The Duke of Edinburgh and Radio 3

[MrGongGong]

If nothing else it gives us an indication of just how fawning Nick Witchell will be when one of them finally pegs out.

indeed
the order of the brownose is on the New Years honours for witchypoo

so much for the "left wing bias" of the BBC then !

I don't wish ill of an old man but the fawning nonsense that is peddled out makes the idea that the BBC is staffed with people with any intellect laughable !

[Serial_Apologist]

indeed
the order of the brownose is on the New Years honours for witchypoo

so much for the "left wing bias" of the BBC then !

I don't wish ill of an old man but the fawning nonsense that is peddled out makes the idea that the BBC is staffed with people with any intellect laughable !

I cannot recall any time at all since the age of Dimbleby Sr when BBC coverage towards Royalty has been as obsequious as since the latest Royal Wedding.

[VodkaDilc]

I cannot recall any time at all since the age of Dimbleby Sr when BBC coverage towards Royalty has been as obsequious as since the latest Royal Wedding.

It was also interesting to see Jon Snow's excellent review of 2011 on Channel 4. He pointed out that Channel 4 News (its 7pm daily programme is the best news programme on television, to my mind) rarely covered royal stories in its early days, but that that all changed with this year's wedding. (In the newspaper world, didn't The Independent have a similar change since its strictly non-royal early days?) However, with Jon Snow, there is always a pleasing disregard for the establishment not far beneath the surface.

[Mr Pee]

) However, with Jon Snow, there is always a pleasing disregard for the establishment not far beneath the surface.

I find Channel 4 news unbearably smug and self-satisfied. And aren't newsreaders supposed to be impartial?

[Ferretfancy]

I find Channel 4 news unbearably smug and self-satisfied. And aren't newsreaders supposed to be impartial?

To quote Mandy Rice Davies -- " Well, he would, wouldn't he ? "

[Bryn]

I find Channel 4 news unbearably smug and self-satisfied.

Well you could try switching the television on, rather than simply viewing your reflection in the screen.

[Mr Pee]

Well you could try switching the television on, rather than simply viewing your reflection in the screen.

Ah....I wondered why Frozen Planet was so dark and gloomy!! How does one switch a television "on"?

[Flosshilde]

Ah....I wondered why Frozen Planet was so dark and gloomy!! How does one switch a television "on"?

Surely your state of the art TV would know how to switch itself on? and avoid the programmes you find smug?

[teamsaint]

I cannot recall any time at all since the age of Dimbleby Sr when BBC coverage towards Royalty has been as obsequious as since the latest Royal Wedding.

Indeed.
And at OUR expense, at a time when real issues that affect, or are going to affect us all should be top of the agenda all day, every day.
The time spent fawning over a family who live exceptionally well on other peoples efforts should be spent on looking at things that affect millions of people every day like low wages, poor health care, hunger, exploitation by the banks
etc etc etc etc etc.

We need the royal family like we need a hole in the head. They are parasites.

[scottycelt]

I cannot recall any time at all since the age of Dimbleby Sr when BBC coverage towards Royalty has been as obsequious as since the latest Royal Wedding.

In contrast, I think the BBC handled the Duke's recent unfortunate experience most appropriately and, indeed, tastefully, considering the pivotal role of the Monarchy.

There's always the comradely example of the media in Communist North Korea if one wishes to escape obsequiousness and elitism, S_A ...

[MrGongGong]

In contrast, I think the BBC handled the Duke's recent unfortunate experience most appropriately and, indeed, tastefully, considering the pivotal role of the Monarchy.

"Pivotal" ??????????????????

[Serial_Apologist]

"Pivotal" ??????????????????

Yes, I think it means dancing on the head of a pivot

[Lateralthinking1]

There's always the comradely example of the media in Communist North Korea if one wishes to escape obsequiousness and elitism, S_A ...

Well it turned out that the guy I sat next to in the 6th Form is now an "MD for Europe". A well-known direct marketing firm. Financial products mainly. Ring the naive up. Tell them about "likely" investment returns. I've watched his interview on You Tube. He is the same bloke except he has no hair now. His new sport is the language of business. Odd this. He was one of the more human ones in the earlier place. Bright enough without being brilliant. Light-hearted as in rugby. Arguably not sufficiently serious for substantial endeavour. Ultimately I guess he had contacts. Fair enough. Networking is important. No one would be where they are now without a thousand friends. Still, there was awkwardness in his expression some 30 years on. Most would not be able to see it. You would have had to have known him then to be sure. It was as if he questioned the morality ever so slightly. That he didn't quite believe in any of it. This in transparency is one who flew off fast into corporate clouds. What might this tell us about our future security? Can new tries be converted in the coming year by our latest aces or will society just lash out when the ball is run up to the guts of its defences? Either way, it will be for real, whatever that is. That is worrying. Happily, the Royals refuse to do doubt in all its three dimensions. They say "business as usual" and hope that this conveys the same about big business itself.

