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Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

Samizdata quote of the day

“If the BBC was given charge of a three star Michelin restaurant, it would puree all the food and feed it to its customers through straws.”

Stephen Pollard.

8 comments to Samizdata quote of the day

  • Julian Taylor

    In my experience if the BBC were given control of a 3 star restaurant the restaurant would immediately become off-limits to anyone except senior BBC management, governors and Department of Media, Culture and Sport officials.

    Funny how that if you phone The Ivy and ask for a booking then its a 3 week waiting list. Mention that you work for the BBC and said waiting list magically disappears and a table becomes available.

  • not the Alex above

    As oppsoed to ITV and Sky 1 which bring us such culinary delights as …. I’m a celebrity get me out of here and SING THE LYRIC!

  • RRS

    Hey, what’s worse, think of where they would go to get ingredients!

  • Plus, it would charge everybody in the country £139.50 for this purée, whether you wanted it or not. And if you refused to pay for this pinko pap, it would get its friends in government to send the boys round.

  • permanentexpat

    Organic, no doubt.
    What’s the Ivy?
    Do little lambs still eat it?
    How is it that such a
    crap institution produces
    such brilliant series?
    It should, maybe, abjure
    news & comment entirely,
    sell off the competent bit
    and save us a great deal of dosh
    by publicly commiting suicide.

  • Sam Duncan

    Not the Alex above: But ITV and Sky don’t presume to be “public service broadcasters” (whatever that means) and demand tribute to the tune of 140 quid whether you watch their programmes or not.

    (And incidentally, Sky’s coverage of the English local elections made the BBC’s look like Play School. Well, that’s not strictly true: the BBC did that all by itself; but Sky showed how these things should be done.)

  • I think most news agencies make you suck the content up through a straw. They only give you snippets of the story (much like the amount of a hamburger you would be able to slurp up a straw).

    News media is entertainment. MOST news agencies just want to receive the best ratings on tv, or have the most readers. What’s the best way to do that? provide controversy. If you don’t present all the facts, or present a ‘biased’ viewpoint, more people are going to react, and thus more people are going to ‘tune in.’

    I prefer to read between the lines, or use various straws at once. Many viewpoints are always better than one.

  • …and don’t forget the pap would have to be certifiably good for you, so it would have stuff like fat, salt and sugar taken out and taste like sawdust. And comply with the dietary requirements of all religions.

    Oh and the portions would be all carefully set and unlike Oliver Twist you couldn’t ask for more.