BBC College of Journalism Blog - A vigorous and robust discussion about journalism from every perspective.

Gasp, cringe or chuckle? Two stories in the past few days have demonstrated the media's continuing, very British, fascination with slapstick, subtly tempered with less wholesome overtones.

First up, the Lord Mayor of Leicester's wardrobe malfunction. Colin Hall was attending an educational event for schoolchildren when his trousers fell down.
 
Councillor Hall had lost weight, wasn't wearing a belt and, in the words of an official spokesman, "the trousers came loose and fell".

The same spokesman added, somewhat po-faced in the circumstances: "The Lord Mayor has offered his deepest apologies to those attending the event for any offence caused by the accident."

Benny Hill eat your heart out.

Two days later, in a slightly more serious vein, a man from Margate in Kent was told never to show his bottom in public, or face the prospect of a jail sentence. Christopher Lehane, who'd gained a reputation in the sea side town, was given an anti-social behaviour order barring him from the high street.

Kent Online's coverage of the story started off like a flyer for an End of the Pier Show:

"A cheeky flasher has been slapped with an ASBO [Anti-social Behaviour Order] banning him from baring his bottom in public," guffawed the first paragraph, under the headline, "Man gets ASBO - for mooning in Margate."

The hyphen denotes, I suppose, a pause for comic effect.

The saucy postcard tone was complicated by the inclusion of the news that the ASBO also bans Mr Lehane from being drunk in Margate, hinting at more serious underlying personal or even social issues.

Not that they were followed up.

BBC network news (Radio 4's 6pm bulletin on Thursday 1 July) ran the story, slugged BUTTOCKS on the BBC news system, before the closing headlines, with another deliciously straight-laced quote from the police describing Mr Lehane's conduct as having a "detrimental effect on businesses and residents".

So what do these stories have in common?

Both started locally and were picked up nationally by the BBC and other media. Both got the 'oooer missus!' treatment. The Guardian's "Carry On Mayor - Leicester leader's trousers fall down" is typical.

And both received an official response that was poles apart from the 'Carry On' tone that is a reflex among certain sections of the media: "Colin Hall says sorry after his trousers fall down in front of a room full of schoolchildren" is how the Guardian qualified its headline.

Imagine, for a moment, how a public figure suffering a 'wardrobe malfunction' at a civic engagement in the United States would be treated by the US media. The families of traumatised children would be filing suit within hours of the mayor's 'unfortunate problem' with his trousers.

Both stories also fizzled out when it came to capturing interest outside their home market. A trawl through several pages about both stories on Google failed to turn up any overseas sources. Was this to do with the subject matter, the way they were treated or a peculiarly 'Rude Britannia' sense of humour that passes the rest of the world by?

I think Delboy, commenting on the Orange News messageboard, summed up the situation:

"It must be a slow news day. Who would give a damn about such a thing?"