Des Lynam, the world's most laid-back TV sports presenter, has wandered into controversy with his column in yesterday's Daily Telegraph on the BBC's coverage of the London Olympics.
Reason one: "I have come to the conclusion that while female presenters have done a fine job, the female voice is not so attractive for actual commentating and in some cases became grating."
Reason two: "Gary Lineker, the BBC's highest-paid sports presenter... looked as though he was playing second fiddle... Lineker's role seemed to be reduced to that of continuity announcer."
Commenters to the Telegraph, and to the Daily Mail site, which repeated his statements, seem to have misunderstood Lynam's first generalisation by defending women presenters.
Can't people read? He said they had done "a fine job". Indeed, in his column the previous week, he was full of praise for Clare Balding.
I think Des is wrong about the commentating females though. During many events, several of the men have been hysterical and often impossible to understand.
As for the Lineker thing, I have no feelings either way. But Des seems to have touched a chord because most of the commenters concentrate on that topic.
Online media point: as I write, the original Lynam column on the Telegraph site has 11 comments below it. On the Mail site, there are 133.
That speaks volumes about the different volumes of traffic, does it not? Or could it be that the Telegraph's online audience is altogether less interested in whether Lineker done good (or not) than the Mail's?
