'Offensive' Fairytale Of New York edited

[Eldorado]

An edited version of Christmas classic Fairytale Of New York will be played on BBC Radio 1 this year to avoid offending younger listeners.

The festive hit by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl is a seasonal staple, but in recent years has been at the centre of debate over its lyrics.

Derogatory terms for gender and sexuality are used in the popular song, and PA news agency reports that BBC bosses are understood to be concerned about how younger listeners will react.

Full monty at Sky News: Link

[Space Commander Travis]

Good ol' Auntie Woke. I think we all know the line, which Sky News coyly skirts around. They tried this a few years ago but it was met with derision, but now, sadly, I don't think it will be. 

Edited November 19, 2020 by Space Commander Travis

[itsnotoutthere]

Albeeb get more irrelevant every passing day. 

[ethereal_scout]

It won't be younger listeners who are offended (the kids is only an excuse) it'll be older (can't teach an old dog new tricks) listeners they're thinking of. The ones who could stop paying them and the BBC have just offered them a reason.

[keithisco]

Ridiculous "Woke" BBC...follows on from their equally ridiculous bid not to sing the lyrics of "Rule Britannia"," Land of Hope and Glory", and even "Jerusalem· at "Last Night of the Proms". They waste 100Mn on improving diversity when they already EXCEED their own targets in ALL areas except one - disabled representation.

They have alienated the British public with their biased news reporting, and now they are actively removing people who are the "wrong colour", "wrong age" "wrong sex" from presenting roles!!

BBC, you disgust me and do not get a penny from me to uphold your indefensible "woke" agenda

[Space Commander Travis]

9 hours ago, ethereal_scout said:

It won't be younger listeners who are offended (the kids is only an excuse) it'll be older (can't teach an old dog new tricks) listeners they're thinking of. The ones who could stop paying them and the BBC have just offered them a reason.

but the older listeners will be familiar with the song, and if they haven't been offended before now why should they start to be now? 

[Essan]

The simple solution is to educate the listener.

So after playing the song, the DJ quips "in case anyone was wondering, the word ****** in this song refers to someone who is good for nothing but collecting firewood, ****** originally meaning a bundle of sticks".  
 

Edit: and I see the forum software censors "bundles of sticks" (and "meatballs")      Maybe it too needs educating?  

Edited November 20, 2020 by Essan

[Eldorado]

From songwriter Shane MacGowan:

"The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character. She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person.

"She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history, and she is down on her luck and desperate. Her dialogue is as accurate as I could make it, but she is not intended to offend.

"She is just supposed to be an authentic character and not all characters in songs and stories are angels or even decent and respectable. Sometimes characters in songs and stories have to be evil or nasty in order to tell the story effectively."

Ful article at the BBC: Link

Edited November 20, 2020 by Eldorado

[itsnotoutthere]

[TigerBright19]

The BBC also no longer show the Christmas episode of Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em.

 

15 seconds that got this episode the axe by the BBC.

 

 

 

A popular song that was edited by the BBC.  Although for obvious reasons.

 

BBC version - The Sun has Got his Hat On.

 

The original 1930's version included the lyrics - "He's been tanning n***ers out in Timbuktu.  Now he's coming back to do the same to you."  

 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by TigerBright19

[itsnotoutthere]

Won't belong before we start seeing this on the BBC 

[itsnotoutthere]

The daft thing is though, they're being given permission to play the unedited version on radio 2. So presumably they believe teenagers and 20 somethings will be more offended  than 40 & 50 somethings. So is this proof at last that we've raised a generation of 'snowflakes'? Aww bless.

Edited November 21, 2020 by itsnotoutthere

[itsnotoutthere]

16 minutes ago, itsnotoutthere said:

The daft thing is though, they're being given permission to play the unedited version on radio 2. So presumably they believe teenagers and 20 somethings will be more offended  than 40 & 50 somethings. So is this proof at last that we've raised a generation of 'snowflakes'? Aww bless.

P.s. Or more likely is it just another example of the BBC misjudging the British public. (The Proms fiasco).

Edited November 21, 2020 by itsnotoutthere

[RAyMO]

On 11/19/2020 at 3:36 PM, Eldorado said:

Derogatory terms for gender and sexuality are used in the popular song, and PA news agency reports that BBC bosses are understood to be concerned about how younger listeners will react.

since when has it been compulsory listening? 

As a song its classic but the story behind the song is also good link = Fairytale of New York: the story behind the Pogues' classic Christmas anthem

 

Edited November 21, 2020 by RAyMO

[TashaMarie]

3 hours ago, itsnotoutthere said:

The daft thing is though, they're being given permission to play the unedited version on radio 2. So presumably they believe teenagers and 20 somethings will be more offended  than 40 & 50 somethings. So is this proof at last that we've raised a generation of 'snowflakes'? Aww bless.

I honestly do not think it has anything to do with younger generation. 

[itsnotoutthere]

1 hour ago, TashaMarie said:

I honestly do not think it has anything to do with younger generation. 

It does in a way i.e. the younger generation of people working for the BBC.

Edited November 21, 2020 by itsnotoutthere

[stevewinn]

go woke go broke. is an excellent phrase, the BBC think their immune from such a fate as they're funded by the tax payer via the licence fee. But with 1million+ a year cancelling their TV licence,  the BBC has less than ten years left. as people move away and are not replaced by the younger generation. The Prime fertile, virgin minds of youth missing out on BBC propaganda.

Ofcom report. from 2018/19.

