of yesterday’s Daily Express coverage of my Biased BBC story from Tuesday about the BBC’s “disproportionate” Question Time audience that was deliberately packed out with over five-times as many Muslims as a proportion of the British population.
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Click on each thumbnail to see clippings of the Daily Express front page coverage of Biased BBC’s original Question Time audience story. Courtesy Daily Express/PressDisplay.com. |
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Just for good measure, there are a couple of cracking follow-up letters in today’s Daily Express:
Letter of the day
We don’t pay TV licence fees for BBC Muslim bias
THANK you for your excellent and courageous coverage of the BBC’s programme on questions of security (“Fury over BBC’s bias to Muslims”, August 4).
Last week I had an exchange of letters with one of the editors of the Today programme about another biased piece of reporting that was nakedly anti-American. The editor told me the BBC also took issue with British foreign policy.
Where does it enjoin the BBC to take issue with British policy abroad? The Royal Charter lays fown a duty of impartiality. The BBC was found severely wanting by Hutton and is now fighting a shameless rearguard action.
Undermining the credibility of this country, its government and the vast majority of its people seems to be top of the BBC agenda. That this should be done in our name, as licence fee-payers, is nothing short of sickening.
The vast majority of the Muslim community in Britain and the rest of us share a common good. To allow the BBC and others to undermine it is unacceptable.
Professor Rene Weis, London.
and:
Corporation’s PC brigade is slowly killing ‘Auntie’
WITH reference to the diabolical Questions of Security programme screened on BBC TV (“Fury over BBC’s bias to Muslims”, August 4), I am afraid that we have to face an obvious truth – that the corporation is now just a grovelling apology of its former self, infested with politically correct types whose opinions bear no relation whatsoever to the vast majority of the public.
Auntie now resembles a once-magnificent oaken beam, riddled with woodworm and crumbling into its final collapse – like the country it used to so proudly represent.
Andrew Hathaway, East Grinstead, West Sussex.
George who?
Surely you don’t mean Galloway?
“What this Blog demonstrates is that the BEEB takes issue from a consistently extreme perspective, where it’s centre of gravity is far to the left of any credible politician”
I thought it was in cohorts with those notorious lefties, New Labour?
One aspect of David Bellamy’s opinions the Daily Politics wasn’t sufficently pro-environmentalist to include:
“A week or so ago the big-bearded TV personality and former environmentalist David Bellamy penned a frankly bizarre article in the Daily Mail, entitled ‘Global warming: what a load of poppycock!’. In it, he asserted that global warming is a “myth”, that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a good thing because CO2 fertilises plants, and that “climate change is an entirely natural phenomenon, nothing to do with the burning of fossil fuels”. Amusingly, the only supporting evidence Bellamy could find to cite was the notorious Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine petition of 1998, which claimed to have the signatures of 18,000 scientists, all disagreeing with global warming. The OISM, which is run from a remote shed in an Oregon wood by a right-wing Christian fundamentalist, was so lax about the names on its petition that they included Ginger Spice and Michael J. Fox, according to PR Watch”
http://www.marklynas.org/wind/bloggin/68.html
In light of the above post, I think you all might be right – the BBC is far too tolerant of extremist views.
Orla got in a bit of gratuitous Jew bashing on 6pm BBC1 News.
She was covering the killing of Israeli Arabs by a Jewish extremist.
Of slight relevence she decided to tell us that Arabs formed 20% of the Israeli population.
But she was then forced to go further & state that they/that many say that they are not treated as equals.
Adding this information is a serious matter & should not be thrown into a report on funerals without any supporting evidence.
But Orla just can’t help herself.
dan. maybe there are two sides to the story?
and that Orla can’t help but try and be ‘balanced’
The fact that her ‘balance’ puts her at odds to you, and that therefore you’re ‘unbalanced’ to her, just as she is ‘unbalanced’ to you is irrelevant, yes?
Agreed.
It would have taken her but a few seconds to mention U.S State Department Reports that state how: the Israeli government “(does) little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country’s Arab citizens.”
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41723.htm
However, I think this would mean the introduction of verbal footnotes for even the most obvious observations made by every BBC reporter.
steve jones – did you read my posting?
She may have a point about equality of treatment for Israeli Arabs, but surely if so, it is too important to be introduced as a single sentence into a report dealing with something entirely different.
Entirely different?
You’re trying to say that a “Jewish extremist” killing an Israeli Arab is unconnected to social discrimination against Arabs in Israel?
