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Queen Sorry for Golliwog Dolls in Gift Shop

Uproar over blackface character prompts rare royal apology

(Newser) - Queen Elizabeth issued a rare apology after the revelation that a shop at one of her estates was selling "golliwogs"—a kind of blackface minstrel doll. The dolls, made in China, have frizzy black hair and beady eyes, and are prominently displayed at the gift shop at Sandringham,...

Sky News Joins BBC in Refusing to Run Gaza Appeal

Both operations claim appeal would threaten image of impartiality

(Newser) - Britain's Sky News has joined the BBC in its controversial decision not to run a charity advertisement appealing for aid to Gaza, reports the Times of London. Sky News executives made the announcement as public and political pressure mounted for the BBC to change its stance. BBC officials said airing...

BBC Refusal to Air Gaza Appeal Sparks Uproar

Network fears appearance of bias in charged issue

(Newser) - The BBC has been lambasted by politicians, religious leaders and its own staff for the network's refusal to broadcast an appeal for Gaza aid, the Guardian reports. Executives of the publicly funded network say they must adhere to a strict code of impartiality, and that airing the appeal could be...

Phantom of the Xbox: Lloyd Webber Tries Gaming

You'll soon be able to play along with your faves from Evita , Jesus Christ Superstar

(Newser) - Andrew Lloyd Webber, the man behind musical hits such as Phantom of the Opera and Cats, is getting into the video-game business, paidContent reports. The burgeoning female gaming audience and the popularity of music-themed hits encouraged Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group to begin developing games based on Phantom, Evita...

French Public TV Goes Ad Free; Not All Are Pleased

Critics say Sarkozy plan is gift to corporate competitors

(Newser) - In France last night, television viewers were treated to something they'd never seen before: prime time programming without commercials on the country's five state-run public networks. It's the first reform in Nicolas Sarkozy's proposed "big bang" transformation of France Télévisions, and eventually all advertising will be...

Queen Mum Was a 'Ghastly Old Bigot'

Delivered ethnic slurs with 'tiara-strength twinkle,' says BBC author

(Newser) - Britain's Queen Mother was a "ghastly old bigot" who once referred to some of England's closest EU allies using ethnic slurs that left a BBC newscaster appalled. "The words were delivered with the eyes on maximum tiara-strength twinkle, but I froze," said Edward Stourton, who revealed the...

Ridicule of BBC Host Makes Vidal a YouTube Hit

Author 'knows too much' to be on TV

(Newser) - Gore Vidal is a YouTube sensation thanks to his election-night interview by David Dimbleby of the BBC, whom the famously contentious American author mocked mercilessly, the Telegraph reports. Vidal started by saying that he didn’t expect Barack Obama to win so easily, because the Republican Party is desperate to...

BBC Yanks Comics for Prank Call

Brand famous for racy, offensive jokes

(Newser) - The BBC suspended two leading comedians for a prank call that infuriated 18,000 viewers and that even the prime minister called “inappropriate and unacceptable,” the news service reports. Foul-mouthed Russell Brand—who, stateside, offended abstinent teens at MTV's Music Video Awards—and Jonathan Ross told a 78-year-old...

'That Is the End of This Broadcast'

UK declassifies BBC's Cold War script for nuclear attack

(Newser) - A radio script that the British government planned to broadcast to survivors of a nuclear attack has been made public for the first time, the BBC reports. The script, written in the 1970s and released by the National Archives, warns listeners to stay in hiding for 14 days and to...

BBC Denies Spouting Government's Qaeda Line

(Newser) - Similarities between a leaked British government document and a recent BBC report on al-Qaeda’s waning support are just that, the broadcaster said today in denying its editorial independence had been dented. A report leaked to the Guardian talked of pushing material through UK media channels to suggest al-Qaeda is...

BBC Airs Lost Beatles Interview
 BBC Airs Lost Beatles Interview 
Jul 1, 2008 11:00 AM CDT

BBC Airs Lost Beatles Interview

Lennon and McCartney talk about first meeting

(Newser) - BBC Radio today aired a long lost Beatles interview featuring John Lennon and Paul McCartney talking about the day they met and their songwriting partnership. The precious film sat forgotten for 44 years in a garage in south London until film fan Richard Jeffs realized a piece of pop history...

