On the same day that I read this article that talks about how BBC World Service is reaching an all-time record audience ("Audience figures for the BBC World Service have reached a record 163 million a week"), I read this Times article that tells me they're stretching their on-air talent pool a bit thin:
IT WAS not until midway through the live television interview that the BBC interviewer started to grow suspicious. The man whom she believed to be an expert on internet music downloads seemed to know precious little about his subject.Maybe I can get BBC News 24 to interview me about Brazil. I've never been there and I don't speak Portuguese, so I'd be perfect!
Not only that, but the stocky black man with the strong French accent bore little resemblance to the picture on the expert’s website, which showed a slim white man with blue eyes and blond hair.
The corporation’s News 24 channel apologised to its viewers yesterday and admitted that its interviewee was not Guy Kewney, the respected editor of Newswireless.net, but a local taxi driver.
The cabbie, who is better qualified to talk about traffic jams in Shepherds Bush, answered questions for several minutes on Apple Computer’s victory at the High Court against Apple Corps, the record label for the Beatles, The Times has learnt.
[H/T Regret The Error]
Posted by Chris at May 16, 2006 01:52 PM