The official 'Ask Aled' thread (Part Eight)

[biggspuds]

Aled, I hope you are having a great two week vacation.
During one show last week (the last week before your holiday break started) Chris said they had news about Rachel but they were going to wait to announce "the news" until they were back from vacation when everyone (including Rachel) would be back.
No one has mentioned it in the forum, so I am going to ask...

Is Rachel pregnant?

Aled, you don't have to say yes or no, just one blink for yes, two blinks for no.

Thanks

holiday! vacation is american

[foot-loose]

He's from California.

[BBQ]

I didn't know what holiday was in Welsh as they never had Aled's father say it on the show.

[biggspuds]

He's from California.

just letting him know loose (an no im not being hostile)

[biggspuds]

I didn't know what holiday was in Welsh as they never had Aled's father say it on the show.

its not welsh!! just english term for vacation. god know what it is in welsh

[bwfcol]

I'd presume she is leaving the show (or even Radio 1)

[BBQ]

I didn't know what holiday was in Welsh as they never had Aled's father say it on the show.

its not welsh!! just english term for vacation. god know what it is in welsh

I was using your giraffe-ically speaking terminology when I said "holiday" instead of the "vacation" we use over here.
When it was pointed out that I was using holiday instead of vacation and I said I didn't know the word for it in Welsh, I was trying to be funny when I said I didn't know the word in Welsh (since Aled is Welsh) and I was asking Aled. Ah forget it now, I've drained any humour that existed.
I will try again later on some other topic.

[newsbeat]

Blimey, offended? If that's the worst thing anyone says to me this week I'm not doing too bad am I?!

I think the official phrase to use here Newsbeat is "we're cool"!

Yep, got that. Got back today from a very wet week in Bude.

[The Stig]

Will Carrie return to The Chris Moyles Show once her maternity period finishes?

[Aled]

Will Carrie return to The Chris Moyles Show once her maternity period finishes?

Shouldn't you be asking Carrie that?

I don't know is my answer - that's down to what Carrie wants to do at the end of her materinty.

[northernsteve]

Sorry for asking some technical anorak questions, but I'm intrigued by the set up that lets Dom control the news bulletins from a small mixer on his side of the desk, because it's an unusual set up which I don't think I've seen in any other station's studios.

Am I right in thinking that Dom and Tina's mics have faders on both the main desk Chris has and the mixer Dom operates, so that if they're faded up on either they're on air? Is Dom's mixer an extension of the main desk or is it a source that Chris has to fade up? Is that only used for news or do people like James King use it to play in clips during their bits?

[newsbeat]

http://www.360systems.com/docs/prod_ir_main2.html

News player

[shamrock student]

Hey Aled, I know you have mentioned a couple of times on air recently that you were shot at twice in Swansea...is it a on-air joke I missed sometime or is it actually true! After seeing some of the heads that got on there on the train to Fishguard during the week it woulden't surprise me

Also after reading this thread viewtopic.php?f=28&t=22028 and this week when ye were talking about the ten best Edinburgh jokes this one was judged to be unbroadcastable "As a kid I was made to walk the plank. We couldn't afford a dog." it got me thinking how restricted are you when broadcasting in the daytime. If for example yourself or Dom decided to say that joke on air, would it just mean a talking to from the boss and paperwork or can it get even worse than that. I know the show coulden't get away today with some of the material used in the afternoon show years but are things really so bad that a little seeimingly totally inoffensive silly jokes are going to cause problems?

I can only imagine it must be an extremely stressful job on your part if every single text or off the cuff remark like that has the potential to cause trouble.

