Beeb slammed for 'fawning' to Bill Gates

BBC VIEWERS have flooded the corporation with complaints over how it covered the launch of Microsoft Vista earlier this week.

In one cringingly servile interview worthy of Uriah Heep, the Beeb's news presenter Hugh Edwards even thanked Gates at the end of it, presumably in appreciation at being allowed to give the Vole vast coverage for free.

In other TV news items presenters excitedly explained how Vista could be obtained and installed - details courtesy of the BBC's website.

But British viewers, currently forced to pay a £131.50 licence fee to maintain the BBC's "impartiality", were less than impressed.

Scores got in touch to complain that so much was Auntie up Bill's bum that you could barely see her corset.

Called to account for themselves today on the corporation's Newswatch programme, the BBC fielded its hapless technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones who - surprise, surprise - defended the coverage by comparing the launch of Vista to the Model T-Ford.

And besides, did the Beeb not point out that Vista might be a tad expensive? Damning stuff!

But then it was Cellan-Jones who, when Gates last came to London some 15 months ago, was allowed an equally exclusive interview with Microsoft's founder.

Like fellow Welshman Edwards, Cellan-Jones gave Gates a severe grilling - extracting from him that Microsoft intended to become a key player in the world of home entertainment while its ambition was to be bigger than Google in search technology.

Investigative journalism doesn't get any better.. µ