Thursday 7 February 2008

Radio gaga

We've not had much mention of Dubai's world leading radio sector recently, so here's a comment submitted by DMO reader:
Was it just me, or were the comments made by Steve Johnson on Radio 2 Breakfast Show at about 6.30 this morning (Feb 7) just a tad racist? In passing comment on the story that Posh'n'Becks may want to adopt an African orphan, he said that Becks was used to being followed around by a 'little black man' - just think of Sean Wright-Philips. I am at a loss to understand why on earth a so-called 'professional' radio presenter would put his job in such jeopardy!

It's also worth mentioning the often abysmal pronunciation that floats over the airwaves. The "Skilly" Isles, "Nor-witch", anyone heard any great examples recently?

74 comments:

Anonymous said...

The tennis championships used to be my favourite guess-the-player-by-our-crap-pronunciation.

Anonymous said...

My stay in Dubai was thankfully very brief but the small amount of radio I listened to reminded me of Alan Partridge's graveyard shift on Radio Norwich. It was utter shite.

Anonymous said...

Apparently the capital of the UAE is now called Abber Dabby ...

Anonymous said...

Some moron reading the news on Dubai 92 once referred to that well-known beer company Stella Artoys...

Anonymous said...

Oh, for radio it's hard to beat Dubai Eye. It's just so random: excellent business show in the morning with Brandi Scot et al, followed by the unspeakably bad Geoff Price, who, on the days when the slightly more competent Suzanne fails to turn up, gets genuinely distressing to listen to as he struggles on. Then you're back on form with Siobhion, who sounds like she has both a clue and a broadcasting background, before the mid-afternoon geriatric hell of Lloyd and Lumbar. The kind of rambling old scroats who, if they took up residence in your local pub, would drive you teetotal. Sport talk struggles on, but it so the wrong show in the wrong slot, and what;s with those interminable jingles and music numbers and suchlike? I assume it's cos a DJ has forgotten to turn up. And, who the hell is Sticky Fingers anyway? And why does he turn up on everything?

Anonymous said...

Just listened to a podcast from Scott Mills on Radio 1, where he told a story of a DJ colleague of his from radio in Southampton that drove his car through the reception windows of the radio station. Apparently, he flipped over playing one too many crap songs - and is now on radio in the Middle East.

Please let him be a radio DJ in Dubai - there are a few stations here that deserve similar treatment! (Any idea who the DJ is?)

Anonymous said...

A quick google turns up this:


Southampton DJ shows he's no Saint
A radio dj crashed his car into the front of a football club in a drunken attempt to be allowed to present his show after being thrown out by security staff, a court heard.
Robert Flood had turned up worse the wear for drink at The Saint FM radio station at Southampton following the club's Christmas party.
Flood managed to get into the studio where he turned the airwaves blue as the security staff ejected him from the building at St Mary's Stadium.
But the 29-year-old, who was more than twice the drink-drive limit, used a bollard to break into his Audi A3 car and drove it into the studio building causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.
Flood pleaded guilty to criminal damage and drink-driving for which he was ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work and was banned from driving for three years and told to pay the club £1,000 compensation and £70 costs.
Flood, who began his career as a DJ after being talent-spotted while working as a supermarket announcer, had been dismissed from his job at The Saint FM.



Not a name I'm familiar with

Anonymous said...

Dubai Eye sports bulletin announcer, referring to the Australia-New Zealand cricket series, pronounced the "Chappell-Hadlee" series the "Shappelle-Hadlee" series. Excruciating.

Anonymous said...

In which league is Burminhem City? The sports show presenters talk about this team regularly

Anonymous said...

i only listen to james!

Anonymous said...

Was struggling with the word micro-biyol on eye today. I think she meant microbial.

Also, the Scottish island where the best malt whisky on the planet is made is pronounced "Eyela", not "Iss-Lay). The clue is in "island" and "isle".

Disgusted of Milngavie.

Anonymous said...

Geoff "we have a lot to talk about today" Price and his witless sidesick Suzanne really take the cake. He constantly stuggles to find new ways of expressing the obvious while she just agrees with everything he says anyway offering no added value.

