Mawkish drivel of Diana tributes, by BBC editor
THE BBC’s long-serving obituary editor was reprimanded by his bosses last night after claiming that he was ‘bored’ with the ‘mawkish’ coverage of the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death.
Nick Serpell, who has held his position for 11 years and was working for the BBC when the princess died in 1997, made a string of comments on social media attacking the ‘drivel’ being aired. He first responded to a post on Twitter on Wednesday by his colleague Simon McCoy, who said he was broadcasting live from Kensington Palace all day today to mark the anniversary.
‘Seems like yesterday. Your thoughts?’ McCoy asked. ‘Bored,’ Serpell replied. He retweeted a post by Times columnist Iain Martin saying: ‘Incredible drivel on BBC Newsnight about Diana. It is simply not the case everyone capitulated to the madness that week. Millions of us didn’t.’
On Facebook yesterday morning, Serpell, 66, said: ‘Hopefully today will be the last on which we have to suffer mawkish media Diana drivel.’
Asked by MailOnline about the views he aired, he said: ‘People have all sorts of opinions. It was a private post, though I do appreciate that social media can sometimes be a very public place.’
The BBC – which has provided extensive coverage, including a 90-minute documentary, confirmed Serpell had been spoken to. It said: ‘The BBC has clear guidelines cover-
‘He should keep his thoughts to himself’
ing the use of personal social media – the journalist has been reminded of them and of their own responsibilities. The BBC has rightly marked the anniversary of the death of Princess Diana.’
Serpell’s comments were also criticised on social media. One post said: ‘ Someone so high up in the BBC, which we, the licence payers of the country pay for, should keep his own thoughts to himself. They, the BBC, are supposed to be impartial.’
Another read: ‘ Your opinions are not needed. Many, many people loved Diana for various reasons and are simply showing their respect for her memory.
‘They are grateful that she has been remembered. People do not want her to be forgotten or to be airbrushed from history. If you don’t like the TV coverage then switch off and don’t watch!’
Other comments included ‘What is your salary at the BBC?’ and ‘ Biting the (taxpayerhand that feeds you comes to mind. Another ghastly BBC journalist who appears to have little interest in representing the views of perhaps millions of people.’
Salford-based Serpell started as a broadcast journalist for the BBC in 1995 and in 2006 became the obituaries editor, which he says is ‘one of the best jobs in the BBC’.
He has previously spoken about how the BBC was ‘caught out’ by Diana’s death.
The BBC has about 1,500 obituaries in its file, which Serpell adds to each week. His Twitter account has 542 followers. His retweeting of criticism of Newsnight’s Diana coverage could still be viewed last night.