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ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » The source of that faint rumbling noise that youâÂÂve no doubt heard in the distance recently has finally been confirmed as a large number of London television executives moaning as they beat their breasts in penitence and supplication.
Over the last few weeks, a whole host of programmes have been found to be âÂÂfakeâ in one way or another.
From Children In Need and Blue Peter to Richard & Judy and GMTV, so many of our broadcasting institutions have been found to be built on shifting sands that itâÂÂs almost become easier to list the ones that arenâÂÂt under suspicion.
At one end of the spectrum, we find human error â the basic cock-up theory â whilst at the other, we have deliberate dishonesty, but IâÂÂm not buying either of those simplistic solutions.
For me, the problems have arisen from a multitudinous variety of factors, including, but not only, the sheer speed of live broadcasting, the desperation of programme-makers to find ways in which to âÂÂinteractâ with their audiences, no matter how inane (is the world really going to weep at the permanent demise of You Say, We Pay?), and the expectation amongst audiences that theyâÂÂre almost certainly not going to win, which means they wonâÂÂt make a fuss when they donâÂÂt.
There are no doubt dozens of other reasons that commentators plenty brighter than me will pick their way through during the silly season, and IâÂÂm looking forward to avoiding their wise words by being away on holiday.
While IâÂÂm elsewhere, IâÂÂm hoping that the period of reflection our broadcasters are currently going through will lead them to realise that not everything has to move at a million miles an hour â after all, the slower you approach a corner, the less likely you are to cut it.
Perhaps the saddest part of the whole sorry episode is that various people that I was sure were fakes â Ant & Dec, Jade Goody and Ricky Gervais, to name just a few â appear to actually be real, but IâÂÂm hoping that further exhaustive investigation will reach a conclusion that I will find more satisfactoryâÂÅ
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