[Another news of the weird magic moment in broadcasting.] "Cab driver" becomes Internet expert in BBC mix-up Reuters
Mon May 15, 2006 1:34 PM ET http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-05-15T173351Z_01_L15667803_RTRUKOC_0_US-BRITAIN-EXPERT.xml LONDON (Reuters) - The BBC has apologized after putting a mystery man, possibly a taxi driver, on the air in a live interview, mistaking him for a computer expert who was waiting at the reception desk. The man's mouth opened in horror as the camera cut to him in the British Broadcasting Corporation's News-24 television studio, where he had been seated on a stool by a floor manager, a microphone clipped to his lapel. A business presenter, sitting opposite, introduced the clearly startled man as the editor of a technology Web site, and asked if he was surprised by computer company Apple's victory in a trademark dispute over The Beatles' Apple Corps. "I'm very surprised to see this verdict to come on me because I was not expecting that," he replied, with a strong French accent, in broken English. "When I came they told me something else and I'm coming ... so a big surprise anyway." He gamely answered two more questions about music downloading, before the presenter thanked him and moved on. The BBC said it still did not know who he was but newspapers reported he was thought to be a taxi driver who happened to be at reception when a floor manager came to fetch the guest. The real Web site editor, Guy Kewney, who watched with astonishment at reception, said the mix-up was hard to explain because BBC staff had seen his picture in advance. Kewney is white and the mystery guest was black. "He seemed as baffled as I felt," Kewney wrote on his Web site www.newswireless.net, which has a link to the interview, broadcast live on Friday. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
