Mr Stephen
Roller Poster
Having seen the dreadful interview of Nick Varney conducted by Kay Burley on Sky News I decided to complain to Sky. Below is my complaint, their reply and my final comment.
1. The complaint
Dear Sir or Madam
I want to complain about the interview conducted by Kay Burley of Merlin CEO Nick Varney which was shown on Sky News.
The accident at Alton Towers was tragic, and people were seriously injured. The incident demands a full investigation, and questions to be asked of the operators of the parks.
However this was a dreadful interview during which Kay Burley was unprofessional and very rude. She was trying to put words into Nick Varney's mouth and was completely misrepresenting what he was saying. She kept interrupting him when he was trying to speak and the whole thing was just awful.
She would not accept that Merlin has operated the parks and rides safely for many years, and insisted that because there had been an accident that the rides were being operated unsafely. She also made the presumption that as another layer of safety protocol was being added that this meant the protocols were insufficient to date. Surely if there has been a freak accident any reasonable person would take whatever action they could to prevent a reoccurrence?
It was most inappropriate for her to demand to know if someone had lost a limb as a result of the accident. This is confidential medical information that can only be revealed with the consent of the injured party.
Nick Varney did extremely well to keep calm during the onslaught from Kay Burley. I think this interview shows his professionalism, and the lack of hers.
Sky News HD has been my news channel of choice for many years but I may have to reconsider in the light of this appalling interview.
Stephen Maycock
2. The reply
Hi Stephen
Thank you for contacting Sky News with your feedback about the interview with Nick Varney, chief executive of Merlin Entertainments.
In general, Sky News believes that people in positions of responsibility and in public life should be held to account for their actions.
Our role is to question and challenge the points of view being put forward.
It is the job of a presenter to challenge, on behalf of the viewer, the stance that any interviewee takes on any issue of public concern.
The specifics of the interview which was broadcast on Friday 5 June are that Sky News invited Mr Varney to appear in a live interview to discuss the crash at Alton Towers and the reasons for the introduction of additional safety procedures at various theme parks. Mr Varney agreed to our request.
The crash at Alton Towers resulted in serious injuries to several people and wider public concern about the safety of rides at theme parks.
At the time of the interview, there were still people in hospital including some with life-changing injuries and Alton Towers remained closed while the investigation into the cause of the crash continued. In addition, other rollercoasters at other theme parks were also closed “for the foreseeable future” following the crash at Alton Towers.
In those circumstances – and given the continuing level of public concern – we felt it was right to repeatedly challenge Mr Varney about the safety procedures and the injuries which people had suffered. We challenged him over the issues and gave him an extended opportunity to respond to the concerns.
We appreciate you taking the time to contact us.
Kind regards
Robin
Viewer Relations
3. My final comment to them.
If you think her behaviour was acceptable then the situation at Sky News is worse than I thought.
There is a petition on www.change.org to have her sacked which now has over 24,000 signatures. I suggest you read some of the comments on there and you will see that you are out of step with public feeling on this.
Stephen Maycock
(I think this is the best place to post my letter. If a mod disagrees feel free to move it.)
1. The complaint
Dear Sir or Madam
I want to complain about the interview conducted by Kay Burley of Merlin CEO Nick Varney which was shown on Sky News.
The accident at Alton Towers was tragic, and people were seriously injured. The incident demands a full investigation, and questions to be asked of the operators of the parks.
However this was a dreadful interview during which Kay Burley was unprofessional and very rude. She was trying to put words into Nick Varney's mouth and was completely misrepresenting what he was saying. She kept interrupting him when he was trying to speak and the whole thing was just awful.
She would not accept that Merlin has operated the parks and rides safely for many years, and insisted that because there had been an accident that the rides were being operated unsafely. She also made the presumption that as another layer of safety protocol was being added that this meant the protocols were insufficient to date. Surely if there has been a freak accident any reasonable person would take whatever action they could to prevent a reoccurrence?
It was most inappropriate for her to demand to know if someone had lost a limb as a result of the accident. This is confidential medical information that can only be revealed with the consent of the injured party.
Nick Varney did extremely well to keep calm during the onslaught from Kay Burley. I think this interview shows his professionalism, and the lack of hers.
Sky News HD has been my news channel of choice for many years but I may have to reconsider in the light of this appalling interview.
Stephen Maycock
2. The reply
Hi Stephen
Thank you for contacting Sky News with your feedback about the interview with Nick Varney, chief executive of Merlin Entertainments.
In general, Sky News believes that people in positions of responsibility and in public life should be held to account for their actions.
Our role is to question and challenge the points of view being put forward.
It is the job of a presenter to challenge, on behalf of the viewer, the stance that any interviewee takes on any issue of public concern.
The specifics of the interview which was broadcast on Friday 5 June are that Sky News invited Mr Varney to appear in a live interview to discuss the crash at Alton Towers and the reasons for the introduction of additional safety procedures at various theme parks. Mr Varney agreed to our request.
The crash at Alton Towers resulted in serious injuries to several people and wider public concern about the safety of rides at theme parks.
At the time of the interview, there were still people in hospital including some with life-changing injuries and Alton Towers remained closed while the investigation into the cause of the crash continued. In addition, other rollercoasters at other theme parks were also closed “for the foreseeable future” following the crash at Alton Towers.
In those circumstances – and given the continuing level of public concern – we felt it was right to repeatedly challenge Mr Varney about the safety procedures and the injuries which people had suffered. We challenged him over the issues and gave him an extended opportunity to respond to the concerns.
We appreciate you taking the time to contact us.
Kind regards
Robin
Viewer Relations
3. My final comment to them.
If you think her behaviour was acceptable then the situation at Sky News is worse than I thought.
There is a petition on www.change.org to have her sacked which now has over 24,000 signatures. I suggest you read some of the comments on there and you will see that you are out of step with public feeling on this.
Stephen Maycock
(I think this is the best place to post my letter. If a mod disagrees feel free to move it.)
) but Ian is right, she won't be sacked.
