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Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:
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A little further up this thread
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/patrickcrozier/117244047363508277/?a=24284#331822
I mentioned that a South African radio station, has branched out into the Middle East in an attempt to build bridges between the warring parties.
They have decided to be scrupulously politically correct and will not be using the words terrorist or martyr.
And it looks like they are not going to be mentioning race or religion if they can possibly help it.
Today they reported that three Israelis had been convicted of assisting a suicide bomber to kill five people and wound dozens of others outside a shopping mall in Netanya in 2005.
The three had driven him to the mall. Turns out that the one who drove is Jewish and the two passengers Arabs. It makes nonsense of the story to omit those very pertinent facts.
It’s high time that the media stopped tying itself into PC knots and just gives us the facts.
Er….just gave us the facts.
No I cannot blame the BBC for boring politicians and I don’t – what I do blame them for is packing the panel with a majority of left wingers – they now have 5 guests on the panel how can you possibly have a fair balance with that. During the time that Sir Robin Day hosted question time – more often than not there were four politicians 2 from the left and 2 from the right.
Now tell me that that is not balance.
If the BBC were truly objective they would have realised by now that not only do they have a one sided panel but also a one sided audience.
I will never forget the insults flying at the US ambassador just after 9/11 by an invited audience of Muslims and Socialist worker members and a panel who were so anti-American it was unbelievable. From that moment on I felt ashamed of the BBC. Now tell me that the intention of the BBC on that night was to be impartial. The BBC should have the “British” removed from its title.
The problem is the BBC have not learned anything from this and never will.
I too have complained to the BBC about many instances of dodgy statistics and have received one reply.
The most blatant headlines came during the general election. One was something like “54% of the British Public do not trust Howard.” No 54% of the 1,000 people who were asked did not trust Howard (which was only mentioned way down in the small print). It was an obvious attempt to sway the electorate during a general election.
So Andy Tedd don’t tell me that the BBC gives the same weight to all opinion because we all know that is not true.
Andy Tedd (exBBC):
BioD I’ve given you the link you need. If you see an article using ‘Jewish’ where you think ‘Israeli’ would be more appropriate then write to the BBC referencing that bit of the website and ask them to change it, giving your reasons why.
Don’t be so f*cking pompous!
You still haven’t directly answered my question as to whether you feel its appropriate to call all 400,000 settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Jewish rather than Israeli. The BBC guidelines would seem to indicate its not.
I’ve said, and JR elaborated, there are occasions when eg settlers may be settling for religious reasons, and actually be in conflict with the Israeli state, so it is important to have terms and so be able to distinguish.
All 400,000?
JR has not replied to my response to his elaboration either.
As Bryan has pointed out I, and others here, have lodged complaints and made suggestions which have brought about changes.
At least JR had the good sense and was enough of a gent to agree with me over the need for a ‘disclaimer’ on the Barbara Plett piece.
Will you agree with me that labelling all 400,000 settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Jewish rather than Israeli is inappropriate and apparently contrary to the BBC’s own guidelines?
Note this revision from Newsniffer:
“Mr Hicks was captured in Afghanistan, where he allegedly fought alongside the ruling Taleban against US-led forces.”
Now reads
“Mr Hicks was detained in Afghanistan, where he allegedly fought alongside the ruling Taleban against US-led forces.”
link:
http://newssniffer.newworldodour.co.uk/articles/29517/diff/1/2
The way the BBC talk you would think that the US picked up someone walking down the street in Kabul window shopping.
But this is what they don’t tell you.
“Hicks has never had an opportunity to give a public and detailed account of the beliefs that motivated him to enlist with the KLA, Lashkar-e-Toiba or the Taliban. In 2004 an Australian documentary called The President versus David Hicks was made by Curtis Levy, with the cooperation of Terry Hicks, who appears in the documentary.
In the documentary, Terry Hicks reads out excerpts of David Hicks’s letters, in which Hicks says that his training in Pakistan and Afghanistan is designed to ensure “the Western-Jewish domination is finished, so we live under Muslim law again”. He denounces the plots of the Jews to divide Muslims and make them think poorly of Osama bin Laden and warns his father to ignore “the Jews’ propaganda war machine,” [24]
Hicks allegedly told fellow recruits at his training camp he wanted to, “go back to Australia and rob and kill Jews”,”crash a plane into a building”, and “go out with that last big adrenalin rush”.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hicks
Anon was me.
