Prompt's TechBlog
Government tries to bring the funny, gets accused of wasting money
22 August 2008
Posted by Duncan Heaney
The UK government was criticised for wasting money this week after it uploaded a light-hearted video response to a petition onto YouTube.
The petition requested that television personality and journalist Jeremy Clarkson be appointed Prime Minister. More than 50,000 people signed, prompting Downing Street to release this video:
Critics were quick to pounce, accusing the video of a waste of tax payers' money. A spokesman from the Conservative Party stated that: "While the British public is having to tighten its belts, the government is spending taxpayers' money on a completely frivolous project."
Downing Street responded by stressing that the video had not cost any extra money to make and was whipped up by a member of staff in half an hour. "It was a pretty light-hearted petition, so we gave it a light-hearted answer," was the official line.
It is interesting to see that the government is making a concerted (if sometimes clumsy) effort to engage with Web 2.0 concepts and technology. Downing Street relaunched its main website last week with a strong emphasis on video content. Although hit by a number of amusing glitches - such as accidentally publishing a test page accusing a former communications advisor of being a "prat", its up now and looking pretty good.
As for the video, I honestly don't know if it's a waste of money or not. But with all the criticism it's received, it may have been a waste of effort.
The petition requested that television personality and journalist Jeremy Clarkson be appointed Prime Minister. More than 50,000 people signed, prompting Downing Street to release this video:
Critics were quick to pounce, accusing the video of a waste of tax payers' money. A spokesman from the Conservative Party stated that: "While the British public is having to tighten its belts, the government is spending taxpayers' money on a completely frivolous project."
Downing Street responded by stressing that the video had not cost any extra money to make and was whipped up by a member of staff in half an hour. "It was a pretty light-hearted petition, so we gave it a light-hearted answer," was the official line.
It is interesting to see that the government is making a concerted (if sometimes clumsy) effort to engage with Web 2.0 concepts and technology. Downing Street relaunched its main website last week with a strong emphasis on video content. Although hit by a number of amusing glitches - such as accidentally publishing a test page accusing a former communications advisor of being a "prat", its up now and looking pretty good.
As for the video, I honestly don't know if it's a waste of money or not. But with all the criticism it's received, it may have been a waste of effort.
# posted by Duncan Heaney at 2:28 PM 
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