And some don’t. A drama commissioned by the BBC about how Private Johnson Beharry won his Victoria Cross in Iraq was cancelled as being “too positive”, according to the Telegraph.
Remember The Falklands Play?
Some talk of Alexander,
And some of Hercules…
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This is outrageous, particularly since they are going to be screening a programme on Wednesday (Newsnight) about a “reporter” who is embedded with the taleban in Afghanistan.
I have submitted a complaint, but I doubt anything will be done. God, we need to get together and get some kind of action going on not paying our licence fees. I object to my money being paid for some poncy reporter to suck up to the taliban while they are killing British soldiers. It just defies belief.
I am so bloody angry and feel so impotent.
That is truly disgusting. A lot of the time I tend to think that the BBC’s bias, inaccuracy and tendancy to tell half-truths is sub-conscious or geuinely unwitting, but then something like this comes along and, if it’s true, it’s not only an insult to the very brave man who won the VC but a clear example of a deliberate and calculating attempt to distort public opinion on a controversial issue – and I call that propaganda.
——–
As an aside, it might be nice if someone from B-BBC formatted that Falkland Play article. I forced myself to read it but seeing that huge block of text with no headings or dividers immediately put me off and I imagine it would have the same effect on others.
After I posted the link to the Telegraph story I thought a little further about what the BBC is really saying.
Remember all that Lib/Dim words giving a voice to those opposed to the iraq war: the stuff about supporting the troops in Iraq but not the war itself?
The BBC doesn’t believe that tosh.
The BBC opposed the war and they oppose the troops.
Audience opinion mattering to the BBC? Hah!
The meme is quite clear:
The cancellation of this commission highlights it exactly.
Dead troops good;
Live troops bad;
Heroes worse.
SO much for democracy and impartiality as laid down by the Beeb charter of which John Reith and Co so regularly remind us!
You can hear the radio version of Ian Curteis’ Falklands play on Radio 4’s Listen Again facility for the next few days:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml
British Lion writes:
“As an aside, it might be nice if someone from B-BBC formatted that Falkland Play article. I forced myself to read it but seeing that huge block of text with no headings or dividers immediately put me off and I imagine it would have the same effect on others.”
The Falklands Play, as luck would gave it, was rebroadcast on Radio 4, yesterday. Anyone interested can catch it on Listen Again.
“we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender”
What’s wrong with you people? You’re getting stampeded by a pack of reporters? Reporters?
If they’re glorifying the taliban and ignoring Victoria Cross winners they’ve already crossed your beaches and are in your streets fields and hills. Why aren’t you in front of the BBC headquarters calling your friends to come down an join in on the fight?
No doubt the BBC wouldn’t have a problem airing a program about say;
1)The Tipton three.
2)The Australia Taliban
3)Mr(I’m an innocent man) Begg
4)Question time after 9/11
5)Question time after the london Tube bombings.
6)Springer the Opera
No problem with alienating members of the BBC audience with the last 3.
“The Falklands Play, as luck would gave it, was rebroadcast on Radio 4, yesterday. Anyone interested can catch it on Listen Again.”
Thankyou for post this (and Beeblious for doing the same) – I’m listening to it right now. I would have listened to it when it was on R4, but the Beeb didn’t advertise it (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
Come to think of it, just like they didn’t advertise it the first time round, and, suspiciously, ran it on BBC4 – the Beeb’s lowest rating channel – rather than Terrestrial and refused to run it again on Terrestrial despite it receiving the highest ratings ever on BBC4 at that time, as the Beeb were themselves forced to report:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1925836.stm
(Why on earth does the bolded section heading read “Failure”, even though there is no suggestion in the text that the Play was anything other than a huge success and the section denoted by the heading does not concern the quality or success of the play at all.)
All in all, the handling of the Play was an extremely shabby affair but very rare in that the mainstream press actually picked up on it.
This makes my blood boil. I am complaining about this, and I hope as many people as possible will also. It is a clear breach the BBC’s charter, kowtowing to the vocal ‘holier than thou’ anti-war brigade. There could hardly be more clear evidence of the BBC’s implicit leftist political bias. And to rub salt into the wound, every adult in the UK has to pay for this tripe. Would we EVER hear of the BBC witholding a programme for fear of offending the pro-war lobby? Of course not! Why should anyone stand for this?
The BBC are fascist Nazis. They are the new Nazis of Europe…..
They hate the Jews, they hate the English, they hate the Yanks……it’s 1938 all over again……at the BBC anyway….lol.
Avoiding the positive is what they do.
Compare
Taliban driven out of key town
BRITISH commandos who spearheaded a 1,000-man push into the Taliban’s “heart of darkness” were claiming a major success yesterday, writes Tim Albone.
