News this week that Jazz FM are to be investigated after receiving complaints just bring out the worst in both me and human kind for that matter. We all know it was a mistake, something that should not have happened and for us in the business, it was also quite funny. Jazz FM bosses apologised, moved on and that was it. No-one died, it was a simple mistake and if anyone was offended then they were no doubt contacted by the station with apologies. Sadly, some just go direct to OFCOM.
I have started to believe that we are surrounded by people who get some weird satisfaction from complaining. They know what buttons to press to get people all worked up. Life is busy but not for these sort, they always have time to complain. I have always taken the view that very few (if any) go out of their way to offend anyone. I believe firmly that no-one has a right NOT to be offended. If you don't like something just switch off, switch over or move over. Surely life can't be so bad or so serious for people to get that upset about anything.
I have never complained about anything that is free to air or free to me. You turn on and there it is, bursting out of the speakers. It is emotional, creative, most of the time absolutely brilliant and great company.
When I ran radio stations, I used to employ someone to deal with people who complained. I was banned from getting involved as I once told an idiot on the phone to just sober up and get a life. We then had to employ a brilliant person called Jeff who's best trick was simply to ring up the person who complained and speak to them - often for over an hour. My rule of thumb is simple: If you have crossed the line, say sorry and move on. If you can defend it, say so and move on. If the complainer is an idiot, defend it to the bitter end and move them on to OFCOM.
In my after dinner speeches, I tell the story of how people used to ring me as John Myers (when I was MD) to complain about me as John Morgan. The fun I had with that I could fill a book with.
When I controlled Jazz FM, the regulator called me to chat about the music we were playing. They wanted me to define Jazz music. I said quite clearly - it was anything with a trumpet! Now that is worth getting complaints over.
The reality is that we live in a world where complaints have to be dealt with seriously. The truth is that most are a pain in the bum and nearly ALL are from people who really should no better. Give a complainer what they are worth... and not a jot more.
Well said!
ReplyDeleteI've just had a look at the 'Complaints' section on the Ofcom website. I'm sure it used to be the case - although maybe that was when the Radio Authority was the regulator - that an aggrieved listener should first complain to the station direct, and only if the matter was unable to be reasonably resolved should a complaint then be made to the regulator.
That sounds a far better approach than having a simple 'Click here to complain' button which makes Ofcom the first port of call, when it should, really, be the last resort.
As Wogan himself said: "There are people who sit by their televisions and radios, waiting to be offended."
ReplyDeleteOfCom needs a few staff with something other than jelly in their backbones and vital bits. If it were possible for John Morgan and John Myers to be bodily devolved you would be able to take over from them AND the the Cameron-Clegg twins at the same time!
ReplyDeleteThe bad news: a COMPLAINT! The 'John Morgan' sing on your Spectrum namecheck Blingle is sung SO fast.... it's not decipherable!
Please get the guy at the station to SWITCH to JAM or TM or S2Blue for goodness sake. Communication is ultimately about clarity. I offer my services as a Consultant FREE to create a CLEAR namecheck for you.
As always.. 'love ya' !
I had a rant on this very subject yesterday, noting that ITV were hauled up for some inadvertent swearing on X Factor just before Christmas. Part of the problem was that it was so low key and drowned out by other noise that nobody on the production team noticed and were only alerted to the problem by social media messages. Sadly in this day of Sky Plus et al, it is a trivial matter for people to scrutinize the briefest moment over and over again to find a way to be offended by it.
ReplyDeleteRegrettably the end result of this will be producers afraid to take any risks at all and we will end up with nothing ever going out live (Big Brother is on a 15 minute delay even for "live" evictions) and our media becomes sterile and bland.
Fortunately radio isn't quite as heavily scrutinized, and to their credit Ofcom tend to take a common sense view over occasional lapses that inevitably occur during hours of live radio. Just because someone has complained and they are "investigating" doesn't mean any action will be taken.
In my time I've been in the eye of the storm over two incidents which seemed to be a major deal at the time. One resulted in two hours solid of complaining telephone calls (both to studio and office reception) from people outraged and offended at what they had heard, the other prompting a flurry of messages on social media, threads on messageboards and widely circulated clips of audio with people gleefully announcing they were going to get the perpetrator sacked for it. On both occasions Ofcom decided the issues were too trivial to bother with and batted the complaints away.
It is hard to see how they can rule on the Jazz FM incident. There is precedent for viewing rude words on the radio as unacceptable, but rude noises? Late at night as an accident? Which bit of the code could that violate?