The polls are going against nulab so on “this week” they roll out james “When WE win the election” nogtee to rubbish the whole idea of polling just now in an attempt to protect gordon brown’s flank.
This solo diatribe gave a new, extra meaning to the technical term “a one hander”.
Ha!
Even Wikipedia calls Hicks a ‘Soldier of fortune’ rather than a Jihadi.
More nonsense from a dreadful Government:”
Racism and a very stupid white woman”
“In Labour’s multiculti la-la land, being white and British is now officially a sacking offence. That’s the fate which has befallen 80 staff working for the prison service in Corby, Northants.
They have been told their office is being closed and operations transferred to Leicester, home to a far greater number of people from the ethnic minorities”.
More
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/dailymail.html?in_article_id=439530&in_page_id=1790
…
Surprised the free ride has lasted so long.. “The US is now the country living precariously on foreign credit”..The growth in the US and Europe over the last few years has not come from manufacturing anything and exporting but from cheap credit,those days are numbered, expecting much worse to come..
“The yen has continued its dramatic surge as hedge funds scrambled to unwind “carry trade” positions, setting off wild swings on world stock markets.
Speculators with leveraged bets appeared to be throwing in the towel yesterday after the yen punched through key resistance, reaching a 10-week high of 117 against the dollar”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/03/02/cnyen02.xml
.
“Time to ask the Dimbleby question”
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk
Melanie Phillips has posted her Australian lecture, on theme of an up-date of ‘Londonistan’ here:
“The Quadrant lecture” ( 2 March)
http://www.melaniephillips.com
.
More to the point, time to dump the hand picked lefty audience on the BBC program Question Time..
“It’s time to dump Wombleby and liven up Question Time”
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=2&subID=1486
Good morning Jon, BioD, Andy etal,
Something Jon said regarding “What used to be a genuine political debate, has turned into a dumbed down third rate “pebble mill at one”. Do we have no great political orators anymore – all of them seem to live in their own world very much dispatched from the real world”.
I think you are starting to ask the right questions,as it’s something I’ve really noticed in the last year or so.
I watched Newsnight’s cozy little debate regarding school selection policy in England and Wales.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/6409857.stm
Two very nice guys from the political parties (Lab and Con) and LSE academic,a headmaster and a guy who was on a perent/teacher commitee in Brighton (I can’t remember his role exactly)
In the end all I managed to understand that the Conservatives policy was to have “better schools across the board”.
We’ll knock me down-Isn’t that a radical idea!!The rest is “duckspeak” apart from the one chap from Brighton.
When the gentleman raised the issue of Green and Labour councillors “adjusting” catchment area’s so that voters more “sympathetic” get into the over subscribed schools like sheep they all nodded in agreement and said nothing!The same with “enviromental” debates,”Iraq” debates,”immigration” debates and other “issue” driven disscusions
Why does this involve the Beeb (and others)?
IMHO I think there are two reasons:
-All the politicians have now PR agencies telling them to be more “media focused”, “media friendly” so in turn they tune the message to the medium so that the “medium becomes the message”.And because Auntie is percieved to be PC…oops….”progressive” wing of the media so even the “right” tones down its view. That’s why they all love West Wing and the Thick of It,all the PR “focus groups” etc.
-The MSM along with most of the “soft” industries that have us in our thrall sell you a “lifestyle” and seeing as the Beeb is no different from any other form of media, except we pay, in offering a “product” you are only going to getthat “brand’s”flavour,smell,taste or in this case “idealogical” content and the relience of “pop” culture to sell it.
And seeing how global the BBC works in,so smaller broadcasters like C4 or Talpa in the Netherlands “copy” (with there own imprint)the likes of CNN or the BBC so that you get “clones”.
Politics,media and pop culture are so insestious now that we are starting to see the media undermine the very idea of “democracy”.
Eventually I think, we will be presented with one homogonous view point,so instead of voting on policies we will be voting on wether we like them or not……(hmmm)
I’m sure there are people out there who can explain it better,but I do think how media effects Government is worth looking into in detail.
Hence my interest in Biased BBC….
This Government will be long gone before this can be implemented..
Obviously Labour has forgotten about the Poll Tax Riots.
