Netherlands kidney, Big Donor Show
The Listening Post

The great Dutch donor hoax

The aftermath of a controversial reality show and the perils of reporting in Gaza.

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The Dutch show caused worldwide
controversy [AFP]

In this week’s global media show, The Listening Post, Richard Gizbert turns his attention to Gaza and the dangers journalists face in reporting the news from there.

Plus we look at the controversy around Big Brother creator Endemol’s latest offering, an entertainment show with a kidney as first prize.

In a week when the global news media marked the anniversary of the 1967 war, we look at one of the many places in the Middle East that is still living with the repercussions 40 years on. Gaza is an important story but it is growing more and more difficult to cover.

Richard Gizbert caught up with Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent, Nour Odeh, to talk about the dangers she and other journalists face in reporting the situation there.

Our other main story this week is the great Endemol kidney hoax. The Big Brother producer caused a media frenzy when it announced it was making a new show in which a terminally ill cancer patient was giving away a kidney to one lucky contestant. Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch prime minister, condemned the show, but it aired anyway on Holland’s public broadcaster BNN.

But as the winner was about to be announced live on the show the host, Patrick Lodiers, revealed the whole thing was a hoax to draw attention to the Netherlands chronic donor shortage. The cancer patient was actually an actress and the three contestants in need of transplants were in on the stunt.

For many the idea that reality TV giant Endemol had developed a social conscience was a little hard to swallow, particularly because much of the media debate was about the state of television and not organ donation. But the figures spoke for themselves, when after the show, viewers downloaded donor application forms in their tens of thousands.

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Journalists were angered by Musharraf’s
decision to ban protest coverage

In Newsbytes, we look at the other big media stories this week. In Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, issued a ban on covering anti-government demonstrations. Some television channels went off air when the government blocked their transmissions.

Reporters Without Borders wants Iraq to set up a special police unit to investigate media killings after a record 12 journalists were killed in May.

Meanwhile, in Italy the public broadcaster RAI and the Vatican have fallen out over the airing of a BBC documentary called Sex Crimes and the Vatican.

The film claims that Pope Benedict turned a blind eye to priests accused of sexual misconduct when he was a cardinal. It was Google Italia’s most popular clip and another 4.8 million watched it on television: http://video.google.it/videoplay?docid=-195322232469003782.

Finally, in our video of the week, a minor league baseball manager in Tennessee gained worldwide notoriety after losing his temper with the umpire. His spectacular tantrum was broadcast across the internet which showed him rearranging the infield, stealing bases and miming throwing grenades: http://youtube.com/watch?v=un8oiEz53YE.

Watch this episode of The Listening Post here:

Part 1:

Part 2:

This episode of The Listening Post aired from 08 June 2007

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