Just watched Foreign Office Minister, Jeremy Browne be branded racist by a heckler on Question Times because of a comment he made about the French.
I don't think Mr Browne intended it to come across as anything but a satirical joke - but instead the awkward delivery just sounded vaguely racist.
When briefing public figures on unscripted interviews or panels you simply must ensure they don't ad lib jokes - it never works.
Just ask President Obama: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7129997&page=1
I have to say that anyone with half a brain must surely have realised that Jeremy Browne was parodying the sort of comments that would be made by the Daily Mail, Nigel Farage, or anyone with a chip on their shoulder about the French, or closer EU-British integration/interaction.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you prefer? A politician who fluffs a joke delivery, or one who constantly spouts well-rehearsed, cliched jokes?
The majority of viewers would get that but parody or not it was immediately carried on the BBC's own news channels as a story. This is the point, Mr Browne was ill advised to make the quip in the media climate we live in. Whether you feel that harms freedom of speech is another matter...
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