I am somewhat confused with the British Broadcasting Corporation. When is it okay to use colourful language? At one end of the BBC the use of any words very slightly offensive or indeed with sexual references are banned before 2100 hours on television. Meanwhile at the other end of the Corporation on their national Radio 4 the use of such words and certain references flow like water in regular programmes and during afternoon dramas. As for BBC local radio the confusion is further compounded.
In fact halfway through the afternoon the other day I was in the kitchen fiddling around (as one does) and was quite alarmed (although I did smile) at Radio 4’s use of the English language.
So what is it about national radio where it is perfectly okay to use certain words and references during daylight hours and yet on television such expressions are blocked until after the 9.00 PM watershed? Are television people more delicate? Can you chuck any old word at national radio listeners? And yet on local radio ….? The BBC must, strange as it appears, assume the radio listener is a different animal to the television viewer. Perhaps Mr. Angry of Budleigh Salterton only listens to local radio where the rest of us tune to national stations.
I ask this because, as we all read, a presenter formerly employed by BBC Radio Devon quite publicly lost his job for playing the 1930s hit ‘The Sun Has Got His Hat On’. This is where Sam Browne sings a word that is generally regarded in the 21st century as racist and one I have always detested. It wasn’t a live show where this happened. It was a programme recorded almost a full week before transmission. Meanwhile during that time nobody in Plymouth picked up the lyrics of this really famous song – it just sat there waiting to be transmitted to Mr. Angry in deepest South East Devon. At the same-time in those six days during a drama on BBC Radio 4 the language is quite colourful. So where is BBC policy here? In fact what is BBC policy?
I want the truth. I, like many of us, don’t want to be fobbed off or patronised – we want the facts. We want the BBC to come clean and explain to us their beloved ‘policy’.
Quite frankly, I personally don’t care if there’s colourful language coming through my radio during daytime. My ageing Aunt Maud does care along with a great many other people her age and a lot younger. In my private world I am renowned for my language – behind closed doors and with close friends I know well – who cares. Publicly and with people I barely know I wouldn’t dream of swearing, even very slightly and I certainly don’t wish to hear it at that level either.
So, where are we? I am not sure I would relish John Humphrys, a favourite presenter of mine, on ‘Today’ at 7.45 am using colourful language. Can you imagine it: “Oh come on Prime Minister, I must rush you here, you are not answering the f******g question. Bloody hell! Mr Cameron, we have ‘Thought For The Day’ in a minute, why are you evading the sodding point?”
Heaven forbid!
The BBC is a problem. It is trusted to enter our homes and our personal space. It might understand it’s own policy but it leaves the rest of us in the real world, whether we work for the Corporation or not, stone cold.
