Polly Toynbee, a strong supporter of the BBC, in a Guardian article advocating that smacking children be banned, says:
Debating the generally excellent Children Act, the Lords votes on a ban of all hitting of children, an amendment which is supported by every children’s organisation and charity, social services directors, chief police officers, bishops, the NSPCC and most relevant organisations. To find opponents outside Westminster, the BBC has to resort to obscure Christian fundamentalists and the more extreme fathers’ groups.
Not has to, Polly, chooses to. Whatever your own opinion on the issue (mine would take too long to explain here) you can be quite sure that the supermarkets and school gates of Britain contain thousands upon thousands of completely ordinary parents with no connection to Christian fundamentalism or obscure fathers’ groups who smack their children on occasion and think they have a right to do so. They don’t get interviewed for the same reason that American Democrats who don’t like Michael Moore’s latest don’t get interviewed.
OT:
The BBC goes shamelessly fishing for compliments here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/3859861.stm
No negative feedback allowed!
OT: Beeb over sensationalist and once sided. My feedback:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3863235.stm
“The BBC reporter, Matthew Grant, says that whatever the truth, these allegations could cause anger in the Arab world.”
Surly if this is the case, you should provide more background. There is a good two sided approach to this claim (lacking in your report) in http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/446801.html
As this is a clearly emotive issue and one that has a single source claim (sound familiar?) surly it is your duty to provide more balance?
OT but typical:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3862435.stm
BBC reports on the latest rounds of bombing attacks in Iraq and notes that one of the victims is Iraqi “financial officer” Ihsan Karim.
Elsehwere, Ihsan Karim is identified as the man in charge of investigating the Iraqi angle of the UN oil-for-food scandal.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5580702
Gee, wonder why they didn’t mention this “inconsequential” little fact?
Oh wait, I just went back, sorry, they did mention that Ihsan Khan was in charge of the oil-for-food scandal in that report. I could have sworn the first time I looked it wasn’t there!
Was that a stealth edit?
Susan- I just blogged this at ‘my place’- it was definitely a stealth edit without question.
Thanks ed, I thought I was going crazy for a minute there. I feel ashamed for doubting myself — and for giving the Beeb the benefit of the doubt it so richly DOESN’t deserve.
Sorry for my ignorance Ed, but what’s the URL for your blog?
Susan- sorry. I presumed too much. This’ll take you to the exact post (I presume):
http://edtalkinghoarse.blogspot.com/2004/07/more-evidence-circumstantial-that-beeb.html
Gooseman – the construction “anger was expressed at the news of event X” is a favourite one of editorializing news reporters everywhere. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen it used on the Guardian’s news pages when covering Iraq. I presume the reporter wants us to believe that he has witnessed spontaneous demonstrations while he happened to be strolling down the main thoroughfare in Baghdad.
Unattributed opinion of this sort should be pointed up wherever it occurs as the shoddy, sensationalist journalism it is.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3864099.stm
“Aviation growth ‘risk to planet'”
Does not mention that (at least) one of the authors is a Green Party politician.
Lots of stories on BBC Online have not been properly checked, in spite of tighter rules since Hutton :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=YK2MKZE4FC1J5QFIQMFCM54AVCBQYJVC?xml=/news/2004/07/04/nbbc04.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/07/04/ixhome.html
That looks like a clear admission of sloppy journalism on a widespread scale.
Time for l;ots of the Online stuff to be scrapped totally – as part of the cost-cutting ?
Off Topic:
“A one-time idealistic volunteer takes stock of Nicaragua today” says the BBC News Online front page snippet introducing us to this piece:
Nicaragua’s broken dreams
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3856843.stm
This ‘one-time’ worker for the revolution turns out to be none other than today’s BBC correspondent in Nicaragua, Mike Lanchin. Today’s BBC correspondent chooses as his contemporary guide none other than his old revolutionary brigade coordinator.
Unsurprisingly, the presentation is pretty much a sad tale of woe for the country on the 25th anniversary of the old revolution.
Unsurprisingly, this is all regarded as acceptable at the BBC.
.
David Elstein takes apart the BBC’s hokum submission to the Charter Review, and argues for subscription rather than the licence fee – or the same pro-rata fee for everyone, not just a 2% tax on the poor :
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1166882,00.html
Marc Landers has more on the BBC inaccurate reporting mentioned in the Telegraph and what Johninlondon (above) is on about
Here
I emailed her after reading your article on her ‘article’ on smacking kids and she actually replied. “I agree with much of what you said but what the devil did you imply by :”An Englishman’s home is a castle where his children are his to chastise. Never mind the complication that these days it’s often stepfathers – with horrendous implications.” What implications? Are you implying for example that stepfathers are the ones who hit or abuse their children whereas biological fathers do not? Your insinuation is most annoying to the vast majority of families with or without fathers/stepfathers
She replied:I am a step mother, also happily brought up with a stepfather – all just fine but the sad fact is that statistically, stepfathers are the main abusers and murderers of children. Unsurprising given the horrendous tensions often present. Often unreported as sloppy reporters just say ‘father’ in court reports. Facts is facts.
I also note the Beeb are saying blah blah ‘quoting Claire Rayner of Children are Unbeatable. This organisation claims to have 350 plus member organisations. Barnados are counted four times as Barnardos Cymru, Barnados NI, Barnardos Scotland and just Barnardos. (presumeably Barnardos UK…) Most of the orgs seem to be one or two person setups which do not even have offices….Bangour Women’s Aid. What does an org meant to help rape victims have to do with smacking kids? There are many other examples. More ‘selective’ reporting?
Dave – your comment about your email exchange with Polly looks interesting; however, it’s formatted incomprehensibly (I think Haloscan may have eaten your italics; it does that because it’s rubbish).
It would be excellent if you could repost it in a way that makes clear which comments were yours to Polly, which were hers to you, and which are your asides to her response.
To clarify who said what. Thanks john b.
I emailed her after reading your article on her ‘article’ on smacking kids and she actually replied.
I said: “I agree with much of what you said but what the devil did you imply by :”An Englishman’s home is a castle where his children are his to chastise. Never mind the complication that these days it’s often stepfathers – with horrendous implications.” What implications? Are you implying for example that stepfathers are the ones who hit or abuse their children whereas biological fathers do not? Your insinuation is most annoying to the vast majority of families with or without fathers/stepfathers
She replied:I am a step mother, also happily brought up with a stepfather – all just fine but the sad fact is that statistically, stepfathers are the main abusers and murderers of children. Unsurprising given the horrendous tensions often present. Often unreported as sloppy reporters just say ‘father’ in court reports. Facts is fact
5th July 6 oclock news, Andrew Marr just compared smacking a child to wife beating.
Unbelievable.
Strange email other Dave from above.
I mean if these peoples attitude is “Fact is fact”. There are plently of other examples of what the best types of family are. ie, 1 Mother + 1 father. But the left are proud of promoting homosexual adoption.
Dave2 “But the left are proud of promoting homosexual adoption.”
the left will have to cut down on that type of support in order to maintain their links with the Islamic fringe. See Anthony Browne’s article in The Times
“THESE are curious times. The British Left, long the champion of anti-racism and gay rights, is forging deepening bonds with anti-Semitic homophobes. If these were old-style anti-Semitic homophobes the Left would be campaigning to have them locked up. But instead they are Muslim extremists.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,482-1169277,00.html
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