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Anonanon:
To be fair the BBC does say:
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said all seven youths in custody are black.
From Bio’s link to the NYT opinion piece –
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria enjoys similar favor (with the BBC World Service). When a State Department representative referred to Syria as a dictatorship, his BBC interviewer immediately interrupted and reprimanded him.
So Syria joins Iran in having a special form of democracy, according to the BBC.
The full article from NYT linked to by Biodegradable:
The Biased Broadcasting Corporation
By FRANK H. STEWART
LAST summer, the Archbishop of Algeria remarked to this newspaper that when satellite dishes first appeared in Algeria, they were typically positioned to receive French broadcasts. Now the majority receive programming from the Persian Gulf.
“If you watch Western television, you live in one universe,” said the archbishop, “and if you watch Middle Eastern television, you live in another altogether.” The Middle Eastern broadcasts, he added, tended to depict the West in a negative light.
Washington is well aware of this problem and has tried to address it. In 2004, the United States established its own Arabic-language satellite television station, Al Hurra. But Al Hurra has not been a success, and stations like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiyya, based in the Gulf states, continue to dominate the region.
Those stations will soon face a formidable rival. The BBC World Service plans to start an Arabic television service this fall, and the BBC knows what it is doing. It has been broadcasting in Arabic on the radio for more than 60 years and has a huge audience.
This new television station might sound like good news for America. Many of us pick up BBC broadcasts in English, and we respect their quality. But the World Service in English is one thing, and the World Service in Arabic is another entirely. If the BBC’s Arabic TV programs resemble its radio programs, then they will be just as anti-Western as anything that comes out of the Gulf, if not more so. They will serve to increase, rather than to diminish, tensions, hostilities and misunderstandings among nations.
For example, a 50-minute BBC Arabic Service discussion program about torture discussed only one specific allegation, which came from the head of an organization representing some 90 Saudis imprisoned at Guantánamo. This speaker stated that the prisoners were subject to disgusting and horrible forms of torture and suggested that three inmates reported by the United States to have committed suicide were actually killed. Another participant insisted that the two countries guilty of torturing political prisoners on the largest scale were Israel and the United States.
At the same time, the authoritarian regimes and armed militants of the Arab world get sympathetic treatment on BBC Arabic. When Saddam Hussein was in power, he was a great favorite of the service, which reported as straight news his re-election to a seven-year term in 2002, when he got 100 percent of the vote. President Bashar al-Assad of Syria enjoys similar favor. When a State Department representative referred to Syria as a dictatorship, his BBC interviewer immediately interrupted and reprimanded him.
The Arabic Service not only shields Arab leaders from criticism but also tends to avoid topics they might find embarrassing: human rights, the role of military and security forces, corruption, discrimination against minorities, censorship, poverty and unemployment. When, from time to time, such topics do arise, they are usually dealt with in the most general terms: there may, for instance, be guarded references to “certain Arab countries.”
By contrast, the words and deeds of Western leaders, particularly the American president and the British prime minister, are subject to minute analysis, generally on the assumption that behind them lies a hidden and disreputable agenda. Last summer, when the British arrested two dozen people alleged to have been plotting to blow up airplanes crossing the Atlantic, a BBC presenter centered a discussion on the theory that these arrests had taken place because Tony Blair, embarrassed by opposition to Britain’s role in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, wanted to distract the public while at the same time associating Muslims with terrorism.
The British are among our closest and most reliable allies, and it is strange that their government pays for these broadcasts, many of which are produced in Cairo rather than in London. If the BBC models its Arabic television service on its Arabic radio service, yet another anti-Western, antidemocratic channel will find its place on the Arab screen.
Frank H. Stewart is a professor in the department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a visiting scholar at New York University.
Biodegradable | 15.03.07 – 6:42 pm : “A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said all seven youths in custody are black.”
I’m pretty sure that has been added during the latest update.
By Justin Webb
BBC News, Venezuela
petrol here is cheaper than the most basic bottled water.
Even in the UK?
Webb goes on to tell of the crumbling economy – inflation, price controls, shortages etc
But Hugo Chavez has – so far – sent very few people to jail for political crimes.
So that’s OK then!
I find myself torn by Venezuela – its economic experiment seems to me utterly doomed, and yet at the same time, wonderfully noble.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6435313.stm
Anonanon:
it’s also been updated from 5 arrested to 7
http://newssniffer.newworldodour.co.uk/articles/31883/diff/1/2
Re: “A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said all seven youths in custody are black.”
Just noticed that I still have the tab open with the 15:38 timestamp and that line is not there. The BBC has updated its report to include the Met’s info. Doesn’t alter the fact that the BBC managed to find a politically correct eyewitness to quote.
