Newsnight propagandises interview with working single mum

[two sheds]

Should complaints be going to Ofcom?

 

[DaveCinzano]

That would be the Allegra Stratton who is married to The Spectator's James Forsyth (named in 'Britain's 50 Most Powerful Posh People Under 30', that Mail article which also banged on about Otis Ferry and Tamsin Omond), right?

Oh, and guess who was one of the high-flying guests at the Stratton-Forsyth wedding last year?
http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2011/08/mcgovern-tommy-ids-rights
Man-o'-the-people Ed Miliband.

 

[purenarcotic]

Well, I told them I wanted a personal response and not a ridiculous stock answer and have got this in reply:

Thanks for contacting the BBC. This is an automated email confirming we received the complaint submitted in this name via www.bbc.co.complaints. Please do not reply since this email is automatically generated from an account which is not monitored. If you have received this in error please contact us using our webform at www.bbc.co.uk/complaints.

We attach the text of the complaint for your records. We will log this shortly and then normally include it in our overnight reports to BBC staff of all audience reaction. These will be made available for staff to read tomorrow (with your personal details removed) to ensure that your points reach the right people.

To make sure that we use the licence fee efficiently we may not investigate and respond to every complaint in detail but we aim normally to reply within 10 working days (around 2 weeks). For full details of the complaints procedure and how we consider the issues raised in complaints please see our information at www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/handle-complaint/

Hmm. So do you think this means I will eventually get a proper response or they're trying to fob me off.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Update to petition signers:

Dear XXX

I got an unexpected call at work yesterday -- from Newsnight Editor, Peter Rippon. (So they do know I've got a job after all!)

He congratulated me on the petition, and apologised "if I'd been misrepresented" on the show. But they refused to accept responsibility and even tried to blame my employer.

The BBC are finally feeling the pressure to do the right thing. But this phone call isn't enough, Newsnight didn't just insult me, they insulted every viewer and working single mums all over the country. Their apology should be as public as my humiliation.

Please help me get to 30,000 signatures by sharing the petition with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or via email, to show the BBC how many people want them to apologise.

I deserve a public apology, and a full explanation as to how this was allowed to happen. I'm ready to meet the team behind the show in person -- so I can tell them my side of the story and make sure this doesn't happen to anybody else.

Please help me by sharing the petition with your friends - if everyone gets just 1 person to sign, the pressure on the BBC will be too great for them to ignore.

Your support really counts.

Thank you,

Shanene

PS If you're on Twitter, please send a tweet during Newsnight (tonight at 10.30pm) - some examples are below:

Will @BBCnewsnight apologise tonight to working mum Shanene for misrepresented interview? #newsnight

.@BBCnewsnight Publicly apologise for misrepresenting working mum Shanene last week: #newsnight

Why won’t @bbcnewsnight publicly apologise for misrepresenting @nenes_life last week? cc: @BBCAllegra #newsnight

 

[DaveCinzano]

Well, I told them I wanted a personal response and not a ridiculous stock answer and have got this in reply:

Snap

I would imagine the previous non-apology apology was automatically sent out to anyone logging the right date, Newsnight & Shanene Thorpe in their complaint; and that everyone who then recomplained demanding a proper explanation is now in a queue. A very long queue.

 

[danny la rouge]

BBC staff moving to Media City in Salford Quays from London, will receive a tax-free lump-sum payment of £8,000. This is to cover the costs of various relocation expenses.


Freedom of Information Act required the payment sum to be revealed. Alongside the £8,000, staff will be allowed to claim £1,900 a month in expenses if they choose to keep their house in London before making a permanent move to Manchester; a £3,000 allowance for house fittings such as curtains and carpets and as previously reported by the BBC, they are offering to purchase some employees houses with the owners receiving 85% of the market value.

http://www.bdrecruitment.com/news/news-article.php?id=229

Why doesn't Allegra move in with her mother?

 

[danny la rouge]

Oh, and for those who haven't found it yet:

Peter Rippon, Editor, Newsnight, BBC 2
peter.rippon@bbc.co.uk

 

[articul8]

Oh, and for those who haven't found it yet:

Peter Rippon, Editor, Newsnight, BBC 2
peter.rippon@bbc.co.uk

Nice one, cheers

 

[fadrats]

Oh, and for those who haven't found it yet:

Peter Rippon, Editor, Newsnight, BBC 2
peter.rippon@bbc.co.uk

You could try here too...

Helen Boaden, Director of BBC News.
helenboaden.complaints@bbc.co.uk

 

[DaveCinzano]

http://www.bdrecruitment.com/news/news-article.php?id=229

Why doesn't Allegra move in with her mother?

Presumably because she doesn't need to, if she is living with her husband's family whilst salaried out of the public purse.

 

[butchersapron]

Or with her sister portia.

 

[krink]

they're going to have to give him a new email now...

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Should complaints be going to Ofcom?