There doesn't seem to be any research or preperation done for any Dubai Eye show, and the most obvious and toe-curling result of this stategy is Lloyd and Slumber in the afternoon. When did reading out full articles from the internet, old newspapers, and talking about Jim Davidson's career make good broadcasting?

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, the ceaselessly appalling Catboy and Geordie Bird wanted AED1500 per hour to host a charity event this week. So that's the kind of quality person that ends up in the also appalling Ahlan! Lukewarm 100. Nice.

Diaa Hadid said...

Knowing how hard Siobhan works to pull together her program, it's nice to hear others see (hear?) the results of her efforts.

Anonymous said...

My favourite Dubai radio story is how a few days after I noticed this brilliant new podcast on the internet that had just been launched and in something like a month Dubai Eye's had ripped the entire programme off and was doing a bollocks version as its own. You're a class act Siobhion - pirate of the airwaves.

Anonymous said...

And what the fuck was with that annoying British woman from some pimp-your-kid-off-to-a-boarding-school company on what seemed like every show on Dubai Eye last week? Was she paying to get so much airtime to spruik the joys of sending your little darling off to be used as a toast rack by the sixth formers? My heart bled as she said that she cried more than her son when he went to boarding school.

Anonymous said...

Forgot to mention too, that show that Siobhion ripped off, was a totally local production. I suppose then it made it easier for her to track down its interviewees to try and get them to repeat their statements. Less work that way.

Anonymous said...

try doing their jobs... how hard do you think it is to get contents and to speak for 2-3hrs straight... and doing it on a daily basis...

Anonymous said...

Er, not hard at all if you are an experienced professional - oh, wait, now I get it....

Anonymous said...

Just cuz a job is hard doesn't mean you should throw standards and professional ethics out the window. I'm sure in the land where Siobhion claims she recieved her training, ripping off someone's intellectual property would be considered plagiarism worthy of sacking. If the heat's too much, stay out of the kitchen. Don't steal someone else's bread and butter. (anyone else want to add a cliche in there while we're at it?)

Anonymous said...

You're right - taking a formula that works and replicating it on another network and repeating content is unacceptable and unheard of in the media industry.

Anonymous said...

Hold on, this debate is getting interesting.

So when a crime is common it's no longer criminal? I take it then that the next time someone bangs your car when its parked at the Spinneys and leaves you with to pay for the damage, you'll just have a Zen moment? A regular Mother Theresa aren't you?

Anonymous said...

Not everything that annoys you is a crime. You can't copyright an idea, for example. The fact is there is no law against imitating something per se. That's why Western television is awash with talent shows in the likeness of Pop Idol. If someone hits your car it is a physical property issue - you can clearly show that damage has ocurred. If you can show the same thing has happened to your intellectual property you have a case. And that case can be brought before a court. Yes, even in the UAE.

I didn't know Mother Theresa was Zen, thought she was Catholic.

secretdubai said...

You can't copyright an idea, for example.

Oh good god - no wonder the regional media is in such a dire state.

The minute you note down that idea in some format, and flesh it out, it's copyrightable. As for an entire bloody radio show - how is that just an "idea"?

Try this to get you started.

And also note that being able to enforce copyright is totally different ballgame from being able to copyright. Just because someone gets away with stealing your stuff doesn't mean it wasn't stolen and that your copyright wasn't breached.

Anonymous said...

Inspired by, and ripping off, are two different things. The Dubai Eye's Green Team and Podme.org's Agent Green, are more than just strangely similar. Beyond the name and format, the first couple shows actually even lifted topics and interviewees. Call it copyright infringement, piracy, or plagiarism - any way you cut it, it's not how a supposedly professional media person should behave. And definitely not how they'd behave back home. But then, that's an old problem in the UAE, isn't it.

Anonymous said...

Secret Dubai is incorrect. Once something is written down and "fleshed out" it is no longer legally defined as just an idea. But I don't think the post was suggesting that the podcast in question was just an idea, only that pinching an idea is annoying but not a crime.

The burden of proof for copyright theft is heavy, that's correct, but so it should be. This prevents things like musicians claiming chord combinations as their own. Intellectual property cases are notoriously difficult to win all over the world, not just here. The point is, if this podcast was ripped off, test the law out and call Dubai Eye to task over it. What was their response to the cease and desist they must have received from the originator?

