Once lost, a reputation can never be fully restored. The BBC has been accused of 'dumbing down' in recent years but even the harshest critics have stopped short of accusing the organisation of outright distortion of the truth, until today. This morning, every paper carried the story of the Queen 'flouncing out' of a photographic session with Annie Leibovitz. The reporters had been shown BBC footage of the event and encouraged by the Controller of BBC 1 to make headlines of this uncharacteristic behaviour.
The newspapers were only just landing on the doormat, when BBC newscasters began announcing that it was all a mistake and that the film had been tampered with to make the story. As the day wore on, the apologies turned into excuses and the independent production company that made the film has been blamed. I'm sure that many people will find this apparent refusal to accept responsibilty makes the situation worse; it would have been better to display Peter Fincham's head on a platter.
The integrity of the BBC has been tarnished and I can't think of any way to restore public confidence.
The only way for them to regain the public trust in their honesty and authenticity is to spend about $100 million on a rebranding public relations effort. Or if the president of the company were Christian he could have a public breakdown weepily confessing that he has sinned. It would work in the States.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when the man-in-charge would have resigned, retaining some personal dignity and saving the organisation from further embarrassment. Now it seems to be the fashion to brazen things out or to shift the blame. Perhaps it has something to do with the huge salaries that are paid.
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