‘She may have a point about equality of treatment for Israeli Arabs, but surely if so, it is too important’
… to be left out of a piece discussing murder of an Israeli Arabs by an IDF soldier?
“questions as to whether the beeb is the `new Al Jazeera`”
Actually, that’s bacward. Al Jazeera is Beeb Jr. — same product, just more distilled.
dan,
Yep, I caught that report (much as one might catch food poisoning). Mind you, I’d only give it three straightjackets, not vintage Orla. Still, liked the suggestion about questions being asked of Israeli intelligence and how they let it happen. Apparently, the Orlon thinks ‘Minority Report’ was filmed on location in Israel. Ditto the suggestion that there was some question over whether nutboy acted alone. Huh ? What’s the question exactly ? Something like ‘Does the Orlon has any evidence whatsoever of a second gunman’ ? Probably not.
pumpkinsboy
there are others that the bbc takes no notice of.
the ft has two of their best columnists samuel brittan and john kay on the side of a more neutral take on climate warming.they both have sites on the web.
the bbc did a hatchet job on the lords report and denigrated its chairman lord wakeham.two former chancellors were also part of the committee that wrote the lord’s report
the fact that you accept the bbc take on climate warming is fair enough.the bbc however should not envelope us with its dogma which as i say is not necessarily accepted by all.
samuel brittan refers to those that think they are saving us as “salvationists’.apt i think.
dan i agree with you about orla guerin.she has her prejudices and does not hide them.i have been taking note of her anti israel stance for some years.
Pumpkinsboy/steve Jones – Sorry I am thick. You will have to explain to me what the killing of Arab Israelis by a Jewish extremist, motivated by the clearing of settlements in Gaza, has to do with the general condition of Arab Israeli citizens.
PS & that general condition can be described in a single sentence.
Galloway hammered by the BBC 😆
Galloway defends ‘martyrs’ remark – audio link
‘Hammered’ doesn’t mean posing leading questions in which he can rephrase his stance – and turn the questions around to condemn the questioner – hammered means nailing him to the ground.
Even assuming the Boobeesee questioner is not particularly versed in the history of events to challenge his statements, when Galloway condemns Bush as the “biggest terrorist of all for killing innocent people” it would only take one simple retort to HAMMER him, “Why then did you shake hands with Saddam Hussein and tell him what a great man he was, since here was a man who had murdered and tortured hundreds and thousands of innocent people?
Would you want the BBC to ask the same question of Rumsfeld?
pumpkinsboy
“you are trying to say that a “jewish extremist” killing of an israeli arab is unconnected to social discrimination against arabsin israel.”
so “arab extremists” killing of israeli jews is also connected to social discrimination?
Would you want an interviewer to ask Michael Howard why he opposed the minimum wage during every single discussion (over the past ten years) about UK unemployment figures?
Richard, yes, of course an Arab extremist killing Israeli Jews could be connected to social discrimination.
I’m not fighting the Arab corner here.
Dan’s disassociation between crime and context were simply ludicrous, as it would be in the hypothetical context you just mentioned.
pumpkinsboy
we are getting away from the real problem.this is that the left wing bbc thinks it is dealing with a nation of guardian readers.
that it is getting public money to finance its agenda.
that it hates all those who are not leftwing.note the continuing sneering at mrs thatcher.
the bbc should give us the news and not force its opinions on us.
Orla got in a bit of gratuitous Jew bashing on 6pm BBC1 News.
She was covering the killing of Israeli Arabs by a Jewish extremist.
Of slight relevence she decided to tell us that Arabs formed 20% of the Israeli population.
But she was then forced to go further & state that they/that many say that they are not treated as equals.
Adding this information is a serious matter & should not be thrown into a report on funerals without any supporting evidence.
But Orla just can’t help herself.
dan | 05.08.05 – 6:40 pm | #
I’m trying to imagine if there would be a similar slant in this country if after a racist attack on some Muslims, would the BBC add that Muslims comprise 2.5% of the population but “many say they are not treated as equals”?
I think if they did the majority of people here would simply think that it is the Muslims themselves that have not integrated, although they are given the same or more benefits as any UK citizen, and put it down to Muslim choice than their own prejudices. However since most people are ignorant of Israel’s policies, they are more likely to blame Israelis than the Arabs.
pumpkinsboy
michael howard and the minimum wage.
he is right because the minimum wage adds to unemployment.this is mainstream economics.
let the market set wages.
pumpkinsboy socialism has lost the battle of ideas some time ago.