Anonymous said...

Terrible pronunciation continued:

Today on Dubai Eye's news bulletin:

‘Hezbowler’ anyone?

Anonymous said...

"I was inspired by the original" is a common defence of those chraged with intellectual property theft, in the same way "I was being ironic" is used as a defence for almost everything else.

Anonymous said...

Eee-writ-tree-arhh had me a bit confused yesterday until I relaised the Dubai Eye newsreader meant Eritrea.

Anonymous said...

Apparently one of the famous Glasgow football teams now rhymes with "hangers"

Anonymous said...

Lloyd and Lumbar, or whatever they're called, refferring to the Black Eyed Pea's female member as Ferjie. Must have been an in joke, surely?

Anonymous said...

Dubai Eye, Slumber's apparent dyslexia kicking in whenever he reads anything, the berk on sport talk who intonates his sentances like...he's all...over the....place. Grrrrr!

Personal favourite has to be Pratboy peppering his interview with a blind runner before 2007's marathon with the classic "as you can see.."

Anonymous said...

dubai eye is still the best of the bunch tho

Anonymous said...

Taste of Dubai apparently had Pecking Duck on the menu according to Dubai Eye

Anonymous said...

According to an ad voiceover on Dubai Eye, there's a hospital here that specialises in "pull-loomin-airy medicine". I'm no doctor but I presume she means "pulmonary".

Anonymous said...

Somebody called Drik Coat scored for Liverpool last night and the Celtic manager is Gordon Stratchan according to one sports bulletin today. Oh and the same bulletin gave us the priceless nugget that "England finished their 50 overs with five wickets intact" against New Zealand. But didn't tell us what they scored, or who scored it. Very useful

Anonymous said...

is anyone listening to any station other than dubai eye?

Anonymous said...

I love the business breakfast; which is usually very well done, though past week or so has been a bit crap. The downside is that it's followed by Geoff and Suzanne, which is the radio equivalent of a SZR pile up, you just can't stop listening to see if it gets worse. It usually does. Today's interview with some posh expat bird about absolutely othing apart from being a professional expat was a new nadir, especially when Geoff went fishing for compliments at the end. Ghastly.

Also, in sports news, "The Celtics" didn't do very well against Barcelona, it seems.

Anonymous said...

Business Breakfast - it's terrible! That faux posh condecending tone they both have is nails-on-the-chalkboard stuff. And in case you didn't get it yet guys, people don't give out the cost of deals, value of contracts, financial details of mergers anywhere in the world unless they are obliged to by securities and exchange commissions or other regulating bodies. Ask once - fine, whatever, but stop badgering people about financial details of every deal being discussed.

Anonymous said...

i personally think thats one of the best parts of the show ! atleast dubai eye is the closest thing to a decent media here.. where do you find any media asking the sorts of questions the business show does - gulf news? emirates business? khaleej times? 7 days doesnt even have a business section, and its wrists have been slapped so often it couldnt ask if it wanted to..

although after 9am i switch and love the bbc world service :)

Anonymous said...

Fine - call a cabinet minister and ask about the issue if it's important. I think it's probably just the headmaster/mistress tone that grates. I like the clips they play from Bloomberg.

Anonymous said...

Has somebody combined gymnastics with golf and invented a new sport? Only Stewart Cink rolled into a 15-foot putt against Colin Montgomerie, we were informed this morning.

Anonymous said...

"In case you didn't get it yet guys, people don't give out the cost of deals, value of contracts, financial details of mergers anywhere in the world."

Yeah, because the Financial Times is full of stories about deals which are worth "a lot". And annual reports never reveal transaction details, they just have pictures. Usually of rabbits.

This region is crippled by a lack of financial transparancy - many companies don't file reports, or when they do announce figures, exaggerate and fudge.

I'd rather have people pushed live on air to talk about issues, then live in a bubble where business reporting is all about vision, mission and publishing press releases.

Anonymous said...

But it's OK to misrepresent a comment by editing the text?

You left out the second half of the sentence: "... unless they are obliged to by securities and exchange commissions or other regulating bodies."

There's a big difference. The point is, the story is to push for transparency by questioning the regulators and government officials, not badgering the deal makers. Businesses rarely disclose financials, anywhere in the world, unless it's mandated by law.

