BBC mistakes taxi driver for computer expert

[Swinging Swede]

BBC gets wrong Guy - and gives cab driver five minutes of fame

Patrick Barkham

Saturday May 13, 2006

The Guardian

Just get the guy, any guy, and stick him in front of the camera is, some fear, the philosophy of rolling television news. For BBC News 24, however, the bloke in reception waiting patiently to pontificate on a courtroom verdict turned out to be the wrong Guy.

Guy Kewney, a computer expert, was waiting outside a BBC Television Centre studio to discuss the high court ruling on the Beatles' Apple Corps v Apple Computer on Monday morning. As he watched the news in reception, he was amazed to see "Guy Kewney" pop up on screen. Unlike the white, bearded technology columnist for IT Week, this "Guy Kewney" was black, and appeared stumped when asked about the US computer giant and its tussle with the Beatles over the Apple trademark.

"Were you surprised by this verdict?" he was asked. "I'm very surprised at the verdict," he gamely replied. "Because I was not expecting that when I came."

A BBC insider said the wrong Guy was a minicab driver, waiting to pick up the real Guy. When the producer went to collect the computer expert from a different waiting area, he called out "Guy Kewney" and the driver said "hello". He was then whisked upstairs to meet the BBC's Karen Bowerman, who asked the first question on live TV.

There is only one Guy Kewney in Britain on the electoral roll. As the real Mr Kewney explained in his blog, the accidental impostor at first seemed "puzzled that anybody might imagine that the lawsuit had consequences".

The BBC said: "Unfortunately we did make a mistake and the wrong guy was briefly interviewed on air before we cut to our reporter."

Watch the clip of the complete interview here:

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/video/cabbie.wmv

Watch the cab driver's facial expression when he's introduced as Guy Kewney!

[Rooster_Ties]

[Alexander]

The hilarious thing is that his accent is so thick, I'm sure the interviewer didn't have a clue what he was saying or that she had the wrong guy!

[Dan Gould]

What I especially like is that, even after his face gives it away, he gives it a jolly good try and answers the questions he is asked.

[Alexander]

What I especially like is that, even after his face gives it away, he gives it a jolly good try and answers the questions he is asked.

Indeed! In fact, I'm sure that if you didn't know, you'd think he was some sort of genius (no one ever understands genius in its own time).

[Indestructible!]

Hi All,

Holy shit! This is HILARIOUS! What a sweet interview... this Guy sounds like he "stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night".

My favorite... the other "exert" at the end of the clip agrees with Guy's assessment!!!

Classic!

Cheers,

Shane

[Indestructible!]

Hey Rooster,

Would you mind if I used that clip as my avatar? That is priceless!

Cheers,

Shane

[Claude]

The circumstances are even funnier than initially reported. The man wasn't a taxi driver, he came to the BBC for a job interview. That's why he willingly answered all the questions in the studio.

BBC News 'wrong Guy' is revealed

The true identity of a man who was mistakenly interviewed on BBC News 24 has been revealed.

Guy Goma, a graduate from the Congo, appeared on the news channel in place of an IT expert after a mix-up.

But Mr Goma, who was wrongly identified in the press as a taxi driver, was really at the BBC for a job interview.

Mr Goma said his appearance was "very stressful" and wondered why the questions were not related to the data support cleanser job he applied for.

The mix-up occurred when a producer went to collect the expert from the wrong reception in BBC Television Centre in West London.

The producer asked for Guy Kewney, editor of Newswireless.net, who was due to be interviewed about the Apple vs Apple court case.

After being pointed in Mr Goma's direction by a receptionist, the producer - who had seen a photo of the real expert - checked: "Are you Guy Kewney?"

The economics and business studies graduate answered in the affirmative and was whisked up to the studio.

Business presenter Karen Bowerman, who was to interview the expert, managed to get a message to the editor that the guest "seems not to know too much about the subject".

Mr Goma was eventually asked three questions live on air, assuming this was an interview situation.

It was only later that it was discovered that Mr Kewney was still waiting in reception - prompting producers to wonder who their wrong man was.

'Happy to return'

Mr Goma said his interview was "very short", but he was prepared to return to the airwaves and was "happy to speak about any situation".

He added that next time he would insist upon "preparing myself".

A BBC spokeswoman said: "This has turned out to be a genuine misunderstanding.

"We've looked carefully at our guest procedures and will take every measure to ensure this doesn't happen again."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4774429.stm

Edited May 16, 2006 by Claude

[Rooster_Ties]

Hey Rooster, would you mind if I used that clip as my avatar? That is priceless!

Cheers, Shane

Go for it. I copped it from a thread on this same topic, on fark.com. Two or three people there had each (independantly) made one (animated gif) from the video. (Not to take any credit for the gif, as it wasn't my doing.)

[David Ayers]

Hope this Guy gets the job he was SUPPOSED to be interviewing for. GO GUY!!

[David Ayers]

True fans can bid for his lucky shirt on 15 Minutes:

BBC News - page includes link to auction and to his personal website.