Clare Balding concedes BBC Jubilee coverage ‘misfired’
BBC presenter Clare Balding has broken ranks from her colleagues and sided with 2,400 complainants by admitting that the corporations’ coverage of the Jubilee river pageant had “misfired”.
Balding, who presented from the Royal rowbarge Gloriana for the event, drew applause from an audience at a Telegraph debate, said: “My belief is always that facts are my friend. And I will make sure, because I’ve done so much sports broadcasting, that I know stuff you the audience wouldn’t necessarily know and I can tell you something.
“And if you ever hear me say, ‘The atmosphere here is wonderful’ - shoot me. Because I don’t think you need me to tell you that.”
Balding continued: “The pageant was going to be done as a much more festive atmosphere because I think they were worried that a camera looking at boats for however many hours might be dull.”
“I think it was done with the best intentions... I don’t think anyone intended to get it wrong. But the public reaction was that it was wrong.
“They were trying to be very adventurous on river pageant day and it misfired for lots of reasons - communications reasons with things not working, weather reasons, all sorts.
“I don’t think it was done out of bad intent. Obviously nobody was intending to make a programme that everyone will hate.”