Anonanon | 15.03.07 – 7:15 pm
Or they selectively quoted the same witness.
John Reith could have written this:
He just wants us to admit that there are victims on both sides – that, to some suffering communities who have been on the wrong end of American bombs, Americans are the inhuman ‘enemy combatants.’
Who is he talking about and justifying, nay, glorifying?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/15/1201/95933
The same ‘man’ who also says this:
I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew Daniel Pearl
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6455307.stm
Or they selectively quoted the same witness.
Biodegradable | 15.03.07 – 7:23 pm
Surely the BBC would never do something like that!
Returning to an earlier theme – Melanie Phillips and others have already highlighted Miliband’s comment about the C4 Swindle film (“I didn’t see the programme — but I promise you I will do a blog demolishing its contents”) but I don’t think anyone has pointed out John Humphrys’ response. Did Humph question the idiocy of the Environment Secretary’s statement? No – this is what the great attack dog of Radio 4 news said: “Look forward to the blog.”
Bryan | 15.03.07 – 9:47 am |
I’ve talked to loads of Irish people about ‘The Troubles’ and, for the most part, they have been civilised discussions. The vast majority of Irish people I met despised the IRA, considered them criminals and wanted nothing to do with them. A small minority, maybe two, were fervent fans. I have had several uneasy evenings in real, rather than themed, Irish pubs where the hat was passed around ‘for the boys’. I have met Catholics who wanted Ulster to stay British and Protestants who wanted a united Ireland. However the majority of Catholics wanted a united Ireland and the majority of Protestants wanted to remain British. Not a scientific study I know.
On the BBC you rarely heard the voice of the ordinary Irishman when a bomb went off, only Adams and Paisley got a shout. In the ‘70s and ‘80s it was easier to think the Irish supported the IRA because that was what we were led to believe.
I think that Muslims now have the same problem that the Irish had. The majority are only very loosely fellow travellers with the fanatics and they hate them and would rather they didn’t blow themselves up in London Tube trains. But what can they do about it? The ‘community leaders’ don’t speak for them, or even allow them a voice. No one in the press will give them a voice. Even the BBC, with its dhimmi attitudes ignores the ordinary Muslim and focuses on the fanatics. Most probably don’t even go to the mosques any more.
As with any population the ordinary man just wants to get on with his life and only gets involved when he can’t avoid it. As some found in Ulster, standing up to the terrorists was a very good way to end your life. So don’t expect the law abiding Muslim to stand up and rail against the bombers, no one is listening and most are simply not brave/stupid enough to take the risk.
So, in one day, we have fundamental critiques of two pro-Islamic international broadcasters:
1.) “Al Jazeera: ‘the Muslim Brotherhood channel'” (scroll down)
http://www.jihadwatch.org
2.) “The Biased Broadcasting Corporation” by Prof. Frank H. Stewart.( ‘New York Times’).
For reference and access go to ‘Biodegradable’ at 6.21 pm;
for content in full, go to ‘anonanon’
at 6.50 pm.
It is apparent that broadcasting staff at both Al Jazeera and Al Beeb
find it mutually easy to cross over to employment at either corporation;
ideologically, there’s not much difference, of course.
I was really surprised to hear that the Zimbawe cricket team has not been boycotted – the conditions in Zimbabwe are much worse than they were in South Africa – yet there are no mass protests outside of cricket matches were Zimbabwe are playing – no outcry by the BBC.
I am also suprised why the BBC is banned from reporting in Zimbabwe – Mugabe must not listen to them – if he did he would invite them in with open arms so he can feed them some great anti-colonial clap-trap of how the problems in that country were caused by the British Empire or slavery or both – and kicking white farmers off their land would have gone down just fine with the BBC – I can see the headlines now “The oppressed Africans getting their land back after 100s of years of slavery and oppresion” – making sure that they don’t mention that Zimbabwe used to be a rich and prosperous country before Mugabes dictatorship utterley trashed any prosperity and left thousands homeless and starving.
“I have just discovered, via The Brussels Journal, that the Ondiep area of Utrecht has had three days of rioting by native Dutch.
The BBC, as far as I know have not even mentioned this.
Go the link and you will find out why.
Richard Brown | 15.03.07 – 3:58 pm ”
yeah – i came across that this afternoon as well.
riots in one of our closest European neighbours and no mention by the BBC
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1977
and this time is not the “disaffected” Muslim youth – its the indigenous Dutch who are rioting, after a white Dutch man was shot dead by a
hence the news blackout. no “victim” card to play. no agenda to set.
meanwhile over in supposedly peaceful Cananda, there’s a bit of a problem with radical Islamists in the universities there:
” The Fat Contractor | 15.03.07 – 8:00 pm |”
very good points. the dhimmi BBC is certainly not helping matters.