Dan, try and remove yourself from you completely unobjective frame of mind.
Hypothetical scenario.
Alabama, 1910. A black man is lynched by white men. A newspaper report aimed at a European audience with only a tenuous understanding of Alabama society describes the murder – but neglects to mention the fact that blacks are second-class citizens in Alabama.
Bear in mind that those notorious anti-semites also known as the US State Department have concluded that social discrimination exists against Israeli Arabs.
Would that piece outlined above be a good piece of reporting or bad?
Would you want the BBC to ask the same question of Rumsfeld?
Pumpkinsboy | 05.08.05 – 7:51 pm | #
If it would be true for Rumsfeld then fine by me.
Pumpkinsboy – your comments are based on ignorance, which is understandable since the media does little to correct it. On ALL polls amongst Israeli Arabs – few would wish to take up Palestinian citizenship if given the opportunity.
Fact is Israeli Arabs enjoy the highest standard of living of any neighbouring Arab land. The only difference in benefits and opportunities between an Israeli Jew and Arab is that the latter does not have to serve in the army.
Richard, Howard was completely wrong, the mimimum wage did not cause the mass unemployment he predicted.
Indeed, I don’t think it caused any unemployment, since unemployment has fallen steadily, unhindered by the minimum wage (so unhindered the minumum wage is about to go up).
If you think it’s all part of some socialist conspiracy my only question would be: what planet are you living on?
You’re trying to say that a “Jewish extremist” killing an Israeli Arab is unconnected to social discrimination against Arabs in Israel?
It has absolutely NOTHING to do with social discrimination, anymore than a berserk maniac stabbing a Muslim is representitive of the whole society. The fact you think it’s different possibly shows the racist propaganda you have been fed.
Teddy Bear, when did I say Arabs would not be better off in Israel?
I didn’t, because I can fully understand why they would prefer to live in Israel rather than Palestine. Who wouldn’t?
Your statements do not make it any less true that social discrimination exists against Arabs in Israel.
My `ignorance` must clearly be shared by the US State Department, my source on this particular matter.
Or are they also part of the `mainstream media` conspiracy?
Teddy Bear, my hypothetical scenario adequately covered the stupidity of saying this particular murder of Israeli Arabs has no possible basis in social discrimination.
This 19 year old maniac, whom the Israelis have labelled a fanatical terrorist, did not murder these people because of social discrimination but as a result of ideological extremism. Would you call into question the murder of Rabin in 1994 as a matter of social discrimination?
I do not dispute that there probably is social discrimination to some extent on the part of some people in Israel, but it is not a government policy, more an individual mindset (the same as here) and has nothing to do with this particular story – this is the point. It’s like the same way that the BBC links anything negative that goes on in the world to the ‘moron George Bush’.
PUMPKINSBOY “I’m not fighting the Arab corner here.”
Maybe not, but you do seem to be fighting the BBC’s corner awfully hard.
Do you or have you or your family work(ed) for the BBC at all? If so, please be honest about where you’re coming from!
Pumpkinsboy!
RE “”What this Blog demonstrates is that the BEEB takes issue from a consistently extreme perspective, where it’s centre of gravity is far to the left of any credible politician”
I thought it was in cohorts with those notorious lefties, New Labour?
Pumpkinsboy | 05.08.05 – 6:15 pm | # ”
Sorry couldn’t reply earlier – I actually have a life to lead.
Although my point is that aunties stance IS to the left of New Labour (although some would dispute they have any credibility) on many issues, you do have a point – many of the producers / presenters are Tonys Cronies – Well spotted!
Why wouldn’t there be discrimination of Arabs in Israel? Try living in Arab lands as a Jew… I’ve always admired the Israelis because they haven’t become PC so far – probably because they’re fighting for their lives. If someone ever wants to erect a statue of a PC poster boy I’ll send them to you, Pumpkinsboy!
Well, we can never agree, but I stand by everything I’ve said.
I’m a minimum wage-earning guy (my English degree about as useful as a surfing degree in the job market, lol), working class, 24, from Co.Durham, who could never have any kind of connection to the Oxbridge network that is the BBC.
I probably have has much scorn for middle-class metropolitian liberals as you lot sometimes (although I do read the Guardian…which is filled with pullouts for holidays in Tuscany and adverts for BMW more than anything else these days)
My perception of the BBC is positive simply because I believe they are, on balance, the most reliable and fair source for news on the planet.
