Kelvin 'the cunt' MacKenzie

[all_funkt_up]

Smashing - the story makes the Daily Post today....


Linky Linky

Originally Posted by thedailypost

Thousands demand BBC knock MacKenzie off air
Dec 12 2006




By Sam Lister Liverpool Daily Post Staff

LIVERPOOL FC supporters have launched a petition calling for the BBC to drop former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie from its Christmas Day schedules.

More than 4,000 people have already signed the online form, including fans from Australia and Switzerland as well as rival clubs.

It follows revelations by the Daily Post earlier this month that the columnist had told a crowd of businessmen: "I was not sorry then and I'm not sorry now" for the paper's infamous coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.

The BBC has given him a two-hour teatime slot on Radio Five Live where he will present a News Review of the Year.

But outraged fans believe he should never have been offered a show on a station funded by licence payers.



Nick Harman, a marketing officer, started the online petition. He told the Daily Post: "We have already had 4,000 signatures in a matter of days.



"We have had emails from as far as Australia and Switzerland, that's how strong the feeling is.



"We don't believe Kelvin MacKenzie should be given a show on Christmas Day paid for with our licence fees.



"I was at Hillsborough that day and saw the tragedy happen. I wasn't injured and neither was anyone in my family but it has deeply affected me and hearing his comments has really angered me.



"I cannot imagine the families who did lose someone must feel when this man pipes up again with his lies.



"That's why we started this petition."



The petition has been organised by the Redandwhitekop.com website, an independent LFC supporters forum with 20,000 members.



It states: "We want the BBC to remove Kelvin MacKenzie as one of the hosts to their Christmas Day broadcast of the News Review of the Year on Radio Five Live at 5pm.



"Kelvin MacKenzie is, in the views of the undersigned, a man of great dishonesty with his actions after the Hillsborough football disaster and his refusal to back down on the lies he allowed to be printed."



Liverpool FC were playing Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-final at the south Yorkshire stadium in 1989. Lord Justice Taylor's official inquiry found the cause of the disaster was overcrowding and failures by the police.



The Sun apologised in July 2004 saying it was "truly sorry" and that its false allegations were "the most terrible mistake in its history."



But Mr MacKenzie told more than 100 guests at the annual lunch of Newcastle law firm Mincoffs LLP he had only apologised to the people of Liverpool during a television appearance at the time of the tragedy because the newspaper's owner Rupert Murdoch had ordered him to.



He still stands by the story insisting the newspaper had been reporting 'the truth' when it accused Liverpool fans caught in the terrace crush of urinating on the dead and stealing from bodies.



Last night a spokeswoman for the BBC said: "As a former tabloid newspaper editor, Kelvin MacKenzie has a great deal of experience in this area and is well-qualified to give his take on the news stories of the year.



"Kelvin's private comments were entirely his own and in no way endorsed by the BBC."



To sign the petition go to http://www.petitiononline.com/rawk1/petition.html



samlister@dailypost.co.uk

[rcgills]

Originally Posted by all_funkt_up

But I do object to public money (IE: the licence fee) being used to line his pockets.

One thing here though, AFU - surely if the BBC already have a deal with him, even if they go back on it now they're going to have to pay him some kind of compensation (he'll presumably claim he's turned down other offers of work as he thought he was going to have this show on Five Live). So licence fee money is still presumably going to be going to him even if they decide not to give him the show, but this time it'll be for just sitting around on his arse doing nothing whatsoever.

[crowie]

Originally Posted by BBC

"Kelvin's private comments were entirely his own and in no way endorsed by the BBC."

See thats the BBC trying to wriggle their way out of this. The only thing is the comment above is pish. If KM has made these comments in private ie to a few friends (if he has any) then fine, he would just be a evil little man with a warped sense of reality. But he didn't make these comments in private, he made them first of all in the biggest selling daily newspaper in the UK and then "backed them up" at a business lunch in front of 100+ people. Neither of those are private IMO.

[crowie]

5248 now.

[all_funkt_up]

Originally Posted by rcgills

One thing here though, AFU - surely if the BBC already have a deal with him, even if they go back on it now they're going to have to pay him some kind of compensation (he'll presumably claim he's turned down other offers of work as he thought he was going to have this show on Five Live). So licence fee money is still presumably going to be going to him even if they decide not to give him the show, but this time it'll be for just sitting around on his arse doing nothing whatsoever.

