Watching the BBC’s difficulties over its recent Radio 2 broadcast by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand, I felt an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. It reminded me of the controversy Channel 4 faced almost two years ago over the Celebrity Big Brother reality television show – and how easy it is to misjudge a media crisis. Both we and the BBC bosses underestimated the public response and were slow to react and apologise. If there is a next time I hope that we all do better, because the BBC and Channel 4 are the backbone of public service broadcasting in Britain and an integral part of its culture.

The overriding truth about bad publicity is that it is rarely as damaging as your worst fears. Even Bernard Matthews Farms is prospering again, in spite of taking a battering last year over bird flu. There is a lot of noise out there in the media jungle, and stories soon get forgotten: the bandwagon rolls on.