Blue TV presenter
By p1kef1sh
@p1kef1sh (45681)
August 2, 2012 3:12pm CST
In the UK there is a children's TV show called "Blue Peter". The programme has been around since the early 60s and is something of an institution. Today one of the female presenters closed her personal Twitter account because she is tired of the criticism that she receives there. Getting a job on Blue Peter is a very competitive business with only the very best (a debatable point) getting the job. She is in the full glare of the media therefore and some might say that she ought to expect negatvie as well as positive comment. I wonder if it is reasonable to expect "public" figures to accept criticism when they clearly court publicity or maybe they, like oureselves, should be granted privacy in their affairs.
2 people like this
5 responses
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
2 Aug 12
Twitter (and also other social media like Facebook) is a two-edged sword for people who court publicity by taking jobs which mean that they will be in the public eye. If they use Twitter and Facebook and other sites to communicate with their fans and to publicise their career, then they have to expect to receive negative as well as positive comments.
Most people in this situation employ secretaries and agents to filter their email and other comments they receive. Anyone who takes a job as public as a Blue Peter presenter is bound to receive a good proportion of 'hate mail', especially if it is as easy to send as a Tweet. If you cannot (or do not want to) employ someone to manage your public Twitter account for you, then the sensible thing to do is to close it.
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@p1kef1sh (45681)
•
3 Aug 12
I think so too although I have to wonder at the wisdom of creating such an account in the first place. I suppose that for young presenters it is a mix of vanity mixed with self-delusion that they have "made it" plus the publicists no doubt recommend having those accounts too.
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@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
3 Aug 12
Blue Peter? Never heard of it! I thought that we inherited all the best British shows down under! 
If you are going to choose a career that puts you in the public eye then you have to be prepared for all the negative aspects of that as well as the positives. This is something that I have thought about often with fame over the years. As we have a reasonably sized online presence in our industry with our business, we get recognised from time to time while out and about at events that are frequented by customers and people with similar interests. This can be both freaky and rewarding, depending on the interaction and the type of person you come across.
I have also thought about this in regards to the work I have done on TV shows and films. Working as an extra is fine, we get on screen, but no one knows us. But at the same time every extra out there wants those speaking roles and main parts. Along with them though comes a little bit of extra fame as well as the income. Then the pressure of being in the public eye. 
If you are going to choose a career that puts you in the public eye then you have to be prepared for all the negative aspects of that as well as the positives. This is something that I have thought about often with fame over the years. As we have a reasonably sized online presence in our industry with our business, we get recognised from time to time while out and about at events that are frequented by customers and people with similar interests. This can be both freaky and rewarding, depending on the interaction and the type of person you come across.
I have also thought about this in regards to the work I have done on TV shows and films. Working as an extra is fine, we get on screen, but no one knows us. But at the same time every extra out there wants those speaking roles and main parts. Along with them though comes a little bit of extra fame as well as the income. Then the pressure of being in the public eye. 
@pumpkinjam (8876)
• United Kingdom
3 Aug 12
I am responding to this mainly in order to tell you that Blue Peter did not begin in the 60s, it began in 1958. :P
I am in two minds about the whole celeb privacy idea. Yes, they are still people in their own right with private lives, etc. They shouldn't have to put up with nasty comments and stuff. But then, if she's got a Twitter account, which is public, she would have chosen to do that, right? So, no, she doesn't deserve the negativity but should be able to deal with it.
On the other hand, being on the telly makes you in the public eye. People will want to know about you and your private stuff. Not everyone is going to like you and it's necessary to understand and accept that.
Now, I don't know what these negative comments were but, if they are horrible like trolling sort of things then that shouldn't be allowed but, say, if someone's just saying they didn't like something she did on the programme, that's part of her job.
@pumpkinjam (8876)
• United Kingdom
5 Aug 12
:D
I share my birthday with Blue Peter (not the year, obviously, I'm a spring chicken, me!) but the date it aired was the 16th October which is my birthday. :)
@BarBaraPrz (51811)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
2 Aug 12
Is she being criticised for being on the show or her performance on it? Or maybe it has nothing to do with the show and she's being criticized for other reasons.
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