News: bbc response to my complaint about the very poor "story of guitar"

News:
01-11-2008:
BBC:

Dear Mr Monk, Thanks for your e-mail regarding 'Story of the Guitar'.

I'm sorry to read you thought the programme was of poor quality and were annoyed that Alan Yentob used it to meet guitarists. I realise you also feel necessary content and notable guitar players were left out by the programme makers and Alan should be sacked.

The range of tastes and opinions held by our audience is so diverse that it's inevitable some viewers will dislike or disapprove of certain presenters. It's a very rare TV or radio personality who meets with everyone's approval, and it's clear that opinions on individual presenters can vary considerably.

Programme contributors are appointed on the basis of their experience and talent, but judgements are often subjective and we would never expect everyone to agree with every choice we make. We don't engage any producer, presenter, interviewer or reporter unless we believe they're competent and can meet the specific demands required of them.

I appreciate you were disappointed by both the content of the programme as well as the decision to select Alan Yentob as the presenter. Therefore, let me assure you that I've registered your complaint on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's circulated to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and other senior managers. The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content.

Thanks again for taking the time to e-mail us with your views.

Regards

Stefan Curran
BBC Complaints

Enraged Mr Monk:

How does Alan Yentob get away with delivering a program that is so far removed from the world of guitar that I know and love. I've studied the guitar scene for 30 years, so what happened to the 1980's and the explosion of instrumental guitar triggered by the arrival of Yngwie Malmsteen. What happened to Allan Holdsworth, one of the greatest players ever to live. Why wasn't the research done?! Or as I suspect was this a sop to Alan Yentob's ego and away he could get to meet some of his favourite guitar players!....

I write the well respected guitar blog http://truthinshredding.blogspot.com/ that tries to do justice to the unsung hero. I am incandescent with rage... Alan Yentob should be sacked...!