damazer's Other Guest ... Cave! Pay Attention ...it is Thompson!

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Mark Thompson gives the first of three ..reviewed in the Graun

http://www.spc.ox.ac.uk/event/22/283/symposium.html

[french frank]

Good grief! All these academics gathered together!

It reminds me of Mr March's catchphrase in Snow's The Conscience of the Rich: he would report someone's opinion and add, 'Though I don't know why he was specially competent to judge.'

[Serial_Apologist]

Good grief! All these academics gathered together!

It reminds me of Mr March's catchphrase in Snow's The Conscience of the Rich: he would report someone's opinion and add, 'Though I don't know why he was specially competent to judge.'

What should be the collective noun? An academithon?

[teamsaint]

What should be the collective noun? An academithon?

A Hamilton

[french frank]

A Hamilton

In the case of 'Visiting Professors' of - as a Welshman of my acquaintance said of a below standard back row - 'noooo reputation', a Hamilton is probably more appropriate than an Oxford, though I assume the credentials of Mr Damazer and Mr Thompson include being over 18 and able to swim 50m in their clothing.

[handsomefortune]

an Oxford, though I assume the credentials of Mr Damazer and Mr Thompson include being over 18 and able to swim 50m in their clothing.

well they're both well over eighteen.....and might be described as 'a bit fishy'!

The language of the marketeers, he said, was being picked up by politicians which were then tested in the "vast cost-free focus group" that was the internet. ....i can't help thinking that this was the precise practice originating at r4, and under md and mt's control & dg-ing! surely you can't have people who notoriously avoid answering questions all together, then criticising 'the coarsening of language' that they've had a hand in coarsening, and within public service broadcasting .....? for instance, who else nearly vomits when they hear fee glover's new programme on r4, which should be called ' the gloating over the misfortunes of joe blogs spot'? along with many other supposedly 'populist' beeb freebies on the cheap. what's the difference between this r4 format, and celeb 'confessions' online (also sometimes broadcast by the beeb, depending on status) about 'personal difficulties' ...coincidentally, only really amounting to extra exposure/promo marketing on the cheap. how can mt then criticise politicians for cynically copying these 'popular' practices? predictably, it looks like they're all in it together!

listeners could surely always tell that mt was politically 'neutral' (except when he was promoting common marketing theory, while scrapping existing feedback from beeb message boards etc), imo he just followed the lovely lolly .... his stammering and 'distant focus' (superficially) mistaken for 'political impartiality'. but i wonder what new yorkers will make of mt .....? just hope they don't send him back here when they discover it's not just r3 playlists that are on 'selector'!

isn't that so typical about the actual entrance to the 'academic' rowing club .....? perhaps they just think about rowing mostly, before retiring to the clubhouse! ....presumably have to have open entry to the club, in order to convey top rivals, like lord sainsbury, etc, safely up & down the river. club oarsmen require a (decent) chin, personal fitness as well as a rare sense of responsibility for others. it's essential that oarsman have a deaf/blind spot, are tactful about late onset attention deficit disorder. otherwise known as 'hyping stuff about money & prestige', according to who's on board which rowing boat! what 'visiting professor' might risk a punt in contemporary times?!

mainly, i can't help wondering precisely what (any unfortunate) students attending make of the recent beeb lectures ....? though, like other posters, suspect that the ritual exchange of jargon is held for 'mutual' professional benefit ...rather than anything else. (we never did get a shot of the audience, did we)? what a surprise, mt having no knowledge of common rumours .... astonishing! coincidentally, imo mt's departure looks increasingly strategic, perhaps comparable to alan greenspan's from the US federal reserve, immediately prior to the financial crash. i do feel for dg george entwistle in this respect....not a good time to be a beeb dg... (nor for that matter a dj)! the latter being a great pretext, a wonderful, golden opportunity to reinstate better programmes, and scrap all djs, starting with those deluded into thinking they are 'top personalities'. just think of the savings! ideally, this imo is what IDEALLY the beeb lecture at oxford should have been about: fat chance!

instead, do we witness the gift of an extended halloween exclusive held at oxford uni!? to my eyes, guardian pic of mt is lit to look just like dracula! (whereas md's blue jaw & receding hairline require no special lighting fx whatsoever).

