BBC - The Good Pastor's blind side

Do you remember that internal conference the BBC held last year to debate its out-of-touchness? They did a role-play.

Sacha Baron Cohen appears on Room 101 and chooses to divest us of kosher food, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bible and the Koran. What does the BBC do? The producer Alan Hayling: the first 3 OK, but refer the Koran up. Alan Yentob: all OK, except the Koran. Jana Bennet: the first two OK, but not the Bible and the Koran. Mark Damazer: replace the Bible and the Koran with a book called "organised religion".

Just in case you had got round to thinking that things had changed, consider this. The Radio 5 Live messageboard has its black sheep just like any other community. A couple of them regularly leave anti-semitic or anti-Christian diatribe for fellow readers, some of which complain, but the BBC, in the interest of open debate, declines to remove it. One reader decided to experiment with our Good Pastor.

He wrote: "No one can surpass the Muslims for denial of their role in Terrorism and Suicide bombing." The remarks were almost immediately deleted.

It was a good role-play they did at the conference, wasn't it?

See LGF and The Useful Idiot.