Probably. When you work for the BBC you have to now complete and pass an impartiality, and correct representation test 'for everything', even if you are just editing, following someone elses orders. You are then responsible if any programme fails in these basic respects.
These rules are actually hard to follow when making regular TV shows but that's when you are not pushing an agenda, and really nobody would notice anyway.
The newsnight show clearly broke every rule, and technically every person who worked on the show should have to answer for not officially flagging up what went on.
I don't really think they can brush this off.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Here's the Ofcom link:

https://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/specific-programme-epg

 

[butchersapron]

Probably. When you work for the BBC you have to now complete and pass an impartiality, and correct representation test 'for everything', even if you are just editing, following someone elses orders. You are then responsible if any programme fails in these basic respects.
These rules are actually hard to follow when making regular TV shows but that's when you are not pushing an agenda, and really nobody would notice anyway.
The newsnight show clearly broke every rule, and technically every person who worked on the show should have to answer for not officially flagging up what went on.
I don't really think they can brush this off.

Who edits the editors. Ah...

 

[sleaterkinney]

Well, I told them I wanted a personal response and not a ridiculous stock answer and have got this in reply:



Hmm. So do you think this means I will eventually get a proper response or they're trying to fob me off.

They do that for all complaints, you might get a proper reply, you might not.

 

[two sheds]

Here's the Ofcom link:

https://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/specific-programme-epg

ta

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

They do that for all complaints, you might get a proper reply, you might not.

I don't know what the BBC has to do but at ITV, as a producer I would have to personally reply to every question or complaint that demanded an answer, and they made sure I did it as well. I assume there is a similar department at the BBC that force replies too.

 

[_angel_]

Can someone on twitter ask her, would she be happy paying 5 or 6 times more in council tax so that the council the young woman works at can actually pay her a living london wage?

 

[DaveCinzano]

Can someone on twitter ask her, would she be happy paying 5 or 6 times more in council tax so that the council the young woman works at can actually pay her a living london wage?

What makes you think she pays any Council Tax anyway?

 

[Ms Ordinary]

Yep and it was obviously a shock for Shanene at how she was being treated too, you could see her looking more and more puzzled and on edge. I would have walked out after verbally abusing her back most likely. But who knows when put on the spot like that

Am just watching this again (on the New Statesman link) and have just caught sight of Allegra's smug expression about 21 seconds in when she's about to start stitching her up .

And right at the end, Shanene looks to be trying to explain her situation better ("I'm just asking for help towards... I'm not asking for a free handout...) and is swiftly cut off...

 

[Citizen66]

Am just watching this again (on the New Statesman link) and have just caught sight of Allegra's smug expression about 21 seconds in when she's about to start stitching her up .

Yeah that's where I saw the clip. Allegra comes across as a vile Tory cunt.

 

[where to]

Oh, and for those who haven't found it yet:

Peter Rippon, Editor, Newsnight, BBC 2
peter.rippon@bbc.co.uk

bingo.

 

[weepiper]

Loving that Shanene is not letting this drop and not taking their pathetic excuse for an apology until it's made on air.

 

[goldenecitrone]

Just watching Newsnight now. Did Paxman just compare the Greek economy to a bad kebab? Nice bit of sneering.

 

[treelover]

I don't think he did exactly, he said something like the Euro PTB would ''expunge Greece like a bad kebab'' but yes, stereotypes were used...

 

[treelover]

Loving that Shanene is not letting this drop and not taking their pathetic excuse for an apology until it's made on air.

Yes, but it is in danger of running out of steam, any ideas?

 

[ska invita]

Just watching Newsnight now. Did Paxman just compare the Greek economy to a bad kebab? Nice bit of sneering.

I don't think he did exactly, he said something like the Euro PTB would ''expunge Greece like a bad kebab'' but yes, stereotypes were used...

either way hes a sneering grouse shooting cnut

 

[danny la rouge]

Yes, but it is in danger of running out of steam, any ideas?

In what way? Do you mean the rate of growth of the petition? There's 23,555 signatures on the petition, which is a pretty impressive total for a unknown woman to collect in a few days.

I was wondering if there was any way of finding out what number of complaints the BBC has had. I know in the past complaint logs have been leaked - I was once emailed one for the first day of the Iraq war.

I know nothing about Facebook and Twitter, but I'm assuming those are being used? I've emailed the story around (in my quaint and gerontic manner).

 

[danny la rouge]

Yes, but it is in danger of running out of steam, any ideas?

Been giving it some thought. How about contacting Samira Shackle, who wrote the New Statesman piece? (samira@newstatesman.co.uk).

I see she's published the standard reply that Newsnight has sent out. You could see if she thinks there are any more hooks to take the story forward. For example, maybe she could ask how many complaints the BBC has received. "BBC receives x number of complaints" is always a story. You could try her with what's meant by "contention" and "current status", whether there will be a public retraction, and how the lie was allowed in the first place, who was responsible, whether it could happen again etc. But she'll need a bit more than that to take the story forward, I imagine. The culture of stereotyping benefits recipients in this way/attitude of the questioning is obviously the important point, but if nobody has taken that on before now, they'll need more than that to run with the story now.