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It all started with two well-known and highly-paid presenters behaving very badly on Russell Brand’s Radio 2 show. You can have a look at the podcast on YouTube if you want the exact details but you probably know the gist of them anyway.

I wonder what you have been most concerned about as the story unfolded. It might have been concern for the victim, the elderly actor Andrew Sachs, whose mobile answerphone received four messages from comedians Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross regarding Brand’s relationship with his granddaughter. Sachs would be quite entitled to get extremely angry and litigious over the whole affair, not only as the victim of a criminal offence, but also because his wishes that the show should not be aired were ignored by the show’s producer. Yet he made the gentlemanly decision not to press for police action or even for apologies, even though this incident will probably feature in all of his obituaries.

Editorial decision

Perhaps you were most concerned by the failure of the BBC to prevent the pre-recorded programme being aired and their slow decision-making process to discipline the presenters. It has been suggested that, should this have happened on SKY, they would have been sacked within 30 minutes for gross misconduct. Leslie Douglas, the controller of Radio 2, resigned, claiming responsibility for the airing of the programme but it took longer for the BBC Trust to decide that Brand should be banned from any future contract or appearances on the BBC and that Ross should be suspended for three months, costing the star £1m.

Depraved ‘humour’

Perhaps you were most concerned by the depravity of a culture that has persuaded these comedians that this behaviour will be received as humorous. Many have attacked ‘youth culture’ for the moral bankruptcy exhibited here, citing the low morals of niche digital TV channels as the competition that the BBC are struggling to keep up with. But I don’t think that it is young people who Brand’s and Ross’s crassness appeals to the most. It is rather the ‘kidult’ demographic of those in their 20s and 30s who still live and think as though they were 16 years old that keeps these comedians popular.

Egocentric host

Michael Parkinson assents to this in his observation that the age of the conversational interview-style chat show is now over. It is considered as too boring and slow-moving for today’s young audiences. Now, it is the personality of the host that is paramount, so that rather than subjugating themselves and allowing the guest to blossom, the host is showcased and the guest is merely an accessory to their own performance. Guests are willing to settle for an appearance and a plug of their latest product, even if it means being humiliated or abused by the star. It is for this reason that Jonathan Ross has been contracted for three years at £6 million a year.

The difficulties faced by the BBC in its remit to have a ‘broad appeal’ have been much blogged-about in the last few weeks, particularly in the ‘auntie’s dilemma’ strand on its own website. The consensus seems to be that in trying to attract the yoof, the Beeb has given young ‘edgy’ producers and planners freedoms that are costing our public service broadcaster its very precious (and well-deserved) reputation.

Whatever you have been most concerned about, it seems to me that the whole episode feeds on the excitement of elevating oneself at the expense of others, and the satisfaction that can come from watching others being attacked. Ross and Brand have built their careers doing precisely this and were doing nothing else when they publicly humiliated Sachs and his granddaughter.

What it says about us

Yet what is our reaction to seeing even Ross and Brand being attacked in the media? Perhaps we have been most concerned through this whole matter about the state of our own hearts. Maybe we have realised that we derive excitement and satisfaction in seeing ourselves as morally better than these comedians, or in seeing them disciplined. ‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit’, says Paul in his letter to the Philippian church (2.3), ‘but in humility consider others better than yourselves’. It applies to us just as much as it does to them. We may feel out of control with regards to what is said on the radio, but we can exercise control over ourselves. ‘Above all, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life’ (Proverbs 4.23).

Cruel behaviour on radio

Editorial decision

Depraved ‘humour’

Egocentric host

What it says about us

Eleanor Margesson

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