if you would just level with us, folks like Jeff Jarvis would have a lot more respect for you and the Beeb than at present.
Greg Dyke, chief chutzpah officer of the BBC, lashes out at U.S. TV news war coverage as he accepts a dubious award in New York:“News organisations should be in the business of balancing their coverage, not banging the drum for one side or the other. This is something which seemed to get lost in American reporting of the war,” said Mr Dyke.
He said only four out of 840 experts interviewed on US news outlets during the conflict opposed the war and the situation would not have been tolerated at the BBC.
“Telling people what they want to hear is not doing them any favours. It may not be comfortable to challenge governments or even popular opinion but it’s what we are here to do,” he said.
Yo, Doc, cure thyself!
What an incredibly blind/deaf/dumb comment to come from Baghdad Broadcasting, of all places. Balance? The BBC exhibits as much balance as Christopher Reeve on a tightrope. Telling people what they want to hear? That’s exactly what the BBC did and quite cynically, I might add. Experts? What experts? Name two. That is the kind of ridiculous faux stat I’d expect to hear from, oh, American talk radio, not the head of the vaunted BBC. And Greg, I have two words to remind you of: Andrew Gilligan.
Read it all.
(Via Instapundit)
I’ve never heard such hypocrisy in my life! Greg Dyke is a goat blower!!!
‘Boss Hogg’ – love it!
Off Topic:
BBC bosses to clamp down on staff’s freelance writing
http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,7495,1093952,00.html
This is a shame in a way, since these writings by moonlight provide a useful insight into the leanings of the hacks.
(I suppose it will be too much to expect BBC employees being prevented from owning ‘independent’ production companies that receive commissions from – the BBC.)
I especially liked this oxymoronic bit from the mouth of Gavyn Davies:
“One thing that will not change, however, is the BBC’s basic approach to journalism. Unless we fearlessly seek to tell the public the truth, we are nothing and we do not deserve to receive the licence fee.”
Rather difficult to see (particularly in the light of the need for this drastic style-cramping measure) how they can tell the public the truth without changing their basic approach to journalism. The last nine words are spot on, though. I shall continue doing my bit to
(continue this sentence ;-))
bring the absurd and offensive licence to watch television to its long overdue demise.
.