The dawn raid on Sangin in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, was designed to prevent a build-up of Taliban forces who had been building elaborate tunnel systems and fortifications in the town.
Lieutenant-Colonel Matt Holmes, commander of 42 Commando, described Sangin as a Taliban sanctuary and “heart of darkness”. Intelligence reports indicated that up to 350 Taliban fighters were based in the town.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1626523.ece
With
Six Canadian soldiers serving with the Nato-led force in south Afghanistan have been killed, while another Nato soldier died in a separate incident.
Last year saw the worst fighting in Afghanistan since coalition troops ousted the Taleban in 2001 with some 4,000 people believed to have been killed – about a quarter of them civilians. (Who killed them? NATO we assume?)
Helmand has been the focus of a recent operation by Isaf troops against militants.
About 100 insurgents have been killed in it so far, officials say.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6537545.stm
The Times report refers to Operation Achilles, this at presents warrants the following from the BBC
In (non-combat) pictures: Operation Achilles
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6535407.stm
“the BBC are fascist Nazis. They are the new Nazis of Europe…..
They hate the Jews, they hate the English, they hate the Yanks……it’s 1938 all over again……at the BBC anyway….lol.”
A very good point!
And the BBC of course love Europe. Or at least France and Germany. They are full of the spirit of Napoleon.
‘Avoiding the positive is what they do
The only time I have heard the BBC use ‘brave’ in relation to British troops is when it’s a friendly fire incident and they’re doing an ‘evil Yank’ v ‘Brave Brit’ ‘story’.
Well if it’s in the Telegraph it must be true then?
I would like to point out that the BBC have ignored the story that the Tories fired a woman because she was pregnant. This displays their lefty bias?
Re Ralph’s comment. I have noticed that articles about Western troops often include a substantial section on their doubts and fears where as articles on non-Western fighters always portray them as brave, unyielding and unafraid. Bias or a genuine difference? Has anyone else noticed this or is it just me?
This displays their lefty bias?
John | Homepage | 09.04.07 – 10:08 am
Hell, I dunno, maybe the BBC have also just fired a pregnant woman so they don’t want to make too much noise about it. Maybe it’s uncomfortably close to the newsreader that they took off the news because she’s too old.
We don’t need to scout to find evidence of the BBC’s left-wing bias. We are inundated with it every hour of every day. So much of it, in fact, that it’s not possible to keep up with all of it.
The BBC avoids good news from Iraq – the BBC’s World Affairs editor has said as much. Good news is viewed as propaganda and should be ignored because it could influence people to support British and American troops and that’s the last thing the BBC would ever want to do.
Question is, why can’t the BBC top dogs be brought before a court on charges of subversion or sedition or whatever fits?
How much longer are they going to be allowed to undermine their country in a time of war?
Bear in mind that the BBC is supposed to be bound by its Charter. The matter of this thread is surely clear evidence of a breach of their own rules. Can it be pursued in court?
This is beyond a joke now,why can’t Blair or someone high up come out and lambast this disgraceful organisation, they are damaging the UK’s interest and fueling the fire of extremists.The problem is the majority of the British public put their brain in a pickled jar and sit down and watch the Al Beeb and take what they say as gospel.The goverment know what Al Beeb are doing so why the hell don’t they show them up for what they really are!
ever notice how the regular U.S. military press conferences in Iraq are NEVER covered by the BBC?
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=1&id=47&Itemid=131
and here’s the Centcom podcasting page for those of you who want to find out more about the military operations that the BBC doesn’t cover:
http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/CENTCOM%20Podcasting/Podcasting.aspx
for example, here’s a recent operation which you havent heard about on the BBC… 30 terrorists killed, 28 captured, in a combined Iraqi/U.S. operation:
http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/Lists/Current%20Press%20Releases/DispForm.aspx?ID=4725&Source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecentcom%2Emil%2Fsites%2Fuscentcom2%2FLists%2FPress%2520Releases%2FCurrent%2520Releases%2Easpx
i have noticed how the BBC reports on the terrorist attacks, but you never hear about what the U.S. army is doing.
News24 provides a rolling summary with these statements (as included in the BBC Online report)
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shias have gathered in the holy city of Najaf for a mass demonstration calling for US-led troops to leave Iraq.
Up to one million people were expected in Najaf after an appeal by Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr
Moqtada Sadr’s supporters hold a crucial block of seats in Iraq’s parliament, giving them an influential voice in Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s government.
So an important element in the democratic government in Iraq is calling for the end to the occupation. Must be time to go.
News24 doesn’t go on to make this statement
Followers of Moqtada Sadr play a key role in Iraq, with the Mehdi Army said to be heavily involved in the sectarian violence of the past year.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6537861.stm
Which may lead the viewer to ponder whether the “democratic” Sadr is really wanting the coalition forces out of the way in order to unleash his terror, seize power & create an Islamic state.
