My letter to PRWeek got published in this week's issue but they edited it slightly, so here's the full version . . .

Before I rant, I need to confess to two things. 

1.       I wish I was Gary Barlow.

2.       I entered the X Factor with my colleagues Howard Kosky & Scott Jackson as the man-band ‘Redeemed’ (we didn’t get on TV!)

However, these two facts have not biased the following, which instead, is based on the fact that, as a father of two kids aged 12 and 9 who are both massive fans of the X Factor, I was dismayed and disgusted to see on the individual video page for Stacey Soloman’s audition on its official YouTube channel, postings that include graphic sexual references to what some men would like to do to her, or are already doing to themselves, and strong racist remarks too.

This is an official X Factor YouTube page from ITV, sponsored by Talk Talk.   I hope all three parties are proud of the individual that has been tasked with keeping it updated.

Aggregating content into social networks such as YouTube is a risky strategy for any brand but one that can be managed.  Leaving comment fields unmoderated is lazy and irresponsible.  I appreciate that moderating so many comments for one video is quite a task – Danyl Johnson’s audition has over 11,000 comments – but given just how much money the X-Factor franchise generates, would it be too much to ask the show’s producers to invest in a couple of moderators to monitor the comments?