Cruel Britannia
Road toll: £1.34 in city and 2p in country
Motorists could be forced to pay £1.34 to drive a mile in city centres under a version of the controversial road pricing scheme now favoured by ministers.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/02/nroads02.xml
One of the items in the 8:00 Radio 4 News is the startling revelation (after 65 years) that the Home Guard was criticised as probably being not up to its job in defending the cosats of the UK. This is “news” apparently because, I suspect, it ticks all the right BBC boxes: members of the Home Guard were old, patriotic and – the BBC favourite – hideously white. The “news” item is followed by an extended “humorous” item in “Today” where an extract from “Dad’s Army” is broadcast – brilliantly incisive!
At the same time the BBC ignores other revelations concerning, for instance, further details of the bien pensant traitors betraying us to the Soviets and, of much more historic interest, Churchill’s decision not to entertain von Moltke’s offer of German intelligence (due to Churchill’s suspicion that this was a trap).
You’ve got to admire the BBC: both crap and biased journalism in one go.
Should be “coasts” not “cosats” (whatever they were!)
Fiji’s economy on brink of collapse
FIJIANS have been told the national economy is perilously close to collapse and an emergency budget handed down today will determine if the country sinks or swims.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21313133-601,00.html
Current account deficit at record $15bn
AUSTRALIA’S current account deficit has ballooned after strong domestic demand pushed imports higher in the December quarter, economists say.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21313040-601,00.html
Anonymous | 02.03.07 – 6:02 am
Anonymous | 02.03.07 – 9:58 am
Do you have any reports on tractor production in N. Korea?
No doubt Al Beeb will be reporti ng this matter of racism prominently.
“Racism and a very stupid white woman” (Richard Littlejohn, 2 Mar.)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk
Try telling this guy the BBC is biased to the ‘left’
Andy Tedd (exBBC) | 01.03.07 – 10:23 pm
We hear this tired old statement endlessly on forums and from the BBC itself. The fact that someone on the lunatic left fringe decides that the BBC isn’t following his/her agenda faithfully enough has no bearing on the BBC’s actual bias but is simply an expression of the idiocy of the far left.
You need to come up with something a little more original to convince us that the BBC is impartial. You could also try to respond to an actual challenge or two here. How about looking at the BBC’s handling of the Israel-Hezbollah war? If you find no bias there, then I’m afraid there ain’t no hope at all of you finding bias anywhere.
I meant to add that I don’t think anyone here wants or expects the BBC to follow a conservative agenda. We simply want the BBC to be even-handed and to stop lying to the public by distorting and omitting facts that contradict its own agenda.
Once it takes that initial step, it may even be able to come to the realisation that it shouldn’t have an agenda other than that of impartiality.
This fits Al Beeb’s unstated, but practised, philosophy of ‘liberalism’:-
…”the central plank of modern liberalism is non-discrimination and tolerance, tolerance AS THE RULING PRINCIPLE, thus tolerance as a principle that does not contain any inherent limit to tolerance. Modern liberalism means TOLERANCE OF THE INTOLERANT, openness to that which would destroy the tolerant society, such as Islam, including blatantly radical forms of Islam.”
Lawrence Auster,”Must we allay with liberals and approve of liberalism to save the West?”
http://www.amnation.com/vfr
O/T but strange.
On the “The Today Programme ….” thread this
The Fat Contractor | 01.03.07 – 6:59 pm linking to
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=14
“Bloody Bill Clinton – American Caligula”
sourced in part from
Ambrose Pritchard-Evans writing in The Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph
Then above
Anonymous | 02.03.07 – 6:02 am
linking to
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/03/02/cnyen02.xml
Market shake-out reveals the days of US financial dominance are numbered
Written by none other than Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. The article appears to relish a US downfall, e.g.
David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC, said the “epicentre” of the latest market shake-out is the United States, with Asia playing second fiddle.
“The numbers coming out of the US are absolutely atrocious,” he said. “The market has suddenly discovered that the emperor has no clothes
That will be the HSBC which is so perceptive that it has just taken a hit over its US sub-prime lending operation, acquired a couple of years ago. & the HSBC that has underperformed the FTSE100 by about 30% over the past 3 years.
But it seems that the BBC is gaining a US bashing ally with the Telegraph stable.