Brit TV Star's Body Was in Rail Station 6 Days

Cops investigate why it took so long to discover the apparent suicide

(Newser) - A British TV celebrity's body was left hanging in London's Paddington station for six days, the London Times reports, in an apparent suicide. Mark Speight, 42, had been missing for a week and police are probing why it took so long for his body to be discovered. Speight was said...

Spacey Slams BBC's 'Unfair' Talent Searches

Actor slams Webber's Idol clones as ads for musicals

(Newser) - Kevin Spacey has criticized the BBC’s West End reality shows as overt promotions for the musicals they're casting for, the Guardian reports. Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular talent-search series, Any Dream Will Do and I’d Do Anything, sought out new stars for big-budget productions of Joseph and the Amazing ...

Fine Arts Could Use Some Color
Fine Arts
Could Use
Some Color
OPINION
Mar 5, 2008 12:17 PM CST

Fine Arts Could Use Some Color

Black author laments lack of company at music, theater events

(Newser) - Britain's culture minister set off a row about high culture and national identity this week in castigating a popular series of classical music concerts for failing to attract a multiethnic audience. For Candace Allen, an African-American author living in London, the debate is more than theoretical: while classical music can...

BBC Cuts 1,800 Jobs, Updates for Digital Age

Funding shortfall, shifting audience leads to restructuring

(Newser) - The BBC will cut 1,800 of its 18,000 jobs and integrate its TV, radio and Internet news operations to adapt to the digital age, the public broadcaster announced today. As many as 2,500 positions may be lost, but others will be added, the BBC said, to reflect...

$4B Crunch Threatens BBC Jobs
$4B Crunch Threatens BBC Jobs
Oct 10, 2007 4:37 AM CDT

$4B Crunch Threatens BBC Jobs

(Newser) - A massive funding shortfall at the British Broadcasting Corporation could trigger unprecedented job cuts, reports the Independent. As many as 2,800 people—about 12% of the BBC's labor force—could lose their jobs. Officials at the BBC, which is financed by a $270 license fee paid by viewers, project...

BBC Exec Resigns Over 'Crowngate'
BBC Exec Resigns Over 'Crowngate'
Oct 6, 2007 7:29 PM CDT

BBC Exec Resigns Over 'Crowngate'

Probe finds that doc distorted footage of her highness

(Newser) - A BBC chief resigned yesterday over footage of the Queen allegedly storming out of a photo session, the Los Angeles Times reports. A probe found that she never stalked out; another clip of her was spliced into the BBC doc. An ex-exec who led the "Crowngate" probe said the...

Lonely Planet Will Keep BBC Company

British media giant buys 75% stake in popular travel brand

(Newser) - The BBC is lacing up its hiking boots after acquiring a 75% stake in travel guidebook company Lonely Planet. The deal, announced today, nets the BBC a travel brand with a library of some 500 travel guides, a popular website, and a TV series shown in 100 countries. It’s...

Summer of Scandals Leaves BBC in Crisis

Top anchor accuses net of 'catastrophic loss of nerve'

(Newser) - The Brits are having a crisis of conscience over the BBC: A summer of scandals has left the BBC's squeaky-clean image compromised. The UK's public broadcaster has aired rigged call-in games, sneakily edited news stories, and credulity-straining reality shows. A leading broadcaster charges the station has suffered "a catastrophic...

25 Essential Websites
25 Essential Websites
Aug 20, 2007 9:01 AM CDT

25 Essential Websites

Email? Shopping? News? Time picks the destinations you just can't live without

(Newser) - You find a restaurant on Citysearch, buy movie tickets on Fandango, and then go home and Google the guy you shared a cab with. Was there a time before the Internet? Here are the first 10 of Time's 25 can't-live-without websites:
  1. Amazon.com
  2. BBC.co.uk
  3. Citysearch.com

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