The BBC are “on the other side”, and I’m not talking about ITV.
Nor do the BBC point out that Sadr fled to Iran weeks ago….and that since the US/Iraqi Army ‘surge’ appears to be having an affect, NOW he sends messages from his bolthole in Iran. Funny how the BBC with all their reporters never get these points……
Edward Morgan:
articles on non-Western fighters always portray them as brave, unyielding and unafraid. Bias or a genuine difference?
Genuine bias – genuine difference – genuine incompetence!
Most Western journalists don’t speak the language of the area into which they sent; haven’t built up a network of contacts and informants and are pig ignorant about history, geography, economy and culture. They rely on fixers to arrange interviews; transport them to the interview and translate when they get there.
It’s not surprising they only speak to those people who present the POV of the fixer and more often than not reinforce the pre-existing POV of the journalist.
Why was Alan Johnston the only international correspondent still working in Gaza? The brave (bravado), unyielding (uncaptured) and unafraid (brain-washed, brainless or just lying) non-Western fighter has long realised that the Western Journalist is superfluous. The Western media will uncritically publish what ever is put infront of them without needing a filter.
Nipping to the sailors’ story – a fortnight ago a 19 year old female medic was awarded the Military Cross the first female and a TEENAGER to boot. This week 20 year old Arthur Batchelor screams for Mummy Faye who protects him, fears being raped by dirty Iranians and when he returns is shown clutching Mummy’s AND Auntie’s hand and looking about 12. He is also pocketing oddles of cash for his story. Bet the 19 year old MC winner doesn’t appear on Trevor MacDonald’s show any time soon nor will the BBC do a documentary on her despite her being a symbol of the gender etc equality they scream about.
Prediction:
Stories about Faye’s previous boyfriends from Shrewsbury and her activities at School (Meole Brace) will start popping up in the News of the World. She will demand that she is not sent back to Iraq but left at home with her daughter. She will also face questions regarding her level of fitness as she appears to have not exercised for eons. She will then buy herself out of the Navy and produce an autobiography.
Bachelor will be slagged off by his mates on board if he does go back and scream bullying demanding more money before being kicked out.
The Commodore who screwed up will be rewarded and then pushed sideways. (He has already handed over command of the Task Force).
There will be regular fights between Yanks and Brits for years to come as a result of the ridiculous stories and comments in many military blogs over there.
The British Forces will continue to struggle to convince people they (a) are being lead by good officers and (b) have people in them who ARE prepared to die for their country as I and many others were.
The BBC will continue to undermine every good thing the Forces do.
We know there are many good and decent people serving – all their efforts have now been blown to pieces by the disgusting lack of shame shown by some of these grasping sailors, their useless officers and the government.
http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=62780/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=270.html
More discussion by serving and retired Forces about the sailors. Did you know wee Batchelor the boy sailor is whining because the Iranians took his Ipod? Since when did you carry Ipods on operations such as boarding parties! My Jocks would have loved to listen to Ipods whilst patrolling – how quickly we would have been dead.
The more info comes out the more some of these these people are being shown to be very poor examples of a fine Navy.
http://hittingmetalwithahammer.wordpress.com/2007/04/09/300/
My mate in Kiwiland has a good photo. 300 plus 3 and how right he is. So how come we aren’t seeing THIS picture of sailors NOT co-operating with the Iranians?
John: ‘I would like to point out that the BBC have ignored the story that the Tories fired a woman because she was pregnant. This displays their lefty bias?
Due to space and broadcast time their are lots of things the BBC can’t cover. What you determine them by is what important stories they cover, and which ones they don’t.
This latest canning must have had the Beeb’s Media Studies babes frothing up a post modern lather.
On the one hand Private Johnson Beharry is from Grenada and a person of colour who must have experienced institutional racism.
But on the other he recklessly endangered his own life on two separate occasions by carrying out duties whilst being unwell (a clear breach of any BBC job description). Moreover, he intentionally spared his racist, white colleagues from the just wrath of Iraqi freedom fighters.
When the episode is viewed in this light Beharry comes across as just another vile race traitor. The Tristrams really didn’t have a choice…
Yes, a dashing, courageous Uncle Tom, but an Uncle Tom nevertheless.
This really is a prime example of which cards trump which in the BBC’s racist game.
If you read the comments section of this…..
http://hittingmetalwithahammer.w…2007/04/09/300/
you will notice that someone has spotted that the BBCs “Edit” of this photo….cuts out all the non smiling faces……..
http://hittingmetalwithahammer.wordpress.com/2007/04/09/300/
Hey, what do you think of this photo from the BBC?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42768000/jpg/_42768077_sailor_416.jpg
Your Spartans are almost completely edited out.