[Serial_Apologist]

well they're both well over eighteen.....and might be described as 'a bit fishy'!

The language of the marketeers, he said, was being picked up by politicians which were then tested in the "vast cost-free focus group" that was the internet. ....i can't help thinking that this was the precise practice originating at r4, and under md and mt's control & dg-ing! surely you can't have people who notoriously avoid answering questions all together, then criticising 'the coarsening of language' that they've had a hand in coarsening, and within public service broadcasting .....? for instance, who else nearly vomits when they hear fee glover's new programme on r4, which should be called ' the gloating over the misfortunes of joe blogs spot'? along with many other supposedly 'populist' beeb freebies on the cheap. what's the difference between this r4 format, and celeb 'confessions' online (also sometimes broadcast by the beeb, depending on status) about 'personal difficulties' ...coincidentally, only really amounting to extra exposure/promo marketing on the cheap. how can mt then criticise politicians for cynically copying these 'popular' practices? predictably, it looks like they're all in it together!

listeners could surely always tell that mt was politically 'neutral' (except when he was promoting common marketing theory, while scrapping existing feedback from beeb message boards etc), imo he just followed the lovely lolly .... his stammering and 'distant focus' (superficially) mistaken for 'political impartiality'. but i wonder what new yorkers will make of mt .....? just hope they don't send him back here when they discover it's not just r3 playlists that are on 'selector'!

isn't that so typical about the actual entrance to the 'academic' rowing club .....? perhaps they just think about rowing mostly, before retiring to the clubhouse! ....presumably have to have open entry to the club, in order to convey top rivals, like lord sainsbury, etc, safely up & down the river. club oarsmen require a (decent) chin, personal fitness as well as a rare sense of responsibility for others. it's essential that oarsman have a deaf/blind spot, are tactful about late onset attention deficit disorder. otherwise known as 'hyping stuff about money & prestige', according to who's on board which rowing boat! what 'visiting professor' might risk a punt in contemporary times?!

mainly, i can't help wondering precisely what (any unfortunate) students attending make of the recent beeb lectures ....? though, like other posters, suspect that the ritual exchange of jargon is held for 'mutual' professional benefit ...rather than anything else. (we never did get a shot of the audience, did we)? what a surprise, mt having no knowledge of common rumours .... astonishing! coincidentally, imo mt's departure looks increasingly strategic, perhaps comparable to alan greenspan's from the US federal reserve, immediately prior to the financial crash. i do feel for dg george entwistle in this respect....not a good time to be a beeb dg... (nor for that matter a dj)! the latter being a great pretext, a wonderful, golden opportunity to reinstate better programmes, and scrap all djs, starting with those deluded into thinking they are 'top personalities'. just think of the savings! ideally, this imo is what IDEALLY the beeb lecture at oxford should have been about: fat chance!

instead, do we witness the gift of an extended halloween exclusive held at oxford uni!? to my eyes, guardian pic of mt is lit to look just like dracula! (whereas md's blue jaw & receding hairline require no special lighting fx whatsoever).

Excellent stuff handsome
Especially the mixed metaphors
Impartiality
Either oars

[aeolium]

how can mt then criticise politicians for cynically copying these 'popular' practices? predictably, it looks like they're all in it together!

Spot on, handsomefortune. Let's not forget that Thompson's first senior external appointment at the BBC was a former UK Marketing Manager for PepsiCo, Tim Davie (who later became and still is until the end of the month Director of Audio & Music).

[handsomefortune]

well i was avoiding mentioning him tbh aeolium. having only recently recovered from watching his discussion about his predictions of the future ..... screens, (linked at the top of the forum list, of self referential beeb programmes about the beeb). i could write pages tbh....but ...

[Serial_Apologist]

well i was avoiding mentioning him tbh aeolium. having only recently recovered from watching his discussion about his predictions of the future ..... screens, (linked at the top of the forum list, of self referential beeb programmes about the beeb). i could write pages tbh....but ...

Go on, handsome - you're good at succintly factoring in complex multiples and variables when arguing a case!