Don't monkey around, just give us the news

In London, the Guardian newspaper reported that BBC News presenter Chris Eakin was forced to apologize to George Alagiah. Eakin had, on air, jokingly compared his colleague to the photo of the monkey collecting stones to throw at visitors in a Swedish zoo.

Really, the people who should apologize are TV executives who encourage their staffs to engage in banter that rarely produces anything but lame humor, adding nothing to their news reports.

As I noted in an earlier post, I'm serious about humor, especially when it comes to including it in one's presentations.

To be honest, I almost added to this monkey business by adhering too closely to journalistic convention in writing the cutline for the photo: "George Alagiah (left) ...."