http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7jKKZTpzh4
There’s no greater insult than ‘flipping the bird’ at somebody, especially when you’re on live television and that somebody happens to be the most powerful man on the planet.
Tatyana Limanova, a newscaster for Russian station REN TV, flipped the bird immediately after mentioning the American President’s name in a bulletin earlier this month. The clip has since gone viral and caused a stir in her native Russia and in the US.
REN TV have declined to comment on Limanova’s gesture, but sources close to the station have tried to play down the controversy by suggesting that she believed she was doing an off camera voiceover at the time and was sticking her finger up at studio technicians interfering with her report. How convenient.
As desperate an excuse as that sounds, sources at REN TV have said that Limanova would not be punished for her slip-up despite the stir it has caused and despite damning evidence that it was clearly a slight at the under-pressure Obama. Any publicity is good publicity after all.
It was probably the most obvious newsroom gaffe since Ron Burgundy’s ‘Go f*ck yourself San Diego’, but here at JOE, we salute Ms Limanova.
It’s about time we stuck it to those in power and remind them that inadequacy will not be tolerated. We would implore Dobbo and Sharon ní Bhreoláin to do something similar in the near future.
