Jeremy Kyle
Jeremy Kyle wasn't at the hearing in Westminster today in front of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, when his ITV bosses were asked to defend their reality TV programmes. He 'declined' to show up. His bosses came along.
Maybe this is a good point at which to remember Steve Dymond, a 'client' of the Jeremy Kyle show, who killed himself after appearing on the show. Has there been even one expression of regret from ITV for this man's death? Not that I can see.
The man who took the prize for me at Westminster was Graham Stanier, "Director of Aftercare" at ITV. Was he sorry this man had died? He denied all responsibility, claiming he was answerable for his own behaviour but not for the behaviour of his reality hosts.
Stanier was supposed to be in charge of the care of participants, and he obviously failed at the job. Didn't his job include supervision of reality hosts who deal daily with members of the public appearing on these shows? What went wrong? Was there anything he could have done better?
And if Stanier wasn't responsible for the behaviour of reality hosts, who was?
It's worth remembering this 'show' added a million viewers a day to ITV's viewing figures. That means the loss of lots of advertising revenue.
On the day that it was announced that David Duckenfield, the officer in charge at Hillsborough, will face another trial, I have to ask: is it just public servants that get held to account when things go wrong? Do people who work for 'businesses' just get to walk away?
Maybe this is a good point at which to remember Steve Dymond, a 'client' of the Jeremy Kyle show, who killed himself after appearing on the show. Has there been even one expression of regret from ITV for this man's death? Not that I can see.
The man who took the prize for me at Westminster was Graham Stanier, "Director of Aftercare" at ITV. Was he sorry this man had died? He denied all responsibility, claiming he was answerable for his own behaviour but not for the behaviour of his reality hosts.
Stanier was supposed to be in charge of the care of participants, and he obviously failed at the job. Didn't his job include supervision of reality hosts who deal daily with members of the public appearing on these shows? What went wrong? Was there anything he could have done better?
And if Stanier wasn't responsible for the behaviour of reality hosts, who was?
It's worth remembering this 'show' added a million viewers a day to ITV's viewing figures. That means the loss of lots of advertising revenue.
On the day that it was announced that David Duckenfield, the officer in charge at Hillsborough, will face another trial, I have to ask: is it just public servants that get held to account when things go wrong? Do people who work for 'businesses' just get to walk away?
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