Anyone else seen this?
The controversial Cameron “Bullingdon club” photo, which Labour were planning to use in an election poster, has been withdrawn by the agency that holds the copyright.
So – Newsnight have spent some of our licence fees on getting an artist to reproduce it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6409757.stm
In the interests of political impartiality of course.
“But it seems that the BBC is gaining a US bashing ally with the Telegraph stable”.
Will,
Nothing to with American Bashing…More do with common-sense. America and UK have been propping up their economy’s for years with cheap borrowed money some may consider that growth I consider that false economy that is sustainable. A typical example is how house prices have risen in both country’s with easy lending and not from genuine economic growth which was always the yardstick. The 25 year mortgage is now a life time mortgage with pay interest only so now I can pay double the price for the house with the same monthly payments.…Unfortunately, as they say “The chickens are coming home to roost”.
Foxgoose:
Saw it with that appaling Micheal Crick.
What is his job by the way?
Good to see Mark Urban……one of the few decent journalists on Al Beeb,who we don’t see enough of.
Any reason why Beeboids?
Anonymous “A typical example is how house prices have risen in both country’s with easy lending”
House prices have risen because of demand & that most can afford the higher price because the interest, of which you complain, is now less than half the rate payable in the 20 years to the mid-90s.
& why has demand risen? More divorce (who is to blame for that)? & immigration?
Perhaps it is non-mortgage debt that is the more worrying.
America and UK have been propping up their economy’s for years
The US has been propping up the world economy & even with the US’s massive trade deficit the unemployment rates in Germany & France approach double the US rate. The relish with which people anticipate a downturn in the US economy is really cutting off their nose to spite their face. You criticise US/UK borrowing, but there are enormous long term motes in the eyes of the major European economies & without reform it is still a case that when America sneezes the rest of us catch a cold.
More on US bashing, Gerard Baker in The Times wonders how the anti-US crowd will manage without the bogey man to blame.
Oh George, what will we do when you’re gone?
Somewhere, deep down, tucked away underneath their loathing for George Bush, in a secret place where the lights of smart dinner-party conversation and clever debating-society repartee never shine, the growing hordes of America-bashers must dread the moment he leaves office.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article1459222.ece
BBC strikes Google-YouTube deal
Here’s an example of what’s on offer:
Katya Adler in Palestine
Not “Palestine”, not “Palestinian territories”, not “Palestinian Authority”.
The BBC has already created the de-facto state of Palestine.
To paraphrase Al Capone, “Palestine? I don’t even know what street its on!”
Hey Beeboids, Al Gore is giving you a way out. Check out his “balance is bias” comments on media coverage of global warning. Enjoy!
http://newsbusters.org/node/11109
Global Warming on Mars too!
dont tell Al Gore or the BBC.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html
Will,
A nice insisive article
Indeed by June (?) when the “dark prince” has gone who are we going to blame then?
Brown,Cameron or Campbell? Hardly “Churchillian” stuff!I’m glad I’ve immigrated…..
Socialism is Necrotizing | 02.03.07 – 3:58 pm
Global Warming on Mars too!
You are not thinking straight. What about the mars landers the US and the OU sent recently. They are obviously responsible for Mars warming ;-p
will | 02.03.07 – 12:46 pm |
But it seems that the BBC is gaining a US bashing ally with the Telegraph stable.
No, it’s anti-Clinton not anti-American. Though he may see himself as Mr America, few others do.
I originally posted this link because I thought it was interesting, but I don’t necessarily believe it all. I’ve not heard a peep on hardly any of this stuff on the BBC. Is that because it is all agitprop or is it because the BBC don’t want us to know?
BBC tell us that Queen Elizabeth granted Corby, or Corbei as it was then known, a charter in 1585…. Queen Elizabeth was out hunting with a party in Rockingham Forest, became lost, and was thrown into a treacherous bog. She was rescued by villagers from Corbei and said the immortal words: “Corbei God Bless You”.
But I haven’t heard or seen anything on BBC News about Corby, in Northamptonshire as “The town branded too white and too British” One would presume that their silence concerning it is really only a kind of tacit nodding in agreement and “where’s the news?”, after all, it is exactly the sort of thing their Greg Dyke originally said about the BBC as an organisation- that it was also “hideously white”. So, no guesses as to what Al Beeb think about this story. It really is a pity that Richard Littlejohn wasn’t on BBC Question Time this week as what he has to say about it is refreshing. Looks like the CRE will wade in too.
