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May 15, 2006
On-Air BBC Mixup Brings New Meaning to "Instapundit"
As someone who's had the opportunity to be interviewed by news outlets like the BBC and CNN on a few occasions, I've always been proud of the fact that all of my hard work researching the digital divide, education technology and Internet culture is paying off. I mean, it's not like any John Q. Public can walk off the street into a studio and become an instant expert technology, right?
Well, wrong.
Last week, the BBC's News 24 Channel was doing a live story on the recent court case pitting Apple Computer against Apple Records. During the live program, they turned to Internet expert Guy Kewney to offer some insight on the court ruling. Sitting on a stool in the TV studio, Kewney first appears to be stunned or confused. A moment or two later he gathers his composure and answers several questions, though it almost seems he's just mimicking the anchor's words:
"I'm very surprised to see... this verdict to come on me, because I was not expecting that. When I came, they told me something else, and I'm coming, 'you got an interview,' so a big surprise, anyway...."
When talking about how the ruling will effect the cost of downloading online music, he seems to make a reference to how the decision will be good for bridging the digital divide. "Actually, if you go can everywhere, you're gonna see a lot of people downloading through the Internet, the websites, anything they want. But I think it's much better for development and for poor people what they want to get on the easy way and the faster things they're looking for...."
After a couple more questions, the interview ends abruptly, cutting to a field correspondent.
Just another lackluster TV news interview? Not exactly, because "Guy Kewney" wasn't Guy Kewney.
Scenes from the interview with "Guy Kewney."
You can also watch the video or listen to a podcast.
It turns out the real Guy Kewney, a balding, bearded white man with a pinkish complexion, was waiting off-stage for his cue to go on the air, when the wrong Guy Kewney, the African man with the French accent, was brought onstage to shoot the live segment. From his expression, you could tell he had no idea what the heck he was doing on TV, but he just ran with it. After a few moments he actually seemed somewhat comfortable on camera, even though his answers didn't offer any earth-shattering insight on the court case.
Here's how the real Guy Kewney recounts the aftermath on his blog:
"I'm dreadfully sorry!" said the studio manager, wringing his hands as if he wanted to suddenly take the day off, retrospectively. "It seems I rang Reception, not the Stage Door, and asked if you were there. And they said yes!"So he went down to reception, and was introduced to me. That is, not this pink me, but the other, black me. Until we find out who he actually was, it's a simple mystery how he persuaded BBC's receptionists that he was me, and that's before we ask "Why?".
But, having done that, he had Evidence: a security pass with his name on. And that, it seems, is the definitive article; it must be True! And any other evidence could be discounted.
"Well, to be honest, I did think it couldn't be you. I mean, I've seen your picture on your web site, and he didn't look like you. So I asked him who he was, and he said: 'Guy Kewney' and I said 'Are you really Guy Kewney?' and he said yes. And I asked reception if that was you, and they said yes!"
So that was that, and they took him upstairs and put him in front of the camera. Security passes can't lie.
But the question remains: who was this guy and how did he get himself on television? An Associated Press article about the incident claims that the man was a taxi driver, but doesn't elaborate how he ended up in the studio. Guy Kewney - the real Guy Kewney - reports on his blog today another account that makes a lot more sense:
His name is Guy Goma - which goes some way to explaining why he (and the BBC receptionist) assumed that someone asking for Guy Kewney was asking for him.And he wasn't there to pick up a fare, because he's not a cabbie. He's a Business Studies graduate, from the Congo, and he was there in reception because he was applying for a high level IT job with the BBC.
Apparently the unflappable Mr Goma assumed the whole thing was some kind of initiation prank. His own speciality is data cleansing, and (my source inside the Beeb tells me) was "a little upset that nobody asked him about his data cleansing expertise."
Personally, I'm inclined to believe Kewney. I mean, he is an expert.... -andy
http://odeo.com/claim/feed/7aab579fc473a402 (odeo/7aab579fc473a402)
Posted by acarvin at May 15, 2006 4:43 PM
Listen to a computer-generated podcast of this article
