Update: I was certain that my mother printed out the pages from People's War website still in 2006. As it turns out, she also printed the grandma's story at a later date, in August 2008. So the story must have disappeared after this date. On the right is the scan of the page; I checked the URL, it's not working.The text of the story is translated into Russian using a web-based translator, so I assume the printout for my grandma. It also supports that I said below about this story being the Editor's Pick. On Twitter I asked Ofcom (#askofcom) to look into this, and I know that they visited this post.Twitter does remind you of certain things. So today I was reminded of how I and a few others went to collect wartime stories of the World War Two veterans at the RHS Flower Show in Tatton Park in 2005. I thought it would be nice to share some stories, especially because I contributed my grandmother's memoir to the site.
So I went to the site... to first find out that search facility wasn't working. I tried to find my grandma's story via site's navigation... and that didn't work either. I googled it, and it wasn't there. This makes me grateful to myself for uploading the story to this blog: it looks like it could well be lost.
The story I submitted was narrated by my grandmother over the phone. I recorded our talk, then transcribed it, then translated it. It was submitted to the People's War website in January 2006, at the end of the campaign. It was still on the site in May 2007 when I republished the story on this blog. The copyright, as the BBC stated on People's War website, rested with me, and I linked back to the original source - BBC People's War website. This entry explains everything, as well as gives the story ID.
But now two years later my grandmother's story is not there. It used to be a "recommended" story, or an Editor's Pick. It's not to be found either in the USSR section (I checked), or in Google search.
My grandmother has survived the war - she will surely survive this. In fact, her view of the BBC is probably a bit old-fashioned but certainly that of a company that invariably "serves" one "camp" or another. And maybe she wasn't altogether happy about me putting it up on BBC's website in the first place. But for me who studied History this was an opportunity to let as many people as possible know about the story of one of many Soviet citizens who showed great courage, resilience, and faith in fighting and winning the war against Fascism.
I submitted the story under my own name, not as a contributing member of the GMR Action Desk. The short biography I submitted is thus erased, too, which is OK, as by 2009 some of the things I wrote there have changed completely. My CV is displayed in the sidebar these days. Besides, by erasing my grandma's story the BBC didn't erase my contribution altogether: this is just one of the stories I collected as a project contrubutor, and you can find more if you read gmractiondesk submissions. I contributed over 40 stories to the project, if I remember correctly.
What I find repulsive is that the removal of my grandmother's story and of my biography page happened WITHOUT notifying me. Strangely enough, I don't worry about my biography (the above will tell you, why); but I take offence for my grandmother. I am repelled as a contributor, an historian, a citizen, and - most importantly now because my grandmother was unwell recently - as a granddaughter. There are many things I admire about the Corporation. I have learnt a lot in two years of working freelance there, mainly at the BBC Radio Manchester (former BBC GMR). But there are things that I observed internally that made me aware of the huge chasm between the public image the BBC so keenly projects and the actual state of affairs. As if to add to their notorious forgetfulness to link to other's blogs, in the case with my grandmother's wartime story the BBC has shown a typical Big Brother behaviour, hence the title of this post.
I can imagine that the story could somehow be lost - but could the implications of this loss not be foreseen? My grandmother is Russian. Was the story removed purposefully? Did it not occur to whoever was responsible that this could be interpreted as the national prejudice?
I would encourage all the contributors if they read this post to check the BBC People's War website, to see if their contributions are still there. As for me, I would like the BBC to write to me with explanation. I want to know why the story has been taken down, when, and why I was not notified.
I apologise to my readers, I don't think you've ever seen me in this mood. But I think you agree that my response is appropriate, given the circumstances.
And a small note to the BBC: please do not approach me with mere apologies and don't tell me how you understand that I am upset. A large part of my work today is dedicated to dealing with brand criticism online, and I know about the strategies of approaching unhappy "customers". I am not an unhappy customer: I am a disgusted citizen, professional, and relative. There is no room for being upset - I demand respect to myself, my family, and my native country. Please take this into account.
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