Agreed. Although as a lesser of two evils, I would rather they pay him to f*ck off than pay him to appear on the air.

[all_funkt_up]

Originally Posted by crowie

See thats the BBC trying to wriggle their way out of this. The only thing is the comment above is pish. If KM has made these comments in private ie to a few friends (if he has any) then fine, he would just be a evil little man with a warped sense of reality. But he didn't make these comments in private, he made them first of all in the biggest selling daily newspaper in the UK and then "backed them up" at a business lunch in front of 100+ people. Neither of those are private IMO.

I agree crowie. Mincoffs (the firm that hired him) said they had no responsibilty for the comments he made and refused to apologise. I would say as their guest they have every responsibility for his actions. Anyway thats by the by.

If you had an openly racist person coming out with comments like "its great that the blacks die younger than the whites" - would they get employed by the BBC?

I'll leave that one with you to mull over....

[all_funkt_up]

Originally Posted by crowie

5248 now.

5531 now mate - 300 sigs in an hour.... its even better than one of Andee's mobile phone ring tone threads.....

[rcgills]

Are there any plans for any kind of a phone-in on this show they've given him? I'd guess not, but if there are you may be better off letting him get on air so that a few people can have a shot at him.

[crowie]

Pretty sure its just a news review of the year RC so doesn't sound like there is going to be a phone in option.

I would also imagine that there are some sort of time delays on these things, calls are screened and if it goes pear shaped then you will probably have a 5 second gap between the call and it being broadcast on air. Especially considering who is involved.

[crowie]

Weegie Dave's already linked the thread here into TAMB (Tartan Army Message Board) but I have bumped it back to the top, hopefully add a few more names.

[all_funkt_up]

RC - i think it will be a pre recorded show so I doubt it. But yeah plans are afoot to call in if it is possible.

He is due to appear on More4 this week (David Starkey's show) and we have been emailing our opinion on the matter to them also. Before his outburst last week, I had no objection to him working for any private company. The matter was settled. But this little prick has riled me recently and it is now my business to wage a guerilla campaign against him. all_viet-konged_up

[rcgills]

Originally Posted by crowie

I would also imagine that there are some sort of time delays on these things, calls are screened and if it goes pear shaped then you will probably have a 5 second gap between the call and it being broadcast on air. Especially considering who is involved.

I don't necessarily mean phoning up and just calling him a f***** c***, etc., there are still ways to make your point forcibly and put him on the spot without them having to cut you off.

Still, as you and AFU have said, doesn't look like there's going to be a phone-in anyway so it's irrelevant.

[all_funkt_up]

RC - we are planning (if its possible) on ringing in about say Trident missiles and then actually talking about his scurrilous comments about Hillsborough.

They will find it hard to filter out even a small number such as 100 people.

The petition is picking up 300 sigs an hour at the moment.

Full steam ahead. Choo choo

[crowie]

6860 when I just looked, 1,500+ names added since lunchtime today

[all_funkt_up]

Absolutely incensed by the response from the BBC. No matter who we write to, the same re-hashed excuses come out. This reply is from Liverpool supporting Bob Shennan, 5-Live's Controller.

Thank you for your recent email regarding the Radio Five Live Review of
the Year which is due to be broadcast on Christmas Day.

We raised your concerns with Bob Shennan, the Controller of Five Live,
who has responded as follows to your concerns:

"We’re sorry to hear of your objection to Kelvin MacKenzie’s role as a
presenter for this programme. While we fully recognise the strength of
feeling that some people have against Kelvin, he has a great deal of
experience in broadcasting and a keen eye for stories, which makes him
well qualified to give his views on the news stories of the year.

Kelvin MacKenzie will always arouse strong feelings from our audience -
that’s in his nature as a broadcaster and as a person – and clearly not
everyone wants to hear what he has to say, but equally there are many
others who appreciate hearing his opinions even when they don’t agree
with them.

Many people have highlighted to us Kelvin’s recent statement in which
he said he wasn’t sorry about the Sun newspaper’s handling of the
tragedy at Hillsborough, but such private comments are entirely his own and
they are in no way endorsed by the BBC. We believe he is an appropriate
choice as presenter for this particular programme, but your comments
have been registered and will be taken into consideration."

Bob Shennan
Controller of Five Live

Unbelievable arrogance. I mean this is someone who has offended many and is disliked accross the board. He is a racist and a liar and his views are at odds with the principles of the BBC. And yet they deem it appropriate for him to work for them.

Totally unacceptable.