Anonymous said...

Let me guess, you're in PR?

Real business journalists everywhere ask the question and push on it. If a company is listed, shareholders have a right to know the details, and if it's connected in anyway to government money, then the public have the right to know.

The idea that media should accept a polite "no comment," or form some sort of lobbying group on the issue is nuts. You ask, you keep asking.

Businesses don't have to reveal details (unless, as you say, prompted to by law) but the media gets to judge you by silence or evasiveness, or by working out the figures from analyst reports - then speculating on what you were trying to hide.

This helps to keep business honest.

Anonymous said...

Today, the news reader pronounced the Iraqi city of 'Karbala' as 'Kabbalah'. Atrocious.

Anonymous said...

No, not in PR, but thanks for the insight into your own technique.

Either way, you used half a sentence to illustrate your point, so the lecture on journalism seems a little disingenuous.

Regulatory frameworks keep business honest - more than journalists do at least.

Anonymous said...

Your ministerial focus on regulatory standards - coupled with the glib comments on literary style - continue to miss the point.

(And you're the one calling people "guys" like a DJ from the 1980s, if we're critiquing. Are you David Cameron?)

People go on the radio or speak to media to self-promote. Once you're in that forum, you can't hide behind the excuse that you're not legally obliged to talk numbers - you're volunteering for the experience, so should expect to be asked the questions people actually care about.

Much like you posting here - you can make the high-handed comments and claim to be a financial oracle, but people can still post below you and point out you're talking crap.

Anonymous said...

Please do not hold up the BB as an "excellent" example of professional broadcasting.

Take this morning's nonsense. Despite eloquent explanation from the guest, the presenter repeatedly failed to understand what "peak oil" meant, a ubiquitous term that would be understood to anyone whose quest for economic facts and news ran beyond the tabloid offerings.

This was preceded by an FX salesman from Emirates Bank giving his views on the US election and prior to that, a UAE guest, a publisher in his twenties, commenting on everything from the UAE Cabinet to Basmati rice prices.

I defy anyone to explain how this constitutes worthy broadcasting.

Anonymous said...

...atleast you're listening, i think that says it all.

Anonymous said...

does anyone listen to radio 2 (99.3) and/or Coast (whatever the frequency is) ?

What do you think?

Anonymous said...

To Anon 17:25

It's not a question of literary style, the accusation is that you misquoted someone to make your own point. That's journalistic ineptitude.

Anonymous said...

On the afternoon sports show the other day the discussion turned to Paul Gascoine - who is remembered as a good ol' boy, with a few problems who coudn't get it together once he stopped playing, but a great guy and lots of fun.

Actually a chronic substance abuser, who wasted his talent and with a history of domestic violence. A pariah in any other field but being a footballer and crying for England gets him a free pass.

Anonymous said...

To Anon 06:11,

Bright, early and still wrong. I quoted you accurately but not entirely. The second half of your point - as I've explained twice - is irrelevant.

You don't ask questions because the interviewee is legally obliged to answer them. You ask because the response is of interest, whether it's a straight answer or weasel squirming to avoid the issue.

Frankly, your postings are so astronomically facile I don't want to repeat them in full. I'm worried the stars might implode. Oh, and you don’t know the correct use of the word “disingenuous”.

Anonymous said...

Actually anon at 22.12, I was listening to one of the globe's foremost oil commentators on the Zawya.com link. Scrolling down the list highlighted what the other guests were talking about. Don't pass my perfectly valid comments off with a glib "at least you were listening" retort.

Nothing would possess me to listen to BB on a regular basis -it's trite, unresearched and self important. I also speak from the perspective of someone who has been a guest many times on the show over recent years - in the days when a respectable journalist anchored it. Its current format is pretentious.

Anonymous said...

"I quoted you accurately but not entirely. The second half of your point - as I've explained twice - is irrelevant."

You're an idiot! The second half of the sentence began with the word "unless" which is a reasonably definitive pointer towards a qualification of what went before.

The point was about repeated badgering of an interviewee, not to suggest the question not be asked at all.

Disingenuous - insincere, not straightforward (insert picture of you). Correct usage in that you resort to a lecture on journalism to cover your own misquoting.

