don’t want an Annie Robinson rant about something, because it’s just Rantvision. I want people to say, ‘well lets listen to what he’s got to say about it now'”.
Watchdog editor Helen O’Rahilly is talking enthusiastically about her plans for the programme the travel industry loves to hate.
It’s her view that counts. Contrary to the opinion prevalent among tour operators, O’Rahilly insists that Robinson is not a law unto herself.
“I liaise with Anne and we work well together, but I have overall control of theprogramme.
“There is never a clash, but if push comes to shove then I have the final decision. I’ve pulled things minutes before we go on air.”
O’Rahilly has been editor of Watchdog and its Friday spin-off Weekend Watchdog for a year and also oversees the digital TV version of the programme, Watchdog Extra, which started on Friday evenings last year.
At the time of her appointment the programme’s relationship with the trade was at an all-time low.
Previous editor Steve Anderson had devised the notorious Holiday Rescue spot, where holidaymakers were encouraged to phone from resort if they were having a bad time. They were then shown being airlifted home while the song Rescue Me was played and viewers were given the chance to vote on how much refund the disgruntled holidaymakers should achieve.
The trade viewed it as cheap attempt to increase viewing figures, particularly as some holidaymakers were induced to fly home with Watchdog with offers of club class seats.
O’Rahilly was invited to a meeting in February ’98, with tour operators which wanted assurances that she would take a more responsible attitude. They found O’Rahilly was no pushover: she promised to continue to campaign on behalf of viewers and pointed out that some 60% of Watchdog’s 10,000 letters a week are about holiday complaints, with flight delays, last-minute changes and accommodation problems top of the list.
The feud between the industry and the show continued throughout 1998, fuelled by conference speeches from ABTApresident Steven Freudmann. In July the Broadcasting Standards Commission partially upheld a complaint by Airtours against Watchdog over Club Bodrum and other cases are being considered.
But O’Rahilly insists the programme has changed.
She’s dumped Holiday Rescue because she felt it had run its course and is adamant that tour operators, many of whom now refuse to appear with Robinson, will get a fair hearing if they return to the show.
O’Rahilly cites a recent performance from an employee of Flight Options, who gave an emotional defence of his company.
“I’m not there to say he can’t behave in that way,” said O’Rahilly.
“If you look closely, you’ll see more and more managing directors coming on the programme and getting a fair hearing.
” I want to get them back on because I don’t think they are doing their customers justice if they just send in a statement.”
O’Rahilly says that anyone who comes on the programme gets to see the questions and the film before it is transmitted and can choose to be quizzed on the phone rather than come in.
“But I find it hard to take that these people from multi-million pound companies say they can’t go on with Anne Robinson. Of course she’s a tough interviewer, but these people are media trained.”
O’Rahilly rejects industry claims that stories are exaggerated to make an excitingprogramme and says researchers have to go through rigorous training before they are let loose on a story. But she admits Watchdog has made mistakes.
Critics cite an item about a hotel in the Dominican Republic where the wrong kitchen was shown and one about a coach holiday in Canada shot in the Lake District.
O’Rahilly defends those items but said: “There have been a couple of occasions when it was seen to be more entertainment than factual,” she says. But if the BSC has said we have got anything wrong it is around the margins, while the story itself was right.
“But what bothers us is getting things absolutely right and I am prepared to act upon things which are not right in tone or fact.” O’Rahilly says the aim of the programme is to give the consumer ‘something to take away’, but she is keen to stress that does not necessarily mean money.
“If someone writes in and says they want their money back, I won’t run the story. If we say we got x amount of compensation back from people we’ll sound like Chris Tarrant. It would be Who Wants To Be A Millionaire – ring Watchdog and get your money back for your holiday. I’d much rather say we got 15 brochures changed.”
O’Rahilly has some new ideas for the programme, currently under wraps, and plans to continue campaigning for consumers, particularly about building sites in resort.
” I’m interested in longer running issues like building sites – I think we’re cracking those and information from tour operators is getting better,” she said.
She also had a word of warning for domestic operators. “We get a lot of complaints about weekend breaks and I want to look closer to home. I don’t like the little Englander view that everything at home is fine and everything abroad is wrong,” she said.