BBC veteran Michael Buerk has hit out at what he called the BBC's 'cringingly inept' coverage of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations this summer. In an article in the Mail On Sunday in which the former newsreader takes a look back at 2012, he revealed that the corporation's coverage left him "ashamed" to be a part of the BBC. "The one enduring British institution was mocked by another that had shamefully lost its way," said Buerk in reference to the way they covered the Thames river pageant which formed part of the celebrations. "Out on the water, a tribute to the monarch that resonated back to the Middle Ages, rich in historical continuities, a floating salute to past glory and present fortitude," he added. "On the screen, a succession of daytime airheads preened themselves, or gossiped with even more vacuous D-list 'celebrities'. With barely an exception, they were cringingly inept. "Nobody knew anything and nobody cared. The main presenter couldn't even work out what to call the Queen. He also launched a biting attack on Strictly Come Dancing co-host Tess Daly, referring to her as a 'pneumatic bird-brain', and concluded: "I was so ashamed of the BBC, I would have wept if I hadn't been so angry." More than 2,400 viewers complained to the BBC about their coverage of the weekend's events, with much of the blame directed at George Entwistle, who went on to become director-general before quitting in November in the wake of the Jimmy Savile and Newsnight scandals. Buerk also addressed Mr Entwistle's resignation after being director-general for just 54 days. "The worst thing was that it was deliberate - planned that way to be 'light' and 'inclusive'," he suggested. "The BBC actually congratulated itself, and the executive ultimately responsible was promptly promoted to become the most disastrous director-general in the corporation's history."
