[Red Moon]

BB's public service
By Ken Oxley, The Sunday Sun

Perhaps I'm just as thick as Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O'Meara . . . the three former Big Brother housemates who gang- ed up on Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.

Because I fail to see why their ignorant and offensive comments should not have been aired.

Surely the whole point of reality TV is that it is `real' and that we get to see how people are, warts and all.

So I can't help feeling Channel 4 bosses have been a little hard done to after Ofcom's stinging criticism of the last Celebrity Big Brother.

The watchdog has ruled that the channel made "serious editorial misjudgements" which contravened its broadcasting code.

As a result, it will be forced to air a summary of Ofcom's findings during the next series of Big Brother.

I've no doubt Channel 4 did contravene the code, but if that's the case then perhaps the code should be reviewed.

The treatment meted out to Shilpa was vile . . . and painful to watch. And let's not get bogged down in a debate about whether it was racism or bullying. It was both. Yet it is only because of those "serious editorial misjudgements" that I now know Jade and co are not Goody Two Shoes. Goody and her Two Shrews, more like it.

And I'm not the only one who regarded their behaviour as both vulgar and bigoted.

Apparently, so did the Carphone Warehouse, which pulled its £3m sponsorship of the programme.

Ditto The Perfume Shop, which removed Jade's fragrance from its shelves.

And millions of people who might have been tempted spend their hard-earned cash on it chose not to after Jade's name became mud.

The fact that the ill-informed views espoused by the tiresome trio were broadcast did not in any way validate them, as some have argued.

Instead, it earned all three women the ridicule they so richly deserve and generated a backlash against them that has been a joy to behold.

It also stimulated a debate which, I believe, has been valuable in helping people to understand precisely what constitutes racism.

Ofcom's ruling means Channel 4 must swallow a bitter pill and apologise for its mistake.

But I for one believe that while the controversial footage was clearly only used to jack up ratings, it also served a useful purpose.

And surely it would have been a much bigger mistake to have edited out all of those offensive remarks and to allow Jade's gang to emerge from the programme with their reputations intact.

Source:Sunday Sun