In the news

Have you still got the framed cheque? 😚

I know BBC bashing is popular, but does anyone give a flying fuck what Cate Blanchett thinks about AI? How the hell does that constitute news?

Shock revelation as crypto bro is also edge lord.

It’s drivel, the recent video of Ben Affleck talking about so in filmmaking was far more perceptive and informative.

The story is poorly written. Look a few paragraphs down and you'll see she was asked specifically about how AI use in films might affect actors, which is a genuine issue, worth talking about, and something actors can validly give their opinion on without being tech experts. For some reason they decided to open the story with her comments on AI in general.

Journalists are obsessed with LLMs for the understandable reason that a lot of their low-grade listicle-writing and press-release-rephrasing jobs are at immediate risk.

And there's nothing journalists love more than writing about journalism and things that affect it.

Journalists are obsessed with LLMs

They may be but that's not the topic of the article. Sounds more like your obsession than theirs.

That's fair, it's just the explanation I've settled on for journalists choosing the AI angle on every story with even a sniff of it.

As somebody working in an industry whose purpose (often unacknowledged) is frequently to automate other people's jobs out of existence, I don't fault those in other jobs for worrying about it. That said, I think AI mostly gets press attention because other people care about it, so it gets attention. Crime gets exaggerated attention from the media, helping people feel more unsafe in their homes than they should, but most journalists aren't burglars or particular victims of crime.

None of these stories about sexual predators are surprising. What gets me is that it’s always a presenter at the bbc

So what’s going on at the bbc

There isn't a profession/organisation in the world where sexual predators don't take advantage of positions of power. When it happens at the BBC it's more newsworthy. Do you need any more than that?

So what’s going on at the bbc

Nothing is ever wrong at the bbc. They’re entirely ethical and completely impartial and shit gold. The inference that they’re the official mouthpieces of the state and therefore it shouldn’t be surprising that they commonly exhibit the same puerile behaviour as those in government, well, that’s nonsensical and un British and would make the Queen cry.

So what’s going on at the bbc

• Large institution
  
• Dominated the British media landscape for 100yrs
  
• It's competition all make news
  

It wasn't BBC execs hiring middle aged women so Russell Brand wouldn't try and have sex with them.

John Lesely did a bit of time on Blue Peter, but he was basically an ITV guy.

Overall I think it comes down to how certain industries treat certain privileged groups. Media fawns over "talent". Retail and hospitality do it for wealthy foreigners. Etc. Etc.

Do you need any more than that?

It's a common trope.

It works the other way too. If you look at the comments in Greg's insta post there are loads of his supporter decrying the woke bbc for sacking him, even though it's actually his production company.

There isn't a profession/organisation in the world where sexual predators don't take advantage of positions of power. When it happens at the BBC it's more newsworthy. Do you need any more than that?

Some organisations deal with predators/allegations better than others. An organisation that sits on allegations, stifles them, covers them up, etc, is going to wind up with a greater number of incidents of predatory behaviour than one that investigations and deals with allegations faster and more thoroughly.

one that investigations and deals with allegations faster and more thoroughly.

do you have any examples of these? none are springing to mind, for me.

So what’s going on at the bbc

Not to say the BBC has no fault here, but none of his shows were produced by the BBC, but for the BBC and other channels (some specific allegations were regarding a show made for channel 5) by private production companies. It just happens that certain parts of the press and public like to shit on the BBC. The problem is an industry wide problem.

do you have any examples of these?

Quite. There are organisations where people are more likely to have these opportunities, and some where we have raised expectations, but there's no reason to believe LCC does any better than the FA, the Scouts or the Catholic church on this score. Ask in the Ladies Forum. Not just about the LCC.

Solid article. Enjoyed.

It struck me as cryptic drollery of the highest order: a deadpan take on the subject, after the style of serious journalism; a souffle confected from a single interview, artfully constructed to emphasise the subject's total lack of substance, like finding a note in your meal saying, help, I'm trapped in a sausage factory.

Not a fortune cookie factory?

That's the one

The BBC seem to have an almost pathological desire for self-flagellation when it comes to these things; there's nothing they seem to love more than reporting on their own scandals in forensic detail.

They do have a lot of practise mind.

Great story by the way. I'll remember it the next time I'm enjoying a succulent Chinese meal