Comments on: BBC News experiment overloads brain cells of editors

By: Mark Anderson

Mark Anderson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:22:51 +0000

I too have sent a complaint in to the Badly Broadcast Corp – belatedly, but it has gone none the less.

Apart from personal slander to you Clarke, I see this as misinformation and not something I deserve to be fed in exchange for my exorbitant license fee.

sue ‘em, sue ‘em, sue ‘em!

By: Bert

Bert — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:10:50 +0000

I complained to the BBC too, I think it’s a terrible state of affairs when something so technical is handled by someone who doesn’t even understand what they’re doing.

They obviously spent about 10 minutes doing their research and told their boss they did a thorough detailed job spending many hours for which they should get paid for..

By: Danny James

Danny James — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:19:32 +0000

Clarke, I hate spam with a passion, nearly as much as i hate the bbc, I run ethical trading websites and and am happy to stand firm with fellow webmasters against this sort of crap. Complaint filed, you have our support!

By: Joe Connor

Joe Connor — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:56:22 +0000

Hi Clarke, I’ve also submitted a complaint to the BBC and I sincerely hope you get the apology you deserve.

By: Lammo

Lammo — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:34:39 +0000

I blogged my thoughts about this earlier - here for reference. I'm glad to hear that the video has now been removed from the BBC page, but obviously the damage has been done, and I have you receive a public retraction from Aunty.

By: DannyW

DannyW — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:17:44 +0000

Clarke this is just ridiculous reporting yet again: news/reporting = humour (sometimes), and the worst thing is that most people believe what they’re told by the beeb and other large organisations to be gospel truth.

Why would they want to give an industry a bad name, an industry which is populated by many people who are hard working, honest and who put in measures to ensure that best ethics are adhered to: and an industry they obviously use themselves???

An apology? I would say this requires a bit more than a simple “I’m sorry”.

Just my thoughts.

DannyW

By: David Hall

David Hall — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:54:42 +0000

17:50 on 4th July
It seems that the efforts from the affiliate community to right this wrong have been noted. The video has been made “unavailable”!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7483523.stm

By: Mark Russell

Mark Russell — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:04:11 +0000

Hi Clarke

I have just submitted a complaint to the BBC encouraging them to make contact with people who understand this industry.

I will let you know if i hear anything for reference here is my complaint:-

I have just seen this video message highlighting people who are very trustworthy people in the industry of affiliate marketing and being classed as spammers is a disgrace.
I can not believe that you are willing to let someone who obviously knows nothing about internet spam make a video that could be that damaging to this persons company.
I would seriously reconsider leaving this video on your site without asking other people their opinions on these companies, i have always thought the BBC tried to be factual instead of listening to people who have no understanding of what spam actually is.
I would encourage some of management level to consider this and even contact me on 08708031366 to discuss this and get a response to this article from people who understand this industry.
If i hear nothing from you i will just guess that you do not believe in telling your viewers correct information.

Yours
Mark Russell

“Well i guess that means my TV licence will go up next year…lol

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:03:45 +0000

Totally agree. Complaint submittted……best of luck with it Clarke

By: The BBC Make Spam Out Of Fish! | One Little Duck - Affiliate Blog

The BBC Make Spam Out Of Fish! | One Little Duck - Affiliate Blog — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:42:28 +0000

[...] Well according to a video clip from The BBC, reporting on the project by McAfee, one of the UK’s well know names in affiliate marketing is being a naughty boy and spamming people – that’s if you believe you get spam by signing up for a site and then activating an account agreeing to receive a newsletter from them. You can find out more at Affiliate Marketing Blog. [...]

By: Marv

Marv — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:27:04 +0000

I am in complete agreement with you guys on this, the BBC report was completely stupid, not just for victimizing your site but it was completely pointless media propaganda just to make a buzz word out of SPAM.
The media are doing this more and more often and ruining sites and programs in the process by making the average viewer have a negative opinion of things they know nothing about.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:52:53 +0000

I hope you get an apology.

Complaint sent.

By: Dio

Dio — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:18:09 +0000

Pretty shocking, I’ve sent in my compliant as well.

By: Website Promotion, Affiliate Marketing and .Net Development Blog: » Blog Archive » BBC In Poorly Researched Journalism Shocker

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:52:34 +0000

[...] for the sake of getting a poorly researched story out they have potentially ruined the reputation of a site and an individual, not to mention the damage it could do to his income [...]

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:39:51 +0000

Complaint submitted, I hope they apologise. Extract: “I thought the way his site was portrayed as an example of a site that would in any way send unsolicited email, or sell their data to others that would, was slanderous and completely without basis.”

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:53:43 +0000

I hope you get an apology.
Complaint sent.

By: Statement on BBC News Video featuring Free UK Stuff | Free UK Stuff Blog

Statement on BBC News Video featuring Free UK Stuff | Free UK Stuff Blog — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:56:17 +0000

[...] completely false allegations will certainly not stop spam and will only lead to more users being confused to what is spam and what is legitimate communications from site owners to their users [...]

By: Lies, Damn Lies and the BBC | Supercod - Personal Blog

Lies, Damn Lies and the BBC | Supercod - Personal Blog — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:32:57 +0000

[...] BBC News slander my company Free UK Stuff in shockingly poor news article about spam experiment carried our by McAfee. It’s the worst kind of shoddy journalism you can imagine, if you watch the video you will be left thinking I am the worlds worst spammer, I can’t believe they can get away with badly reporting the news like this and I want any of you reading this to complain to the BBC about it. [...]

By: Azam Marketing

Azam Marketing — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:04:39 +0000

This is shockingly bad journalism on the behalf of the BBC. I expected far better from the Beeb.

It seems like I have known Clarke almost forever, and he’s one of the most genuine and honest guys I’ve ever met; I’d trust him with my life. It’s so absurd that the BBC is implying spam may come from his site Free UK Stuff.

By: dean

dean — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:17:19 +0000

It’s ridiculous just how bad reporting can get and I would certainly expect more from the BBC. The lack of actual investigation and evidence gathered on their end is incredible!
For what it’s worth I submitted a complaint, you never know you might get a nice apology on prime time TV

By: David Fiske

David Fiske — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:15:38 +0000

Made a complaint. Hopefully other affiliates will unite and do the same. The relevant URL is http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/make_complaint_step1.shtml

By: Barry Wright

Barry Wright — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:12:52 +0000

Hi ya Clarke, I have written an email of complaint to the BBC to support you and have linked to your evidence here.

Best of luck with it mate.

Baz