However, I do believe that the BBC, cuturally and socially speaking, has an unofficial agenda, in that it does promote multiculturalism. I could understand Michael Portillo’s reservations about the BBC promoting African culture recently at the exact same time as politicans were discussing cancelling the debt and so forth. That was ill-judged. But that’s about as extreme as I see the BBC going in terms of advocating its own social outlook.
As a person who grew up in Co.Durham during the 1980’s, my memories of the BBC include `last night of the proms` and a distinct lack of fairness towards a certain band of striking men.
That’s a bias I CAN relate to.
I know you all see an anti-Israel plot going on, but based on what I read on this website it’s pretty paranoid stuff that sounds like it equates any criticism of the Israeli government or even a basic description of the situation in Israel/Palestine (such as describing anti-Arab prejudice as the backdrop to a murder of Arabs by a Jewish extremist) as a de-facto plot against Israel.
I believe we need to know more about our enemy than just being told by the Daily Mail and Express that they are our enemy.
Guerin’s lack of concern in this interview is the sound of a person who knows what she’s doing is objective and fair:
http://www.davidrowan.com/2003/12/interview-orla-guerin-bbc-middle-east.html
You’re all pretty way out to the far right in my view (although I always sense middle England is actually a sleeping far-right cell that will soon have it’s anti-multicutural revenge and vote the Tories back in with a David Davis inspired landslide), but in a way I’m glad Biased BBC exists, because I fear everything in this country oozing into a moderate-Labour/moderate-Tory mush of sameness.
So no, I’m not a BBC mole!
Pumpkinsboy!
Re Minimum Wage
“Indeed, I don’t think it caused any unemployment, since unemployment has fallen steadily……….”
So the minimum wage is the only influence on unemployment rates.
Interesting!
No, but you only have to see Howard (grudingly, of course) supporting the new minimum wage rises to see that it isn’t exactly a new dawn that has the bank of England screaming `socialist` at Brown.
It seems to me it’s more of a matter of principle for some on right as much as economics.
When the recession hits (which it surely will, no matter what Brown says), it won’t have much to do with the minimum wage.
HIZB UT TAHRIR – ten o’clock news tonight was a PR boost for them. Despite being banned by the US and Germany for example this was NOT mentioned once in the report. But on at least three occasions the reporter (Brown?) claimed HUT were a non-violent organisation etc. Oh tell me where did all those lads come from that attacked George Galloway during his eelction campaign? Oh – HUT! Harry’s Place has lots of stuff about their racist and violent links yet the BBC report said nothing about this at all….why were HUT not billed the normal rates for TV advertising?
Link to harry’s Place article here
Pumpkinsboy – I wonder how much research you have done on the subject of Israel to judge how ‘unbiased’ you believe the BBC and Orla Guerlin have and are being, or is it simply a matter that you don’t care much one way or the other since it doesn’t affect you much and it’s convenient to accept the ‘party’ line?
Well here’s a test for you – you state that you are a Guardian reader. Does it bother you that in their “Israel and the Middle
East – Key Events”
for the year 1994 the only event shown is “1994 – Baruch Goldstein, a demented Jewish zealot in the flashpoint West Bank town of Hebron, goes beserk in the town’s most historic mosque, killing 29 Arabs with his assault rifle.”
Amazingly, ignored are other key events such as:
1. May 1994 – The Gaza/Jericho agreement in Cairo between Israel and
the PA giving autonomy to the Palestinian Authority in those areas – Surely a Key Event???
2. July 1994 – The Israel/Jordan peace treaty – Surely a Key Event???
In light of the only event that your paper does show, would it not be
equitable to also have:
3. 40 Israelis murdered by demented terrorists in numerous beserk attacks throughout that year – most following the granting of autonomy to the PA?
Or do you simply not care?
You keep insisting that the recent shooting attack by a crazy 19 year old on Israeli Arabs which culminated in his being lynched is a matter of social discrimination to justify Orla Guerlins reportage.
You are sounding more and more ignorant than I first gave you credit for, and the reason you may be working for minimum wage has little to do with whether you have an English degree or not.
Pumpkinsboy,
We’re rather getting away from the subject of this Blog BUT RE
“never have any kind of connection to the Oxbridge network that is the BBC.”
“However, I do believe that the BBC, culturally and socially speaking, has an unofficial agenda”,
“the BBC going in terms of advocating its own social outlook.”
Do I detect a softening in tone! Some of your observations above are precisely why people post here!
“in a way I’m glad Biased BBC exists,”
Careful!