Astronomically facile; stars implode. You're killing me.

I didn't post at 6:11 anyway.

Anonymous said...

Killing you would be a start.

"The point was about repeated badgering of an interviewee..."

Really? Wasn't the point about the role of regulatory standards? The need to lobby the minister? The need to leave the deal-makers alone? Being "misquoted" (on a blog, you pompous turd)?

Any other of the blind avenues you've ambled down in the space of ten comments?

I've put the same idea to you in three different ways. You've responded with three different angles, all the time squirming and dissembling. Remind you of something?

On sincerity - I sincerely believe that "guys" like you - with the smug sixth-form superiority, the need to denigrate other media, the daily plastering of this and other boards with ideas you don't understand - are a problem. Sincere enough?

Anonymous said...

I see what you're getting at, 18:18, but I think you need anger management.

There's definitely a difference between what companies want to say (fluff), what they have to say legally (fluff, results, plus admissions of total disaster) and what gets out into the media. Good journalism is what creates the difference.

Anonymous said...

I agree, 18:18 is a bit steamed up over not much. I don't think misquoting is necessarily OK because it's a blog - particularly one dealing with issues of journalism, media etc.

And from what I can tell, the point was about badgering, or flogging a dead horse or whatever. Which is exactly where this thread has gone.

The original post was pretty benign. "Killing you would be a start", "Pretentious turd". Who exactly is the sixth former?

Anonymous said...

A blind avenue? Practically a contradiction in terms. Alley is the word you're reaching for (a narrow, often dark, passage between buildings).

Dissembling is good though - congratulations!

Anonymous said...

AAAaaarghhhhh ! At 08.22 this morning Steve "I'm a pro, really" played The Clash "Rock the Casbah". A simple search for the lyrics would show how racist and anti-arab this song is... please sack the idiot as there is no excuse for this! And while you're at it, get that stupid girl off radio 2 news - her pronunciation and word stress sucks and she murders the language on a daily basis! Phew I'm glad that's off my chest...

Anonymous said...

Well said!I cant bring myself to listen to it,this dumbass makes Alan Partridge look loke a true pro,and the female who attempts the news?the woman has the most annoying voice, I want to rip my car stereo out and jump on it.
CDs for me.

Anonymous said...

Has she now moved to Dubai Eye? This morning she (or another equalling anoying female) referred to the pop singer Merr-dough-nar. It was only abouth 30 second later I realised she was talking about Madonna. Who in the world can't pronounce Madonna's name?

Anonymous said...

To 16:18

I agree that most in the Western world know who Madonna is, I am quite sure the newsreader knows who Madonna is - is there any real need to mock someone's accent? No need to get nasty now is there love, eh?

Anonymous said...

No one's mocking an accent - but I would have thought an ability to read the news clearly and understandably was a prerequisite for a news reader.

Anonymous said...

One can only presume she must be very pleasing to the eye and perhaps more suitable for television.

Anonymous said...

My favourite is Lloyd and Slumber's film reviews, where they insist on playing movie trailers. They're so great without without the pictures.

And yesterday Jeff "we've got so much to get through this morning" Price had someone doing bubble art on radio. That works too.

Anonymous said...

Emmanuel Abaya plays for Arsenal apparently

Anonymous said...

Switched on to "steve Im a pro really"by accident this morning,what age group is this guy trying to appeal to? phone in competitions with questions a two year old could answer,jokes that are not even slightly funny,Its worse than listening to nails being dragged down a blackboard.
Can someone please tell the man that the DLT and Tony Blackburn style of radio presenting is not "cool" a word Steve uses ALOT.

Anonymous said...

Rumour mill has it that head of programming of one station has alot more than "making coffee" in mind when employing new female staff!

Anonymous said...

Rumour mill has it that head of programming on one Dubai station is looking for alot more than the job description when hiring female staff!

Anonymous said...

Has to be "the pro" he had the same reputation when PD of another radio station quite some time ago.

Anonymous said...

So no one has anyrhung usefull to say about any radio stations other than moan.

How sad eh?

Anonymous said...

Thats because its crap?
But..
Casting couch radio with Steve" I am a pro really" johnston, am convinced that news will coax the talent in from far and wide.