Ironically given his normality in 1981, the chap from my schooldays might as well have been using the words of astrology. You know. "You will all be millionaires when there is a trine of Aries to Sagittarius". It was definitely a smirk. Still, the conviction in his demeanour was strong enough to maintain a six bedroom house. Funnily enough I discovered that Maynard Keynes had said that the only function of economic forecasting was to make astrology look respectable. That was when astrology was almost a science and big business was itself. Now look at the latter. It is a game where everyone in the office communicates in balderdash, knowing it, and yet never being allowed to say what everyone knows. It happens in Government too whenever it apes and fawns. You advance by these rules. You sell by these rules. You con by these rules. You put up walls by these rules. And at the moment people see through the rules, you are unavailable. Yes, it pays to run into invisible channels. It is coached in the early fieldwork for short-term pyrrhic victories. What of those who take a plane ride into life's more tender complexities? I might paternally suggest that all is not lost for those arcane souls of our libraries. Get this. I decided to see how long it would take me to learn the game. It was less than half an hour. Smug, no, but I am pretty pleased with the way I have made air look like solid substance.

"Lateralthinking1's end-to-end distribution strategy process, when combined with his disciplined approach to promotions, ensures that your Radio 3 programmes develop flawlessly, run smoothly and improve continuously over time. His step-by-step process optimises the key quality drivers for programme profitablity from the design stage to execution with a subsequent emphasis on tracking and results enhancement. Because of his core belief in tailoring his service to his clients, there is no typical Lateralthinking1 engagement. His segment structured criteria are channelled through a sophisticated collaborative working model to deliver a platform of sequenced measures for enhancing capability. Being focussed on the critical path, this empowers you to choose balanced and integrated solutions for identifying propensity, maximising value in your activities and targeting key goals".

As for the Dear Leader, it seems to me that big business here is ours. To succeed you must speak the language as if you are convinced by it. To do anything else is to be pushed out into the cold. Both are the Emperor's new clothes. The problem for those of my age, and yours, is that it only soft-soaps if it can be seen to deliver broadly. North Korea doesn't have a problem on that score even though it is in many ways a basket case. But here 50% of people go to university. Many more youngsters are rather like I once was than happened to be the case when I started off. Outsiders who weren't born into such patent nonsense and who therefore don't believe that being "in touch" is the same as being inside the door. Well, I got my feet halfway across the threshold. Hurrah. The new authority has decided that those of my ilk are sufficiently incorporated not to make trouble when discarded. Have we too much to lose? We'll see. But the cuts to us were made in a climate of managed hysteria. A panic about there being only limited buy-in whenever systemic unemployment reduces spending. They will do anything to create a vacancy in every definition of that word. It isn't working of course. You can dress up the script to cloak the gullible in confidence. No one really knows what is in the stars. And I suspect that many graduates don't need an airline scanner to see the nakedness in what is being talked.

[Serial_Apologist]

"Lateralthinking1's end-to-end distribution strategy process, when combined with his disciplined approach to promotions, ensures that your Radio 3 programmes develop flawlessly, run smoothly and improve continuously over time. His step-by-step process optimises the key value drivers for programme profitablity from the design stage to execution through to tracking and results enhancement. Because of his core belief in tailoring his service to his clients, there is no typical Lateralthinking1 engagement. His segment structured criteria are channeled through a sophisticated collaborative working model to deliver a platform of sequenced measures for enhancing capability. Being focussed on the critical path, this empowers you to choose balanced and integrated solutions for maximising value in your activities and in the targeting of goals".

I think you should consider having that paragraph copyrighted as standard proforma mission statement, Lat, then maybe copperplated.

In response to the quote which prompted it, btw, nothing's new: I was often being recommended to go back to N Korea, Stalingrad, Cuba and Russia in the good ole days. Quite a problem that we hadn't actually come from any of those places, or quite a few others, but they weren't to know.

[MrGongGong]

What a great choice that is .........Scotty

The Saxe Coburgs or Kim Jong il

(other options are available you know !)