Toys in the attic

It was hardly surprising that the media – including the BBC itself – should leap wholeheartedly on to the Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand story so that it came to dominate the news for a week and newspapers that took up the case against them have an adequate defence against the accusation that they exaggerated the importance of two flamboyant egos. It is a clear duty of the press to reveal bad behaviour and stupidity wherever it harmfully occurs – and especially within an organisation that pays vast amounts of public money to performers who should know better than to risk damaging a great and trusted broadcasting institution.