I’ve just watched Question Time.
The Climate Change thing is reaching hysterical proportions.
What would be the right psychopathological term?
Mania? Nope, they’re not excited enough.
Paranoia? It’s much closer, but paranoia usually refers to malevolent anthropoid forces and intentions – for instance, spy cameras, persecution conspiracys. So for a little more accuracy I diagnose them with
Psychosis!
Psychosis is the most severe form of mental illness. Anybody can be paranoid within reason, but a psychotic cannot even accept to the smallest extent counter evidence to their delusion claims. This is referred to as ‘lack of insight’, in other words they don’t know they are insane and cannot see past anything but their delusions.
Archduke.
Hmmm…Ondeip?
My sister in law lives in Utrecht,and I’m in the area on Saturday so I’ll let you know.
From what I do know of the area,(I live about 40 minutes away) its mainly made up of Turkish,Surinams,students,and some smallholdings in a fairly ordinary area.
If its Dutch kids it might be one of the “crackerhuistjes” (squats) run by the leftist from the University,or an illigal rave/hash house run by the skinheads.
“Gabbertjers” are quite common and a little menacing-they were linked to far right groups but it is mainly footy/club stuff for the kiddies…
I’ll let you know more but to be honest it wasn’t that bigger deal here,although it was headline in De Telegraaf (the Dutch Sun).
Ultraviolence: To me its a kind of mass hysteria – the only sane voice on Question time was Peter Hichtins
Yes, Peter Hichtins was received much better than usual, he could be on the ‘up’, as they say.
There were times when he was claim close to looking exasperated by the global warming babble. But he’s far to English to be all loud and rude and interrupt them mid-sentence.
Ultraviolence: Unlike The others – I did notice that the “conservative” candiate was a bit edgy – I do think that she did not believe a word she was saying – Its was like she had been given a script to stick by. You know the times when you have been asked to debate on something that you do not believe in – its very difficult to convince anyone when you can’t convince yourself.
peter hitchens made lembit opik a prime candidate for the mental asylum.
thats the impression i got. lembit in all his greenery even came out against nuke power. what? so the entire UK should run on wind turbines Lembit? wind turbines, that, by the way, kill thousands of sea birds every day it’s utter f**king madness – the whole lot of it.
” Jon | 16.03.07 – 12:47 am”
in fairness she did, at times, sound as if she was trying to defend the indefensible
” Ultraviolence | 15.03.07 – 11:45 pm”
hitchens said something extremely valid tonight – “consensus” is not science.
just because 95 per cent of scientists agree with something doesnt mean that THEIR theory is correct. its just not science if you base your policy on a “consensus”.
Louis Pasteur , for example, had to fight like hell to get his “microbe” theory of disease to be accepted.
If you believe in global warming, THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU!
Latest piece of cant heard on the Today programme shortly after 6am. In covering the Chinese government’s new law on recognising private property the reporter stated that although supoorted by ‘progressives’ it would be opposed by ‘conservatives’. What he really meant was ‘reactionaries’ but in BBC land the terms are interchangeable.
Ultra and Archduke:
Good morning.
I was always brought up to think that the science in what ever subject always needs to be tested with imperical thinking and the results always being challenged and re-examined.
That seems not to be that case today.
So in my mind this is “global warming debate” is anti-science.
“Great capital city. Shame about the awful BBC.” (by Gerard Baker, 16 Mar.)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk (go to ‘Comment’)
One sentence fron article: ” But worst of all …is the political, cultural and intellectual hegemony exercised by the ultimate self-serving metropolitan monopoly of the BBC.”
You know I would have bet anything that the BBC would be the first UK news to open with the words “allah wakbah” or whatever it is. But to my utter amazement Tim Marshall on Sky has just ended an interview with some Iraqi chap with the word “inshallah”, the Iraqi chap looked a bit embarassed and mumbled “yes God willing”.
It betrayed an absolutely rock-solid assumption that the Queen is fundamentally unsympathetic, and that anyone who might still harbour some respect for the monarch — or indeed for that matter, the military or the Church, or the countryside or the joint stock company or any of the great English bequests to the world — must be some reactionary old buffer out in the sticks who has not had the benefit of the London media’s cultural enlightenment.
More than that, the question — all fawning and fraternal and friendly — contained within it an assumption that, of course, every thoughtful person shares the same view.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
from the Comment section.