Racism and a very stupid white woman (2nd March 2007)
“Israelis choose song mocking global jihad for European song contest; Eurodhimmis mulling ban.”
(2 Mar.)
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch
IngSoc is doublethink:
Foxgoose:
Saw it with that appaling Micheal Crick.
What is his job by the way?
Michael Crick appeared as “himself” I guess a BBC 2 Newsnight journalist in ITV 1s “Confessions Of A Diary Secretary” (28 Feb ), trying to interview Tracey Temple outside of Parliament. I wonder if the BBC will allow him to star in the one they make of Ann Beasley?
Al Beeb seems to avoid polls like this.
Readers’ poll in London ‘Evening Standard’:
Question: ” Has recent immigration improved the quality of life in the capital”?
Result so far:
Yes 26%
No 74%
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/
Umbongo | 02.03.07 – 9:25 am |
Should be “coasts” not “cosats” (whatever they were!)
“cosats” are Russian light cavalry with a penchant for riding down fiddlers who have got off their roofs. I think. IGMC.
fiddlers who have got off their roofs…
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2023532,00.html
Questions are being asked about why the BBC failed to take action over Saturday Kitchen phone-in allegations made back in December.
Yesterday, the BBC Vision director, Jana Bennett, said that “as soon as” the problems over scripting and pre-recording the BBC1 cookery show “came to light, we took immediate action“.
Her statement followed reports in some of the Sunday papers that on February 17, Saturday Kitchen was inviting viewers to make premium-rate phone calls to a “live” cookery show that had in fact already been recorded.
…However, Private Eye reporter Adam Macqueen has said he contacted the BBC about the issue on December 15 last year.
Advance notice:
“The Great Global Warming Swindle”
Channel 4, Thursday, 8 March, 9.00-10.30pm.
For details go to:
http://www.channel4.com/science
“Instead the documentary highlights recent research that the effect of the sun’s radiation on the atmosphere may be a better explanation for the regular swings of climate from ice ages to warm interglacial periods and back again”.
“The film hears from scientists who dispute the link between carbon dioxide levels and global temperatures”.
Never to be seen on BBC
great_global_warming_swindle
http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/G/great_global_warming_swindle/index.html
Alan:
Thanks for the tip – I will certainly watch it. It will probably go the same way as any documentaries on Channel 4 and be totally ignored.
“The film brings together the arguments of leading scientists who disagree with the prevailing consensus that a ‘greenhouse effect’ of carbon dioxide released by human activity is the cause of rising global temperatures.”
I thought according to the BBC – all scientists agree on the causes of global warming. It seems that they should get out and research their propaganda more.
“IngSoc is doublethink | 02.03.07 – 8:52 am”
there is a way out of that incestous relationship – its the internet.
we’re a bit behind the times over here, but its certainly reinvigorated political debate in the U.S. , while MSM audiences, especially for news, have gone into freefall.
BioD oooh I do like the snarly tone – macho grrr grrrr!
However, more constructively if I had written that article I probably would have used ‘Israeli’ rather than ‘Jewish’ as I indicated in my previous post and about 3 other posts before that.
But when it comes down to it who – who is in that group of people able to make a difference – gives a feck what I would have written – not the BBC – so why not direct a bit of that energy in the right direction? 🙂
Bryan – as I have said I am not playing the ‘piss of the ‘left’ piss of the ‘right’ qed impartial’ card. I am merely pointing out that there are people who find ‘right wing’ bias in the same organisation you find ‘left wing’ bias in. Can the organisation be biased in both directions? Or is only one side correct?
That article was a bit loony left, but if you consider eg the medialens guys as ‘loonys’, well, let’s see if you do…
“There is a strong rumour tonight that the government (or maybe it’s the Labour Party) has tonight taken out an injunction against the BBC to prevent the reporting of something substantive regarding the Cash for Honours Inquiry.”
http://www.iaindale.blogspot.com/
It must be serious if NuLabour don’t trust their chums at the Beeb.
It does seem a bit odd though – why the BBC? – This would not stop newspapers or Sky or ITN reporting it.
Unless the BBC already have the information.