, the Conservative MP for Shipley.
Nigel Evans, a Tory member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, added: "I think it is appalling that they were covering the fact that Gordon Brown was at Strasbourg but they weren't prepared to report on one of the most openly critical speeches that has ever been made in a public body against a British Prime Minister.
"It just shows you now that the BBC, and indeed ITV, no longer enjoy the duopoly over broadcasting that they used to."
He added: "I would not be surprised if when the interest in Dan's speech subsides that the BBC and ITV will look at these viewing figures with envy... this is the ultimate in public service broadcasting."
Mr Hannan said that the popularity of the clip showed that the "rules of the game have changed" but declined to point the figure at the broadcasters directly.
Jonathan Munro, acting editor of ITV News, said: "We took an editorial decision on the day of Daniel Hannan's comments to focus on the macro political story that would most impact the UK economy, and therefore our viewers."
He added: "However, that's not to say that Daniel Hannan's speech doesn't make great theatre.
"This internet phenomenon is indicative of the role that new media has alongside broadcast and print journalism in creating stories and generating debate."
A spokesman for the BBC said: "The main story of the day on Tuesday March 24 concerned the comments by the Governor of the Bank of England on the desirability of further fiscal stimulation.
"The clip of Gordon Brown at the European Parliament was used as part of the reports on BBC News outlets in the context of the wider story, not as a report simply of the PM's speech to the European Parliament."
He added that the coverage of the story on the main 10pm news programme included comments from the Tory leader David Cameron and was "entirely balanced".
The BBC and ITV are facing questions over their failure to screen an MEP's blistering public attack on Gordon Brown which has become an internet sensation. (Can be viewed here)
By John Bingham and Anita Singh
Last Updated: 8:32AM GMT 27 Mar 2009
Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP for South East England, topped international viewing figures on the video sharing website YouTube after he lambasted the Prime Minister as a "devalued" leader who sounded like a "Brezhnev-era apparatchik".
The speech, his official response to Mr Brown's address to the Strasbourg parliament on the financial crisis, was initially ignored in the main British television bulletins in reports about the visit.
But a clip posted on internet was picked up by overseas media, including US networks, and was on course to top one million viewers on YouTube last night.
The speech has since been featured on programmes such as the Daily Politics on BBC Two following its success on the internet.
Both the BBC and ITV News defended the decision not to include the speech in their original coverage of Tuesday's visit saying that they were concentrating on the Governor of the Bank of England's warning about the level of Britain's debt.
But Conservative MPs attacked the decision, describing the YouTube clip by contrast as the "ultimate in public service broadcasting".
A handful of viewers echoed their remarks on the BBC's message boards.
"I think it certainly demonstrates how out of kilter the ivory tower at the BBC is from what the general public think," said Philip Davies, the Conservative MP for Shipley.
Nigel Evans, a Tory member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, added: "I think it is appalling that they were covering the fact that Gordon Brown was at Strasbourg but they weren't prepared to report on one of the most openly critical speeches that has ever been made in a public body against a British Prime Minister.
"It just shows you now that the BBC, and indeed ITV, no longer enjoy the duopoly over broadcasting that they used to."
He added: "I would not be surprised if when the interest in Dan's speech subsides that the BBC and ITV will look at these viewing figures with envy... this is the ultimate in public service broadcasting."
Mr Hannan said that the popularity of the clip showed that the "rules of the game have changed" but declined to point the figure at the broadcasters directly.
Jonathan Munro, acting editor of ITV News, said: "We took an editorial decision on the day of Daniel Hannan's comments to focus on the macro political story that would most impact the UK economy, and therefore our viewers."
He added: "However, that's not to say that Daniel Hannan's speech doesn't make great theatre.
"This internet phenomenon is indicative of the role that new media has alongside broadcast and print journalism in creating stories and generating debate."
A spokesman for the BBC said: "The main story of the day on Tuesday March 24 concerned the comments by the Governor of the Bank of England on the desirability of further fiscal stimulation.
"The clip of Gordon Brown at the European Parliament was used as part of the reports on BBC News outlets in the context of the wider story, not as a report simply of the PM's speech to the European Parliament."
He added that the coverage of the story on the main 10pm news programme included comments from the Tory leader David Cameron and was "entirely balanced".
