The Daily Mail's increasingly embarrassing campaign against Channel 4 and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year today turned on Channel 4's executives:
"Channel 4 executives last night stubbornly refused to break their silence on the Big Fat Quiz Of The Year 2012 controversy – despite more than 240 complaints from viewers appalled by its obscene jokes."
Perhaps Channel 4's executives are just savouring this awkward moment for the Daily Mail which has very publicly tried and failed to stir outrage about the comedy show.
Even the Mail's own readers seem to have turned their backs.
The Mail has been running a series of articles all week, imploring its readers to be offended - even reproducing the jokes it apparently found so offensive - yet only 135 have added their names to just five viewers who originally complained about the show.
Despite this, the Mail went on to refer to this poor return on its efforts as:
"...the deluge of criticism..."
Really.
In case you're struggling to comprehend this "deluge" of 140 complaints, here is a handy infographic which puts it into some context for you:
In 2010, the Press Complaints Commission rejected complaints about Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir over her infamous article about Stephen Gately.
However, Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre suggested to the Leveson Inquiry that many of those complaints should have been disregarded because he believed many of those people complaining hadn't actually read the article:
"A well-known celebrity, who admitted he hadn't read the article, said it was unpleasant. It was then tweeted to other people who retweeted and we had a viral storm. Most of those people conceded they hadn't read the piece."
Putting aside any questions about how Dacre could possibly know "most of the people" who complained hadn't read the piece, we should assume he doesn't approve of trying recruit people to blindly complain about something, such as an article they hadn't read ...or a television programme they hadn't watched.
See also:
[Tabloid Watch] The Mail v Big Fat Quiz of the Year
Why Ofcom should now ignore ‘Big Fat’ complaints
The Daily Mail's 'Big Fat' storm in a teacup
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