“The BBC’s hero in a hard hat” [ALERT: Bad language warning]

Just catching up with Rosamund Unwin's Times interview with “the BBC’s hero in a hard hat” Clive Myrie. One paragraph follows on from something we were talking about yesterday:

It is that humanity which has struck viewers, particularly when Myrie appeared to shed a tear for Ukraine on screen. The era of the emotionless foreign correspondent is over, he believes. “We are in an age of feeling,” he said. “It would be odd to be reporting on a colossal tragedy like this and for empathy not to come out.”

It's also interesting to see him state what he sees as the purpose of his reporting:

Although he is careful to compliment other broadcasters, Myrie argues that the BBC’s coverage is made possible by its public funding. “It is important at times like this that we show what we really can do,” he says. “You get the weight and breadth of coverage because of the licence fee.” 

He sees his role as to ensure that viewers understand what is happening to civilians: “Then they can put pressure on their elected representatives to do something about it.”

He's no fan of social media of course:

It is also as a corrective for fake news online. “Social media is the perfect breeding ground for utter crap,” he says. “I can be held accountable for every word I put on air — so can ITN, Channel 4, Sky, CNN. Some dick in his basement putting up rubbish cannot be held accountable.”

And he's no fan of GB News either by the sounds of it: 

Myrie swears a lot more than viewers of the news might expect. He calls the “false equivalence” of those who liken Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the West going into Iraq “f***ing bullshit”. He doesn’t “want to hear guff from some jerk on GB News saying while he doesn’t trust Putin, he doesn’t trust the mainstream media either, and he’d rather surf the internet ... F*** people like him,” he says.

Clive has spoken.