Recently the BBC interviewed Guy Goma, a graduate from the Congo, about the recent Apple vs Apple court case. Except, it was the wrong guy. It was a real mix-up. The real expert, Mr Guy Kewney, editor of Newswireless.net was still waiting in reception when he saw the taxi driver being introduced under his name. Anybody would have been fascinated to see me introduced live on air, as the expert witness in the studio, he wrote on his weblog. Me? Not fascinated; astonished! What would you feel, if, while you were sitting in that rather chilly reception area, you suddenly saw yourself not sitting in reception, but live, on TV? He added that it was especially surprising because the man, who spoke with a French accent, looked nothing like him. I’m not black. I’m not-black on a startling scale; I’m fair-haired, blue-eyed, prominent-nosed, and with the sort of pale skin that makes my dermatologist wince each time I complain about an itchy mole.
This vicious and vindictive attack was continued on his blog. He criticised both the BBC and Guy Goma for being “black”, and “French”. (note, the guy WAS NOT a cab driver as early reports indicated).
He’s missed a golden opportunity. This story has been reported all over the IT world for a few days now, bringing more traffic to his site than anything he could ever write normally would. However he’s chosen to put up a spiteful, bitter, some say racist piece about it when he could have put something stunning or good natured and REALLY propelled himself to being a respected IT name. Mentioning the black/pink thing once in passing, OK … but repeating it 3 or 4 times … sad bigot.
He even goes so far as to call visitors to his discussion forum “idiots“.
“I know who is the bigger idiot in all of this, and it’s not the guy the BBC interviewed!” As someone on that discussion forum says, sit the real Kewney on French TV with no notice and ask him in French about the width of the white lines or something just as technical about their motorways … I bet he would be even more stumped.
One of the biggest complaints of blogging, be it corporate or personal, is that it is inheritantly narcissistic, an exploration of one’s own importance, arrogance or in some cases, self-loathing.
Jodie Marsh’s online blog is held as the highest example of the worst example of online blogging. Her blog is basically an online form of bullying, which is ironic considering her stance on bullying.
But it’s not just her. Millions of bloggers try to get attention by being overtly controversial, be it via podcasting, video or traditional typing. Whilst being controversial can draw visitors and comment, I find it morally dubious.
Using blogging as a church to preach internal, controversional or even blatant racisim for the sake of getting a few comments is pointless and fruitless because you will always try to outdo yourself and probably end up like Richard Littlejohn.
Kewney’s outlandish, childish, punitive blogging should nail the death bed of his “expert” credentials, and I hope that the BBC never hires this buffoon again. Meanwhile, I really hope that Mr Guy Goma gets the job he wanted… and if not, I’m sure they’ll bring him onto the next episode of Have I got news for you.
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