I never thought i'd say it, but i want to see the demise of the BBC, their showing over Brexit, siding with a foreign political power over their own country should never be forgotten or forgiven #defund the BBC movement goes from strength to strength. 

[itsnotoutthere]

11 hours ago, stevewinn said:

go woke go broke. is an excellent phrase, the BBC think their immune from such a fate as they're funded by the tax payer via the licence fee. But with 1million+ a year cancelling their TV licence,  the BBC has less than ten years left. as people move away and are not replaced by the younger generation. The Prime fertile, virgin minds of youth missing out on BBC propaganda.

Ofcom report. from 2018/19.

I never thought i'd say it, but i want to see the demise of the BBC, their showing over Brexit, siding with a foreign political power over their own country should never be forgotten or forgiven #defund the BBC movement goes from strength to strength. 

I think their only audience now is the Islington twitterati. They are so out of touch with the rest of the country I'm stunned they haven't sussed it.

Edited November 22, 2020 by itsnotoutthere

[RAyMO]

does anyone watch TV in the traditional sense anymore? I mean sit down and watch what's on at that time and follow the schedule?

[Susanc241]

13 hours ago, RAyMO said:

does anyone watch TV in the traditional sense anymore? I mean sit down and watch what's on at that time and follow the schedule?

I think us oldies (Hubby and in our 70s) probably do to a certain extent.  Having had access to a TV since 1953 (Coronation) and the BBC being the only channel available, I have witnessed the changes to entertainment visual media.  Like most others, I am now very disillusioned by the Corporation and it’s blatant leftist and appeasement attitudes.  A choice via a subscription rather than the licence cannot come soon enough for me.

[RAyMO]

25 minutes ago, Susanc241 said:

I think us oldies (Hubby and in our 70s) probably do to a certain extent.  Having had access to a TV since 1953 (Coronation) and the BBC being the only channel available, I have witnessed the changes to entertainment visual media.  Like most others, I am now very disillusioned by the Corporation and it’s blatant leftist and appeasement attitudes.  A choice via a subscription rather than the licence cannot come soon enough for me.

setting aside the funding - I was annoyed with the BBC during the last election because I felt its main political correspondent Laura ? was acting like Boris Johnson's personal PR spokesperson.  In fact surveys show lefties think the BBC is too right - just as those on the right feel its too left. 

[Aroundthecorner]

wondering how many more peeds work at thebeeb.

[itsnotoutthere]

58 minutes ago, RAyMO said:

setting aside the funding - I was annoyed with the BBC during the last election because I felt its main political correspondent Laura ? was acting like Boris Johnson's personal PR spokesperson.  In fact surveys show lefties think the BBC is too right - just as those on the right feel its too left. 

Yea, right.

“It’s a bit like walking into a Sunday meeting of the Flat Earth Society. As they discuss great issues of the day, they discuss them from the point of view that the earth is flat.

“If someone says, ‘No, no, no, the earth is round!’, they think this person is an extremist. That’s what it’s like for someone with my right-of-centre views working inside the BBC.”

– Jeff Randall, former BBC business editor

By far the most popular and widely read newspapers at the BBC are The Guardian and The Independent. ­Producers refer to them routinely for the line to take on ­running stories, and for inspiration on which items to cover. In the later stages of my career, I lost count of the number of times I asked a producer for a brief on a story, only to be handed a copy of The Guardian and told ‘it’s all in there’.

–  Peter Sissons, Former BBC News and Current Affairs presenter

“We need to foster peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, stubborn-mindedness, left-of-centre thinking.”

– Ben Stephenson, BBC controller of drama commissioning

[RAyMO]

11 minutes ago, itsnotoutthere said:

Yea, right.

“It’s a bit like walking into a Sunday meeting of the Flat Earth Society. As they discuss great issues of the day, they discuss them from the point of view that the earth is flat.

“If someone says, ‘No, no, no, the earth is round!’, they think this person is an extremist. That’s what it’s like for someone with my right-of-centre views working inside the BBC.”

– Jeff Randall, former BBC business editor

By far the most popular and widely read newspapers at the BBC are The Guardian and The Independent. ­Producers refer to them routinely for the line to take on ­running stories, and for inspiration on which items to cover. In the later stages of my career, I lost count of the number of times I asked a producer for a brief on a story, only to be handed a copy of The Guardian and told ‘it’s all in there’.

–  Peter Sissons, Former BBC News and Current Affairs presenter

“We need to foster peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, stubborn-mindedness, left-of-centre thinking.”

– Ben Stephenson, BBC controller of drama commissioning

None of that contradicts what I said. 

"More people see the BBC as having a left-wing bias than right-wing, but only marginally

It is interesting to note that more people feel the BBC is in some way biased (40%), whether left or right, than say it is a politically neutral broadcaster (37%).

However, while questions about the BBC’s impartiality have been raised from all sides of the political spectrum, it is perhaps fair to say that the prevailing caricature of the BBC, particularly in the press, is of being guilty of a left-wing, cosmopolitan or a liberal inclination.

So, while more people in our poll said the BBC leans left – a total of 22% – it is certainly interesting that almost as many, 18%, said that they feel the corporation is biased to the right. Thus, even though more people see the BBC as having a left-wing lean than any other broadcaster, the BBC is also seen as most likely to be viewed as right leaning."

 

Edited November 23, 2020 by RAyMO

[itsnotoutthere]

2 minutes ago, RAyMO said:

None of that contradicts what I said. 

You're right. It just makes those left wingers that claim that the BBC is right wing look like extreme Marxists.