How the gregg wallaces get away with it  | thearticle

In the 1990s I was working for a major tech company on their annual event. I ran the cameras and video side of the production. The event was handled by a part of the biggest advertising

agency in the UK and, like most big agencies, their markup was very generous. One of the production team saw an opportunity and approached the client with an offer to produce the event for a

lower fee. He was setting up in business on his own and this regular event would be the cornerstone of his hastily composed business plan. The tech company were interested but cautious. 

“We will keep the same crew. Not one person will be different,” said the would-be company owner. That clinched it and the big agency duly lost a bit of business — which was probably trivial

for them. We all got a decent regular job in a slack period of the year. The new agency was created and thrived. The tech company saved some money. Everyone was happy. Over the following

years I got increasingly bored with the repetitive job, so my tactic became to increase my charge each year. Money can do a lot to overcome boredom. After five years the new agency told me

my fee was too high and went with someone cheaper. It’s a story of the business cycle of life. A similar dynamic works with television production companies. The broadcaster wants a

repeatable format delivered with assurances. The production company wants to get the contract renewed, and they make this more likely by promising to deliver the same talent, both on-screen

and behind the camera. When this works, the broadcaster does not need to worry about the detail of how the end programme is delivered and the production company can make better financial

forecasts. When a story breaks about a particular bit of behaviour it is always about the on-screen talent. No one cares about the camera operator, unless they are actually shot dead by

mistake, and then it was Alex Baldwin’s role as producer which led the story. We all remember Jeremy Clarkson punching an assistant producer, but the producer’s name was barely mentioned.

The fallout occurred, Clarkson moved to a different broadcaster and the world keeps on spinning. Without this incident, we might have been deprived of the nation’s favourite farmer.  So it

is with the recent furore around Gregg Wallace’s on set behaviour. The BBC claims to have been ignorant – of course they are. If your local supermarket contains a bully in the management,

you would hardly be aware, and it’s unlikely to alter your purchasing decisions. The BBC contracts with a production company to produce a product; how they make it is up to them.  The

production company is said to be “launching an investigation”. My guess would be that they don’t need an investigation – they already know all about it. The production company’s mission is

to deliver the programme, despite anything which might compromise the performances. If a certain presenter behaves in a certain way – and that’s what is needed to keep him happy in front of

the camera — then that behaviour will be accommodated.  Every woman I know has suffered this kind of tedious behaviour at more or less every workplace. The difference is that either the

actions get called out and curtailed, or the offender gets moved on. Not so in these places where the production company is scared to alter anything and the offender does not get reported. 

The tragedy in all this sits with the keen young chefs, early in their careers, who can make or break their futures by appearing on the programme. Where is their interest in all this?

Utterly ignored. The production company cares about delivering to the broadcaster, the broadcaster cares about keeping ratings.  This is how things are. Should it be different? Yes. But from

Jimmy Saville to Donald Trump, we suck up bad behaviour if it makes good television. We — the viewers — are to blame. A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the only publication that’s committed

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