“Nobody likes a braggart, do they?”

Libby the Purves

Former Radio 4 presenter Libby Purves has been talking to the Radio Times and giving the BBC both barrels over its “self-congratulatory” self-promotion of its own programmes and services. Here are some quotes from the piece:

“The BBC’s coverage of its own navel has increased tenfold.” 

“There’s a fine line between civil, informative announcements and needy self-congratulation.” 

(On the marketing campaign surrounding the launch of the BBC’s new radio app, Sounds:) “It’s a smartphone app, not a Moon landing! It does pretty much what iPlayer Radio did, only with an intrusive ‘personal’ algorithm that scans your ‘listening habits’ and thinks it knows you.”  

“A new Doctor Who is greeted like a Nobel Prize announcement: Strictly is like a Cup final, and a bit of forgettable fiction like Bodyguard sparks chin-stroking discussion on Today, for all the world as if something in the real world had happened.” 

“Of course, popular culture is worth covering. But if it’s always your own contribution, it feels naff. So does the endless cross-trailing on television, nipping minutes out of actual programmes.”  

“How loud can you bang your own drum before it gets undignified? Might we not expect a gentle throat-clearing modesty, and – in news programmes – a decorous sense that the world does not revolve around Broadcasting House? Nobody likes a braggart, do they?” 

I agree with Libby.