On the nose! (red or otherwise)
Any examples of bias yet?
Here’s a more convenient link to the Gerard Baker’s article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article1522471.ece
>> But to my utter amazement Tim Marshall on Sky has just ended an interview with some Iraqi chap with the word “inshallah”
Is Tim in Iraq? I found when I stayed in Dubai for a while that you just pick up a couple of phrases like that. In Austria at the moment I greet people with “Groß gott!” out of politeness and habit, but it hasn’t made me a church-going Austrian Catholic by saying it.
Gerard Baker’s point about The Queen film puzzles me a bit – my wife went to watch it and she came out of it saying how she disliked the royal family in it. Isn’t it set in the period when they have to be dragged kicking and screaming down to London to show the people they are in mourning. I thought the film *was* an unsympathetic portryal? Incidentally my wife didn’t think Cherie Blair/Booth came out of it very well either. In fact, I’m not *really* sure that she enjoyed it…
Martin Belam | Homepage | 16.03.07 – 10:08 am |
But doesn’t “insallah” mean ‘by the will of God’ or “God Willing”? In which case it was a bit of a non-seqateur (sp?).
Surely ‘salam alekum’ would have been more appropriate.
But, what do I know I don’t speak Arabic.
Aye, it’d be rather like the equivalent of saying “Amen” every time you finished speaking to someone…
‘Inshallah’ translates as ‘god (allah) willing’.
Some westerners do still use the term God willing or even DV in writing from the Latin for God willing.
‘Amen’ is better translated as let it be so or so be it and is normally kept for conversations with God (prayer) rather than people. When used in ordinary speech it is usually used to denote agreement.
I think salaam aleikum is a hello not a goodbye, unless an Arabic speaker cares to correct my impression…
Well, I don’t speak Arabic either, but whilst it does mean “God-willing” it tended to be used by the Westerners I met in Dubai and Qatar either as a “Well, let’s hope so” at the end of a conversation, or more of a shrug-shoulders, “whatever”. But I didn’t see the Sky clip obviously. I don’t think it is an equivalent to “Amen” though, but, likewise FC, what do I know?
Compare and contrast Jerusalem Post coverage of the UNESCO report on the excavation by the Western Wall – headline ‘UNESCO: Dig not harming Temple Mount’
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173700693713&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
with al beeb’s coverage
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6449177.stm
Is see the War of the Diadochi has begun?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6456945.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6385603.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6423761.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6373333.stm
This is not a comment on the BBC per-se but a general observation.
To my mind there seems to be a large block of voters which is actually rather ignored by the media and political pundits alike. That is the voters who voted for TB and NOT the Labour Party.
I have drawn a conclusion that in spite of the sniping from the left and right, I think rather a lot of people like him or think he is the most competent (regardless of the the parties). I also include myself in the latter.
For all his mistakes and he has made some whoppers, to me when it mattered he showed strong leadership, five key points that spring to mind are:
-He was the only world leader to stand up and say “enough” in Bosnia and Kosovo. He showed backbone and courage to act when everybody else including America, was engaged in talking about it.
-The days following 9/11 when he seemed to articulate the utter shock we all felt. He also led the way in calls to combat Islamic extremism (he was doing so before) and to confront the violent ideology. IMHO I think the world was listening to TB, and by extension looking to the UK for leadership. This could also be extended to his personal handling of the 7/7 bombing.
-The way he has maintained his belief in dealing with Saddam-those of longer memories will remember TB trying to push Clinton to act firmly after the weapon inspectors were kicked out of Iraq, which sort of makes a mockery out “Bush’s poodle”. Whatever the rights and wrongs he has always stood by his view and not flipped flopped. It may have even killed his political reputation, but in a hue of Churchill in the thirties, sometimes doing the right thing is more important.
-The Northern Ireland Peace Process has been a giant step forward taking the fine work of John Major (another forgotten achievement by the “grey man” of politics) and creating a stable framework for power-sharing. He seems to have the trust of both parties and I think a huge achievement.
My praise is of his personal conduct and the way he generally does his job,not a strictly political one,but an important point.
But I think most of all he never reversed the policies of Mrs Thatcher and nationalised everything,and it’s really been Post-Iraq that you now see the worst excesses of PC doublethink. I believe he even said it himself that he felt he wasn’t being radical enough on Education (something I think even Conservatives agree with)and on Law and Order and he saw the role of the private sector and charities in running our services-core values of conservative thinking.
The paradox of this I feel I also think that despite the tribal feelings that party politics arouses many Conservatives also wish that TB was the leader of the party behind close doors.It must be a difficult pill to swallow to find a Labour party leader being more to the “right” than your boss.
