‘They have helped to build a media culture in which feeding frenzies have become the norm, making life intolerable for innocents caught in the glare of their spotlights.’
That was a quote from The Guardian 2003 attacking its fellow newspapermen…or rather those on the ‘Right’.
It is of course very apt 10 years on in the wake of Leveson and the introduction of the Press regulatory Royal Charter…or the ‘Crooks and Creeps Charter’ if you prefer.
What is perhaps a paradox is that it is of course the ‘Rightwing Press’ that is the target of this legislation….promoted as it was by a cabal of very wealthy left wingers along with some even more wealthy donors in cahoots with the Labour Party…in effect carrying on its ‘war against Murdoch.’
The News Of The World was vilified for phone hacking and its stories on celebrities and members of the Public….and yes some of that was highly dubious….but in the scale of things perhaps not as serious as the actions of some other media organisations…particularly those on the left whose active promotion of, and careless incitement of, anti-Semitism must surely rank higher than the dignity of a public figure photographed in a compromising position.
The Guardian for instance…. So well known for the anti-Semitic tracts inside its pages that it has had to publish a disclaimer of sorts….. both accepting anti-Semitism whilst denying it:
The readers’ editor on… averting accusations of antisemitism
‘Guardian reporters, writers and editors must be more vigilant about the language they use when writing about Jews or Israel
As a newspaper the Guardian has been critical of all sides, but it is seen as being especially critical of the Israeli government and its actions. And that has led to complaints that the Guardian, in print or online, is carrying material that either lapses into language resonant of antisemitism or is, by its nature, antisemitic.
For antisemitism can be subtle as well as obvious. Three times in the last nine months I have upheld complaints against language within articles that I agreed could be read as antisemitic.
I have been careful to say that these examples may be read as antisemitic because I don’t believe their appearance in the Guardian was the result of deliberate acts of antisemitism: they were inadvertent. But that does not lessen the injury to some readers or to our reputation.…reporters, writers and editors must be more vigilant to ensure our voice in the debate is not diminished because our reputation has been tarnished.’
The BBC is guilty of something similar….its Middle East coverage whilst probably not intending to be anti-Semitic has the same effect when the journalists deliberately demonise Israeli actions whilst covering up or ignoring Palestinian violence and war crimes.
The BBC’s coverage has the effect of inciting and encouraging anti-Semitism around the world leading to attacks on, and possibly even deaths of, Jews wholly unconnected with the conflict other than for the fact that they are Jewish….never mind the BBC’s cruel use and sacrifice of David Kelly so that it could get its ‘scoop’ in its fight against the Iraq War.
To my mind such reckless, or even deliberate shaping of a story which leads to such serious, harmful, and dangerously lethal effects must be considered far more damaging than any embarrassment from a story about sordid politicians or even the hacking of a missing girl’s phone.
Nicky Campbell was on the case earlier this week on 5Live ‘Your Call’ in which he was discussing the Press regulations.
The first caller was ‘Geoff from Oldham’ who launched straight into a tirade against the Rightwing Press and the millionaires backing Cameron. Well I think I’ve already noted the hypocrisy of that. Geoff apparently is a frequent caller.
We were then met with a familiar figure…Labour’s Alistair Campbell who preceded to cover the same ground as Geoff, making the same claims.
Campbell, the BBC’s new friend, was allowed a long and uninterrupted say.
Brought in to oppose his view was ex News Of The World Journo Neil Wallis.
Wallis hardly got a word in being constantly interrupted by A. Campbell and rubbished.
Wallis then had to leave and Campbell remained.
This is the same Campbell that Max Hastings in the Mail today describes thus:
‘Campbell, meanwhile, has become the darling of the BBC, forever a guest on its chat shows and invited to air his views on news programmes as if he was an elder statesman rather than spinmaster of the most mendacious government of modern times.
Campbell’s off-camera behaviour, as a foul-mouthed bully, was brilliantly captured in the political satire The Thick Of It. But the man himself is nowadays welcomed into studios as if he was a national treasure.’
Campbell of course worked hand in glove with Murdoch all during Blair’s reign….to now attack the ‘rightwing press’ has to be some of the most dishonest and hypocritical opportunism we have seen….especially as Labour’s new spin meister is none other than Tom Baldwin….ex-Times journalist and the man who channelled Campbell’s ‘stories’ into prominence in the Times paper.
As the New Statesman reveals: Baldwin saw it as his job as a journalist to: ‘keep Labour in power as long as I can.”
The Daily Mail also has some revelations:
‘Alistair Campbell was known to liaise with Baldwin in endless attempts to discredit the Labour government’s enemies, the results of which regularly ended up prominently in The Times — a paper once admired for its thundering independence.
Like Campbell, Baldwin, 44, has a ferocious, emotional hatred of Tories….one fellow political journalist puts it: ‘His judgment was completely blinded by his hatred for the Tories and his fixation with Alastair Campbell, who used Tom as a stool pigeon to find out what other journalists were up to and as a cipher for stories he wanted to place….allowing himself to be turned into a blatant propagandist.’
The BBC using a man whose sole aim in life was to gag the Press or to get a favourable story planted in it for his political masters is perhaps one of the greatest ironies of this saga…especially so as Campbell is probably most famous for his ‘war with the BBC’ over the Kelly affair.
The rest of the programme went in a similar vein mostly taken up with attacks on the ‘Rightwing Press’ and Tory millionaires.
A couple of Nicky Campbell’s own contributions were his attempt to make excuses for regular BBC contributor and Labour politician, John O’Farrell, whose comments that he was disappointed that Mrs Thatcher didn’t die in the Brighton bombing were brought to light in the Eastleigh by-election….a gross injustice according to Nicky Campbell.
Another was the case of Louis Walsh when the Sun printed unfounded allegations and had to pay him £500,000 in damages…..this, apparently, was a damning example of Press irresponsibility and intrusion ruining people’s lives….Campbell reckoned £500,000 was nowhere near enough for over a year’s battle with the Sun.
Trouble is Campbell made no mention of the BBC’s own recent attempt to ruin someone’s life…that of Lord McAlpine, by making completely false allegations against him….having never even contacted him for his reaction to the claims….the BBC only paying about £180,000 to McAlpine for the extremely serious allegations.
The whole programme was in essence just an excuse to lay into the Sun and Murdoch and when they could, the Daily Mail and its owner Paul Dacre.
Janet Daley sums it all up:
The ‘BBC Left’ is using hacking to get revenge
Left-wing politicians and broadcasters do not want to debate ideas but they do want to remove their opponents.
And if that’s the case perhaps it’s time for serious thought about the BBC’s privileged existence and the journalists who pump out so much damaging leftwing propaganda on the license payer’s shilling.
Time perhaps for wondering if it should be allowed to continue abusing its unique position and whether the harm it does by far outweighs any good.