Pumpy:
Come towards the light brother! SEE the truth!
‘She may have a point about equality of treatment for Israeli Arabs, but surely if so, it is too important’
… to be left out of a piece discussing murder of an Israeli Arabs by an IDF soldier?
steve jones | 05.08.05 – 7:13 pm | #
I think you’ll find he was AWOL from the army. He left because of the Gaza withdrawel.
If you want to see a bit of “consistancy”, go to the Telegraph. They call all terrorists “terrorists”. The Telegraph doesn’t give a shit about religion, race, sexuality – a c.u.n.t. is a c.u.n.t in their eyes:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/05/wmid05.xml
“A right-wing Jewish terrorist opened fire on a bus full of Palestinians in Israel yesterday killing at least four people before he was beaten to death by a lynch mob.
The incident, the worst terrorist attack by an Israeli extremist for at least five years, threatened the planned withdrawal of all 7,500 Jewish settlers from Gaza.”
and….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/16/wmid16.xml
“Mr Abbas has repeatedly said he will try to disarm the extremists responsible for terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, on Israel but his security forces are known to be weak, poorly led and poorly motivated.”
If only the BBC could be as consistant. Not much chance of that when the “Evil Jew” is involved….
Teddy, really, no need to get personally aggressive.
Actually, just because I read the Guardian doesn’t mean I approve entirely of everything it chooses to print (indeed, I alluded as much when I said I read it).
If you think it’s `ignorant` to point out that this recent murder clearly has a social context (that’s context, not motive) then I’m afraid the ignorance is entirely yours.
I say again: if a black man is lynched in Alabama a reporter would be INCOMPETENT not to mention the social context of racism.
The US State Department maintains there is social descrimination against Arabs in Israel.
It’s really simple even for a minimum wage person like myself (by the way, I’m very proud of my job, which I don’t do for money, so stick your snobbish personal insult somewhere else)
PeterN, lol, info was merely a defensive move against `he’s surely connected to the beeb` paranoia.
I can definitely point out the BBC errors (or, actually, what I see as errors from my personal viewpoint), but I think, technically speaking, they are wildly inflated by this site, which borders on the hysterical.
However, I think the beeb’s controllers of information should definitely take notice of the stuff on here, they could halve those screaming Express and Mail front pages against them with a few careful `biased bbc` inspired tweaks.
OT, but… Uh…
BBC
“Similar moves in the past have failed to gather the three-thirds majority required for constitutional amendments in both houses of the US Congress.”
Ummm… a three-thirds majority??? Is that something akin to the two-thirds majority that’s actually needed in both houses???
I noticed that the article also forgot to mention that “three-thirds” of the individual State legislatures ALSO have to pass the amendment for it to become part of the Constitution. This doesn’t happen all that easily, so it’s a complete non-issue.
Pumpkinboy
On the other hand, it would be extremely irresponsible to describe a lynching as racially motivated without very thoroughly investigating the circumstances first. If a lynching were found not to be racially motivated, it would be criminally irresponsible to allude to the ‘social context of racism’, lest it serve to fan the flames of anti-white racism and make a bad situation worse. This is, of course, exactly what the BBC is apt to do with their sloppy, emotional reporting.
See myth #3 here for future reference. Check out the other myths while you’re there. These are things the left-wing media will never tell you about.
pumpkinsboy
i can feel that you have genuinely held views which i respect.the fact that we disagree is part of the game.
i do not speak of a socialist conspiracy because i do not believe there is one.i do believe that socialism has lost the battle of ideas.
the minimum wage.we will not change each other’s views and this is not the forum for such a discussion.
please accept my good wishes.
to teddy bear and dan.
british tv license payers are not interested in the intricacies of the east.I remember an american state department who said”i dont care who p-ssed in who’s well in nablus”that
orla guerin does not like israel is obvious to all.but it is of no interest.
what is of interest is when the bbc shoves its ideology down our throats.
ideology that is of direct concern to britons.
the only people who care about the middle-east are those with direct concerns there.and that is how it should be.
pumpkinsboy has put forward his views.i do not agree with him but he is genuine.
BBC:
Daryl Atkins has been sentenced to death in 1998 for murdering a 21-year-old Air Force mechanic in 1996 over beer money.
Telegraph:
Atkins, 27, was convicted for the 1996 murder of Eric Nesbitt, a 21-year-old airman, shooting him eight times after forcing him to withdraw money from a cash machine in Virginia.