BOLTON DJ Sara Cox came under fire again this week when comedian Ali G turned the airwaves blue with sexual references and crude comments on her breakfast show.

Does the controversial celebrity deserve the criticism or is she just an easy target? DAVID CROOKES gives his opinion.

WHEN the airwaves turned blue on Sara Cox's Radio One Breakfast Show, all eyes once again turned towards the pretty blonde from Bolton. Never mind that all the swearing came from cult comedian Ali G's mouth.

And ignore the fact that it was he and not Sara making the sly digs at the likes of stuttering Pop Idol contestant Gareth Gates.

For it is plain to see that Sara was at fault.

Ali G, you see, is expected to behave in the manner in which he did and if the 27-year-old DJ failed to spot that then she deserves to be subjected to articles calling for her well-groomed head.

The Daily Mail certainly thought so when it scrutinised Sara's life over a two-page spread. The problem, it seems, is Cox does not spend her time in the kitchen baking cakes for her husband, Jon Carter.

Instead, she's forging a highly successful career in the media, her "in-yer-face" approach to broadcasting continuing to attract listeners to Radio One in their droves.

Sara was blamed for encouraging Ali G -- comedian Sacha Baron Cohen -- to continue on a path of coarseness which had already included use of foul language and references to his genitals.

Sara asked if he had done "anything romantic" on Valentine's Day. That was taken by many as an invitation to Ali G to carry on upsetting the likes of Mr Outraged from Tunbridge Wells.

And it is for that which Sara has been lambasted from pillar to post without ever uttering a single obscenity herself.

Meanwhile, Ali G has escaped virtually unscathed. Sara is an easy target: young, good-looking, successful and plays on her northern, down-to-earth roots. In fact, she comes from a comfortable middle-class family.

The former Canon Slade and Smithills School pupil gets it in the neck at every available opportunity.

Sometimes it is justified. Saying the Queen Mum "smells of wee" was childish and misjudged. Saying The Mirror's 3am girls looked like burns victims was also a step too far.

Yet behind the ladette facade lies an astute brain, one which enabled her to pick up A-levels in English, geography, theatre studies and general studies.

She knows that to be outrageous is to be noticed. And to be noticed in the media invariably leads to success. And a rather large pay packet -- £250,000-a-year in Sara's case.

With that amount of backing from her bosses, can she really be blamed when her successful brand of DJing leads her into controversy? The Corporation knew of her reputation before she was snapped up -- a stint on Channel 4's sex-based The Girlie Show was proof enough of that -- so its hardly surprising that Sara tries to be controversial.

Yet BBC bosses could hardly have carpeted the star for the comments of Ali G when, just minutes before the interview went live on air, those very same people warned the comic to be on his best behaviour (while, one suspects, secretly hoping he wouldn't be).

It is obvious the Beeb understood the comedian had the potential to shock. If bosses were really afraid Ali G would be too controversial for a morning audience, it would have pre-recorded the interview rather than put it out live, giving them time to edit the obscenities.

The kind of conversation Sara had with Ali G is unfit to be aired on the BBC, not just in the morning but at any time. The risk was there from the moment station controller Andy Parfitt sanctioned his appearance. Merely telling Ali G not to swear was akin to inviting him to do just that.

The condemnation of his actions, therefore, should be borne by the radio station chiefs, not Sara, who was, after all, doing what she thought was her job.

Secretly, the Corporation will be relishing the extra publicity the Breakfast Show has received. Audience figures will surely be on the rise again.

The plain fact is that Sara, for all her loud-mouth antics, knows she is just a pawn in a much larger game.

Words will be written, judgement will be passed and listeners will tune in. Ultimately, though, Cox will pick up her large pay cheque -- and probably a few awards along the way.

For, despite what anyone says, this Ali G episode has only served to boost her profile. She's a talented DJ and the BBC recognise that. They exploit her personality for all of its shock value.

So when the Daily Mail asked just how far the ladette presenter was prepared to go, the simple answer was: straight to the top. And, ironically, all the press coverage she gets -- good or bad -- will help her to get there.