[Johnny 1989]

The censorship seems to have rapidly increased since the whole "phone-in scandal", if you have a listen to the old afternoon shows in the archive thread I'm surprised they didn't get into a lot of trouble from time to time. In one show Chris calls Lizzie a tart, another a slut & in another show Dave calls Lizzie a slapper, could you imagine the outrage now if they had said similar things to Rachel or Carrie during the breakfast show

[biggspuds]

Hey Aled, I know you have mentioned a couple of times on air recently that you were shot at twice in Swansea...is it a on-air joke I missed sometime or is it actually true! After seeing some of the heads that got on there on the train to Fishguard during the week it woulden't surprise me

it was mentioned again on westwoods were am i not long ago.
make`s me laugh that story every time (SORRY ALED) but it is funny

[Aled]

are things really so bad that a little seeimingly totally inoffensive silly jokes are going to cause problems?

No. Inoffensive silly jokes are fine.

But you do have a duty to try and think on behalf of the 9 million listeners. If some people hear a joke and are offended by it then yes, we shouldn't be doing it on breakfast radio. Every house pays the licence fee so everyone has a right to enjoy the BBC's output without being offended by it.

[DevilsDuck]

Aled, can you let the radio one big wigs know that I am a licence fee payer and I am great offended by Fearne Cotton being on radio1

[Gaspode_The_Wonder_Dog]

are things really so bad that a little seeimingly totally inoffensive silly jokes are going to cause problems?

No. Inoffensive silly jokes are fine.

But you do have a duty to try and think on behalf of the 9 million listeners. If some people hear a joke and are offended by it then yes, we shouldn't be doing it on breakfast radio. Every house pays the licence fee so everyone has a right to enjoy the BBC's output without being offended by it.

In that case surely you would need to ban at least 50% of records? I think thats a load of rubbish - I understand there are limits but theres no way you can vet every joke to see if a minority of people will be offended by it.

[shamrock student]

are things really so bad that a little seeimingly totally inoffensive silly jokes are going to cause problems?

No. Inoffensive silly jokes are fine.

But you do have a duty to try and think on behalf of the 9 million listeners. If some people hear a joke and are offended by it then yes, we shouldn't be doing it on breakfast radio. Every house pays the licence fee so everyone has a right to enjoy the BBC's output without being offended by it.

Yes, totally appreciate that, but with that joke I quoted my point was even if I put on a PC cap I coulden't see who could ever claim offense.I know its probably a more broad problem with UK radio in general but the line between offence and humour to the outside observer justs seems to be at a rediculously high level at the moment.

[Yudster]

.......... If some people hear a joke and are offended by it then yes, we shouldn't be doing it on breakfast radio. Every house pays the licence fee so everyone has a right to enjoy the BBC's output without being offended by it.

Aled, really? Are you genuinely saying that a handful of people who may or may not have an agenda and decide to become puffed up and offended about something that the vast majority of people would recognise as harmless banter (even if they don't necessarily get it) should be allowed to dictate the content of your show, or anyone else's? Because catering to that baseline denominator is the absolute epitome of dumbing down, which the BBC have been denying they are doing for years. Are you now telling us that actually that IS BBC policy? To offend absolutely no-one? Because if it is, then the BBC won't be worth listening to or watching at all soon.

[northernsteve]

To be fair, breakfast probably isn't the time to be doing anything too edgy that could be misheard by a half-asleep Daily Mail type and blown out of proportion!

[Aled]

I gave an honest reply. You can try and twist it into other meanings, but we're not really here to offend on a breakfast show are we!

[chrysostom]

to be fair the BBC are under more scrutiny than any other broadcasting corporation (save shanghai news network) - because anyone can lodge a legitimate complaint, given that their money partially does fund the BBC.

couple this with the fact that commercial news networks/media will jump on ANY mistake, or even something that could be construed as a mistake - to make them look bad, with the agenda of making public feeling towards the BBC negative, so that it will one day be disbanded or commercialised.

it's not suprising that they have to walk on eggshells at times.

[Aled]

Are we honestly saying that people here would be fine for people to be offended by what they hear on a Radio 1 breakfast show as long you laughed?

[Gaspode_The_Wonder_Dog]

That wasn't what I was saying at all I can't speak for anyone else. The way you responded it appeared to be that you couldn't do anything which might risk one or two people being offended and thats just impossible. I'm not saying you should start swearing and having sex on air but you can't possibly judge what would offend everyone.