Viewers complain about BBC’s Jade coverage

Posted by heatworld on Wednesday 25 Mar 2009

Filed under: Jade Goody

The media coverage of Jade Goody’s cancer battle has been controversial for many reasons, and now TV viewers have complained about the amount of coverage the BBC gave to her death. Around 70 people have made formal complaints about the prominence the sad news was given, with many more ranting about it online, and said that a publicly-funded broadcaster should not go into such depth about a reality TV star, especially as her death was not unexpected. News of Jade’s death was the lead story on news bulletins throughout Sunday, as well as being broadcast internationally via the World Service. “You really lost the plot on this one,” wrote one viewer, with another adding, “For this young woman, you felt able to change your scheduling. That was in my opinion an unprofessional decision in keeping with your rapidly declining standards.” However, BBC news boss Peter Horrocks has defended his decision. “Jade Goody became a phenomenon, both in terms of the interest she inspired in the public and in the effect that her sad death had on awareness of cervical cancer,” he says. “To make a legitimate news judgment about our coverage, we applied the same criteria as we usually use: should we report this, and if so, how? This highlights one of the challenges of producing news through a range of services for all of the UK population. While some of you have told us that you didn't like Jade Goody, or didn't want to hear news about her, we have to bear in mind those licence fee payers who have a strong level of interest and who expected us to provide measured coverage of her death.” What do you think – should the BBC and other news outlets have toned things down, or has there been a fitting amount of coverage under the circumstances?