Guy Goma (born 1969) is a Congolese-French business studies graduate from
Brazzaville
Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...
in the
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
who was accidentally interviewed live on
BBC News 24
BBC News (also known as the BBC News Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel for BBC News. It was launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 5:30 pm as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic telev ...
, a UK television news station, on Monday 8 May 2006. Goma was mistaken for technology expert
Guy Kewney
Guy Johan Kewney (30 April 1946 – 8 April 2010) was a British journalist, regarded by some as the first UK technology journalist.Manek Dubash"Guy Kewney: Integrity in socks and sandals" ''The Register'', 12 April 2010
Early life
Kewney's orig ...
when he attended the BBC for a job interview and was brought onto a BBC special regarding the case ''
Apple Corps v Apple Computer
Between 1978 and 2006 there were a number of legal disputes between Apple Corps (owned by The Beatles) and the computer manufacturer Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) over competing trademark rights. The High Court of Justice in England handed down ...
'' to provide insight on a subject he knew little about.
Goma became well known for the incident, which is noted as a memorable TV moment.
Interview
Goma was waiting in the main reception area of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
Television Centre in west
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to be interviewed for a job as a data support cleanser in the corporation's
IT department. At the same time,
Guy Kewney
Guy Johan Kewney (30 April 1946 – 8 April 2010) was a British journalist, regarded by some as the first UK technology journalist.Manek Dubash"Guy Kewney: Integrity in socks and sandals" ''The Register'', 12 April 2010
Early life
Kewney's orig ...
, a British technology expert, was in another reception area preparing for a
live television
Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television over the Internet when content or programming is played continuously (not on demand) ...
interview on the subject of
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
's court case with
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' record label,
Apple Corps
Apple Corps Limited (informally known as Apple) is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of the Beatles to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd.) and to form a conglomerate. Its name (pro ...
. The producer sent to fetch Kewney was told that Kewney was in the main reception area. When he asked the receptionist where Guy Kewney was, she pointed to Goma, even after he asked if she was sure this was the right person.
The producer had seen a photo of Kewney, but only had five minutes before the live interview was due to take place. He approached Goma and asked him if he was "Guy". Hearing his first name, Goma answered in the affirmative. Goma was led to the News 24 studio. BBC staff put on makeup, and he was ushered to the television studio, where he was seated in front of the cameras and wired up with a microphone. Although he thought the situation was strange, he believed he was about to be interviewed for a job.
When introduced by interviewer
Karen Bowerman
Karen Bowerman is an English journalist, television presenter, filmmaker and travel writer who has worked for Sky News, ITV (TV network), ITV, CNN International and the BBC. Formerly the Consumer Correspondent for BBC 1, and the Business and Co ...
as Internet expert Guy Kewney, Goma realised there had been a misunderstanding and was visibly shocked. Aware that he was on live television and not wishing to make a scene, Goma attempted to answer questions about the ''
Apple Corps v Apple Computer
Between 1978 and 2006 there were a number of legal disputes between Apple Corps (owned by The Beatles) and the computer manufacturer Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) over competing trademark rights. The High Court of Justice in England handed down ...
'' case and its ramifications for the music industry.
While not an expert, Goma knew enough about downloading and cyber cafés to make credible answers. Kewney, still in the waiting area, was shocked when he saw Goma interviewed in his place, though he was not able to hear the audio.
Transcript
: Karen Bowerman: Well, Guy Kewney is editor of the technology website ''Newswireless''. Hello, good morning to you.
: Goma (visibly shocked): Good morning.
: KB: Were you surprised by this verdict today?
: Goma: I am very surprised to see... this verdict to come on me, because I was not expecting that. When I came, they told me something else and I am coming. "You got an interview," that's all. So a big surprise anyway.
: KB: A big surprise, yeah, yes.
: Goma: Exactly.
: KB: With regards to the cost that's involved, do you think now more people will be downloading online?
: Goma: Actually, if you can go everywhere you're gonna see lot of people downloading through Internet and the website, everything they want. But I think is much better for development and...eh...to improve people what they want, and to get on the easy way, and so faster the things they looking for.
: KB: This does really seem to be the way the music industry's progressing now, that people want to go onto the website and download music.
: Goma: Exactly. You can go everywhere on the cyber cafe, and you can take...you can go easy. It is going to be an easy way for everyone to get something through the Internet.
: KB: Guy Kewney, thanks very much indeed.
Aftermath
Twenty minutes after the television interview, Goma attended his job interview, which lasted ten minutes. He was not hired.
As soon as the mistake was detected, the BBC recorded an interview with Kewney for later broadcast, which was never shown. The BBC instead brought in an alternative pundit,
Rupert Goodwins
Rupert Goodwins (born 23 May 1965) is a British writer, broadcaster and technology journalist.
He began his career as a programmer for Sinclair Research in the early 1980s, working on the ZX Spectrum ROM. He moved to Amstrad after it bought the ...
, for the next live slot on the topic.
Soon after his appearance, there was speculation that Goma was in Britain illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa. In fact, he had met the requirements to indefinitely live and work in the UK some three years earlier. On 25 May 2006, celebrity publicist Kizzi Nkwocha began representing Goma.
Goma and Kewney subsequently met.
Later history
On 16 May 2006, Goma appeared on ''
Channel 4 News
''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982.
Current productions
''Channel 4 News''
''Channel 4 News'' ...
'' and was jokingly questioned by the presenter—introducing him as a Venezuelan citizen, a lawyer and a doctor respectively—on the topics of
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...
, the release of foreign prisoners into Britain, and Britons seeking medical treatment abroad. On the same day, he also appeared again on BBC News 24, but this time in a planned interview to talk about his experience. He later appeared in a comedy skit on ''
The Big Fat Quiz of the Year
''The Big Fat Quiz of the Year'' is an approximately annual British television programme broadcast in the last or first week of the year on Channel 4. The show is a comedy panel game in the style of a pub quiz. Three teams of two celebrities, mo ...
2006''. Film producer Alison Rosenzweig stated in 2006 that she had begun developing a film based on his life, particularly this one incident, commenting "He's a fun, kind of internationally famous person that I think is an interesting source for movie material."
As of 2022, no such film has been produced. In 2022, Goma was interviewed on the BBC World Service's Outlook programme about his experience.
In 2016, ten years after Goma's appearance, the incident was named as one of the BBC's most memorable interview bloopers, and some outlets noted that Goma's prediction that more people would be using the Internet to download music and other media they want was largely correct.
References
External links
Video
First BBC interviewSecond BBC interviewChannel 4 interview
GMTV interview
Audio
Story from NPR ''All Things Considered'' program 15 May 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goma, Guy
1969 births
Living people
Republic of the Congo emigrants to England
People from Brazzaville
Place of birth missing (living people)
British television personalities
Internet memes introduced in 2006
BBC News