Celebrities And Severities

Newswipe this week provided the goods once again and provided
a very well thought piece on the insensitive and at times lazy
coverage of the Haiti disaster by the various news channels.

I.E misinterpreting what was actually being shown and trying
to re-interpret it for the audience watching.

However with the resurgence of the Helping Haiti record
it was very well built up into the main subject of this weeks programme;
Celebrity arse licking.

I can't remember any specific parts or lines as there were so many
that nailed it spot on of how the news is now a shop window for
C-List celebrities or those who have a career span of a sparkler.

And I think that's a complimentary way to describe John and Edward.

One particular victim (and I use the word with passion) was the ever infamous
Live From Studio Five which I will still class as one of if not the most
amateurish programme on television.

Sort of a TV equivalent of Blam Jam then...

No, no, that show has made me ponder on whether they actually screen
tested the presenters beforehand or just bunged them together at the last minute.

The only time in television I know that's worked was when Gaby Roslin
previously from ITV Saturday morning show Motormouth was brought in
at the last minute to replace Going Live!'s Emma Forbes as Chris Evans
co-host on The Big Breakfast two weeks before the launch.

I still can't get my head round that she's now up against Chris on t'wireless
on BBC London 94.9 alongside another of her former co-hosts Paul Ross.

Anyway, back to Brooker and the best line of the show came when they
looked at the different ways of measuring "severe threats" and how
a Channel 4 news interview with a security expert revealed
that you had to be prepared for almost any threat
from wherever in the world.

This lead to Charlie sardonically asking "What are the chances
of anything coming from Mars?"

No time like the present, and earlier this morning I made my way
into the bowels of Eliot College to grab last Sunday's show off the L Drive.

I managed to find on the whiteboard that apparently there's a meeting
for all station members tomorrow evening at 7pm although I'm unsure
whether I will want to turn up.

I don't normally make my way up to CSR unless it's on Sunday
so if I had found that out then, I wouldn't have been too happy.

Surely they would inform us about it via e-mail?

Then again if that's the approach they're taking, then I'm guessing it's
mainly for daytime presenters, and I doubt many people will
show up anyway.

I'm not going to risk the journey up there.

I'd prefer just the one long stretch this week.

As for tonight I'm sorting my own cooking tonight by attempting
another lamb stew, and following the demands I will actually be posting
the recipe directions on the blog.

It's pretty simple really and doesn't take much effort.

Although anyone reading this could probably provide a better
end result than I've ever done.