I wonder if many people are uneasy about the whole narration about him going-yes I think he needs to go too, but not in the grubby way that it’s being done. When I read Al Beeb’s reports above I wonder how much power do they have? And in the last few weeks I’ve noticed more and more “joint” news items with Guardian Media Group (more than normal that is) regarding news reporting on “the Government”.
Perhaps it just me but I think the real problem in the UK lies behind TB?
On R4’s Today this morning classicist Peter Jones was asked to give his verdict about 300. “The film is rubbish from beginning to end.” He went on to say that the film follows in a long tradition: “Spartans have always been romanticised as the sort of epitome of noble warriors prepared to go to their deaths for noble causes, and this apparently is the way the film shows them, and to that extent, in terms of the patriotic sentiment it espouses, Greeks would have applauded their heads off.”
Apparently? So had Peter Jones even seen the film? Doesn’t sound like it. Earlier this week David Miliband was encouraged to dismiss as rubbish a film he hadn’t watched. Is this a new trend on Today?
(And how does one applaud one’s head off? Is it a Greek thing?)
>> And how does one applaud one’s head off? Is it a Greek thing?
Well, I lived there for six months last year, and I never saw one do it – but rest assured, if anything would get them excited enough to do so, a load of pseudo-Greeks putting it to pseudo-Turks would be the thing!
BTW, did you know the Greek government threatened to break off diplomatic relations with the FYROMacedion when it attempted to rename Skopje airport “Alexander The Great”
IiD – re TB you are pretty much on the money. In fact I warm more and more to your posts – keep up the good work…
Blair may well embrace conservative ideas, but he still has a habit of going about them in highly statist ways…
“But to my utter amazement Tim Marshall on Sky has just ended an interview with some Iraqi chap with the word “inshallah” ”
I’ve spent time in Iran, Egypt and other Muslim countries, and didn’t go around saying inshallah. In comparison to “grus gott”, which is Austrian for hello, and therefore necessary, it’s not necessary for communication. It’s slightly crawly of him to use it in my opinion.
Anonanon.
“Spartans have always been romanticised as the sort of epitome of noble warriors”
I’m not claiming for one moment that I’m in any way an expert on these things, but isn’t the stories from Homer, or the very actual deeds of the later Philip II, Alexander ,or the Persian King Darius give you an idea that this period of history was VERY MUCH about Heroic leadership, and “noble” causes…….
His statement in my mind applies 21st Centaury thinking to a time very different to our own, and therefore an implied bias that as a historian he should be aware of this.
I would go further to say the personal skill, courage and leadership on the battlefield was very much at the heart of how the classical world was shaped and formed
http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/Iliad.html#Homeric%20Geography
John Keegan’s Mask of Command is an interesting study of general ship through the ages, and I for one would recommend.
Or for a less academic approach play the excellent Total War series, which is one of those rare games that are informative and educational while being a lot of fun.
Sorry the above was me 🙂
I mistakenly posted the following to the wrong thread. I’m reposting it, if for no other reason, to thumb my nose at the imbecile who seemed to be suggesting there is no evidence of BBC bias posted here.
Auntie’s acting as ZaNuLabour’s press office again (or do I mean Pravda ?).
This morning the lead story on our favourite funded-by-threats website is yet more fiction from Princess Toni’s dept. of eye-catching initiatives, this time invented statistics about the amount of food being ‘wasted’ by homeowners.
Naturally, in an attempt to convince us of the need for ‘action’, ‘Global Warming’ is invoked, but the real reason is to soften us up, so that ZNL can whack in unopposed, massively increased charges for domestic waste collection – in other words, raising council tax still further or, if you prefer, charging us twice for the same ‘service’.
A properly independent news organisation would either spike a story like this, or fisk it.
The BBC just trots along, happy to play its own part in the thriving waste generation industry of “Green ” rubbish and doing the government’s dirty work for it.
“Academic: Extremism debate is being stifled” (16 Mar.),(an extract from ‘Daily Telegraph’):-
” Matthias Kuntzel, a German author and political scientist, was due to give a lecture at Leeds University on Islamic anti-Semitism but it was cancelled after complaints from Muslim students.”
He added:
“It is a worrying trend. If I say something which is not positive about a particular brand of Islam, the imposition is that I am inciting hatred of every Muslim. I am very concerned about this – it is an attack on academic freedom. We are seeing it more and more, particularly in the UK.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
( go to ‘News’).
Can we look to Al Beeb to put on programmes which are really committed to free speech, and will not appease Islamic interests?