27 Replies to “Should the BBC sack Chris Packham ?”

  1. Since when did saving Packhham become more important than saving wildlife???

    I am angry and disappointed you even give this space on your blog!!

    1. Anyone at the events in Peak District and especially those fortunate enough to be in the quarry after the event and seeing Chris with H H coffin and encouraging the young birders to old placards while he took photos would defend Chris Packham so it is really relevant that we back him to stay in his BBC jobs.
      No one is more passionate defending UK nature.

      1. Had I known you were there Dennis, I would have come over and introduced myself. My eldest was the one at the front, wearing the top hat, I’ve just told her she’s a ‘birder’!

        1. Ernest,what a pity that several of us were strangers.That bit after the event will be with us for a long time and made OH and myself more appreciative of Chris Packham.

    3. Saving Packham is synonymous with saving wildlife. Have you any idea how much he does or how much he wants to do. He’s got the balls to put his neck on the line for what he believes is right and his celebrity status is important for him to achieve what he and all right minded people want him to achieve.

    4. I could be wrong but this isn’t just about saving Packham. It’s about protecting critical voices in conservation, and not being cowed into submission by a landed minority. So it will ultimately have an impact on protecting wildlife.

    5. L Brown – As far as I can see, this petition is about saving wildlife. After all, if you can’t produce any evidence to counter your opponents’ arguments, then you try and silence them by making them fear for their careers if they dare to voice an opinion you do not like.

  2. Because he’s on our side and he’s in the media spot light and he’s especially concerned about Hen Harriers. If he were silenced it would make the CA very happy as they could kill HH unmolested. That’s why they want to get rid of him. Who’s side are you on?

  3. Chris Packham is a hugely motivational speaker on behalf of wildlife conservation and never have we needed him more. Saving Chris Packham’s high profile on the BBC will ensure thousands if not millions of people still get to listen to someone steeped in the science and practical knowledge of the natural world rather than just a glib presenter reading an autocue. That’s why.

  4. The penny has finally dropped with the Grouse Moor fraternity that the RSPB are not their greatest threat, so they have turned their bilious venom on C.P. Amusingly they have only succeeded in shooting themselves in the foot once again.

    1. Paul Frost: ”Amusingly they have only succeeded in shooting themselves in the foot once again.” If only they’d aim a little higher.

  5. Although it’s style of presentation may not be everyone’s cup of tea, Springwatch has done a fantastic job in educating the wider public about their natural heritage.
    During the first week of broadcast this year, my beloved Minsmere heaved with people; many of whom may have had no prior experience of watching wildlife. Some were, of course “grockles” who just wanted to catch a glimpse of their favourite presenter, or get on the TV; and (as any “serious” birder would agree), it’s difficult not to feel annoyed when your favourite hide’s rammed with noisy, dayglo bedecked individuals, leaning out of the windows and waving their arms about “look! Martin’s walking down the hill!”
    Here’s the thing, I told myself. These folk are learning; something we all had to do. The vast majority are taking something positive home with them, and will soon get clued up on how ecosystems function, and just how important they are.
    And that’s exactly what the CA and it’s ilk hate and fear. It’s no longer possible for them to fool a largely uninformed public, simply by appearing on TV in a barbour and flat hat (despite the producers of Countryfile giving them as much airtime as they want).
    Thanks to the “Springwatch factor” and Mr Packham et al, these liars are well and truly on the run. And this time, there’s no “born and bred countryman/red sky at night/get off my land” cobblers to hide behind!

  6. I’ve just read through some of comments left on the ‘sack him’ petition. A rich vain of comedy gold it must be said. But I am left wondering if the findings of the Lead Action Group regarding the neurodevelopmental harm and other health impairments associated with long-term exposure to lead shot may, if anything, have actually been seriously understated.

    Here are some of the highlights:

    ‘the mans a clown who lives in a city and just pansies around in the countryside when he feels like it’

    ‘this guy is a disgrace to all wildlife’

    ‘He has used the New Forest for his own gain’

    And then there is the verbose Ellis Soady of Cleethorpes: ‘he is a dick’.

    But surely a special mention must go to Janine Chambers of Huddersfield who cites her reason for signing the petition as: ‘Huddersfield’.

    1. Ernest I think that you have the makings of one of those little stockingfiller books, use these and other inane comments that have been made on twitter, facebook and so on by the Countryside Alliance etc and sell it with the funds going to raptor protection.

  8. The latter petition has picked up a further 9,000 signatures. The former…18.

    Let’s keep up the pressure. We will win this ultimately.

    1. At this rate it’ll reach the 100k required ‘to be considered for debate in parlaiment’ inside a month, shame it wasn’t posted on the government website like Ban driven grouse shooting?

      1. Mud-lark – the government site wouldn’t take an e-petition aimed at the BBC – it isn’t a government matter.

        1. Realise that Mark. Sorry, perhaps I should have made it clearer that I was simply impressed (but not surprised) at how quickly numbers had materialised and what joy had that happened with ‘Bdgs’ ….

          I’m not the only commentator to wonder if Packham supporters could be ‘persuaded’ to sign your epetition / ‘Bdgs’.

  10. Reading through Twitter tonight there is another article doing the rounds that shows that the Countryside Alliance has made the BBC change its news bulletins to not show them in such a negative light. I believe, claiming that the facts were of a derogatory nature towards them.
    I used to be naive enough to believe that the news was unbiased, clearly I was hugely mistaken. As previously mentioned on here, Countryfile is mostly little concerned with conservation, let alone a balanced opinion and so without a high profile presenter like Chris our beleaguered wildlife will struggle all the more.
    If you look on Chris’s website there is a great pic of him holding a badger. I guess both are currently in the gunsights of the CA.

  12. Funny how they had no qualms whatsoever in using TV cook Clarissa Dickson Wright to promote the CA in the press & in TV interviews and yet object to Chris Packham’s article as it breaks BBC guidelines …

    1. JC – have any of the BBC cookery programmes promoted grouse as a healthy option? Or is it just a case of the CA linked to CD-W who is likewise linked to the BBC?

      1. To be honest, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the clip that was screened on Saturday since I have a strong allergic reaction to CD-W (far more so than shooting itself. I think the drift of the piece – healthy yomping across moorland and reference, I think, to the food being fresh – certainly implied it was ‘healthy’. As for your second point, my recollection is that the CA was using CD-W very much because she had a high media profile in large measure due to her BBC programs

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