Do you think…that all of this, could be to Protect Gordon Brown?
Why? Well, in the last few weeks, he got hit real hard by the pensions scandal…then hit again over his Communist/Socialist student days…….his “popularity” was (and still is) falling through the floor….
And my bet is that the Royal Navy were WELL AWARE of what Iranian boats regular patrols were……..so, was the word put out by the Government to “test the Iranians resolve” by sneaking across the border?…..knwoing FULL WELL that they would be picked up?…..and thus, taking the heat away from Gordon?
I would’nt put it beyond these lying socialist Scots…..they hate England anyway, so seeing the Britsih military destroyed in the eyes of the world, is GREAT for these Scots who so hate the UK……..
I’m a truthful conservative Scot so I’m rather outnumbered…..yikes!
The ‘British’ military at times had 1/3 Scots and at one stage in the 1850s half the Army was Irish!
I remain puzzled by the fact that a BBC camera crew just happened to be on board the Cornwall……did the Iranians know this and is that why they moved that day as opposed to a few days before when the UN Security Council met? Wheels within wheels?
PS Some Yanks are calling the Cornwall the Cornwallis after the failed British General from 1776! Ouch!
Good top see the ‘left’ remaining loyal to there principles:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,2051263,00.html
HAT TIP to Rightofcentre at:
http://littlebulldogs.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=10
As an aside has anyone noticed all the really sickening stuff coming from the Mirror, (never a friend of the Forces), from the wee sailor bairn Batchelor? Writing about him wanting and getting a hug, “just a mummy hug” from Faye etc? He’s 20 she’s 26!
Boy the Mirror are really getting their revenge for being shown to be liars over the so called “Iraq in the back of a truck in Preston” photos! Notice the BBC are suddenly very anti people selling their stories…must be because they lost out to ITV….
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/
Whilst they do publish some critical comment, they appear to have missed this particular Victoria Cross hero from the Telegraph as posted.
i mean from the “BBC in the News” spots they run.
“As an aside has anyone noticed all the really sickening stuff coming from the Mirror, (never a friend of the Forces),….”
Steady there.
I just caught Kevin McGuire (associate editor of the daily mirror) accusing the BBC of “swallowing the Iranian line whole”.
I nearly choked on my rich tea.
R5 ‘bods-in-the-box’ soon gave the interviewer the instruction to move on – as she announced to the audience, somewhat flustered.
Kevin regretted this. Apparently he was enjoying the ‘joust’.
My wife who is the sweetest woman in the world also suffers from what I call the “dutiful daughter syndrome” She believes that if she is as nice as can be and compromises on everything, her family will become the nice non combative people she wishes they would be. Unfortunately this will never happen. My wife has over the last few years (from living with me I hope) learned to grow a spine concerning her family. Needless to say all of her family have come around because she has put her foot down concerning the behavior she will except from them.
I believe it is the same with countries. By not running “Victoria Cross” The BBC is only encouraging those who find strength in a divided England.
i dont really dont get the VC decision. the story is completely non-political and just one of extreme valour and courage that cuts across left-right divides.
from a left wing perspective, the fact that he is from Grenada and managed to win an award as high as the VC should be worthy of celebrating “multicultural” Britain.
Nick Cohen is spot on – the left truely has lost its way. it is gotten so blind in its anti-american hatred that Private Beharry’s story has been lost.
Saddly for the BBC, as can be seen by Gordos latest poles….their median manipulation is backfiring in their faces on a daily basis….
It is not their propaganda burried in Dr Who that is getting through to the public….it is the message that the BBC is Anti-British, in bed with Socialism/Islam, and a traitor to this nation.
The BBC is dying, and becoming ever more irrelavant…..
Once upon a time the BBC went ashore under fire with pigeons to send their stories back.
Now they stay at home with just the feathers.
The white ones.
Dave T wrote;
“Notice the BBC are suddenly very anti people selling their stories
Which is strange as the BBC had no problem paying £4000 to a convicted thug for his story on how He was a victim
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4316585.stm
Or does the BBC run a different set of ethics to the sane world.
Just for the record. If I was in Tony Martins shoes I would have gone hunting that night and finished the other two off. Of course the BBC would defend my actions by insisting I was a victim of racial abuse, that the slavery I had witnessed on their news channels had depressed me and that because London is now thinking twice about building that super mosque I was fuelled by an uncontrollable rage (Which the NHS refused to treat me for as due to cost cutting, the special asylum seekers health centre was cut from the budget by the racist Tory council) so I couldn’t get preferential treatment) which could only be treated by them paying me for my story about how I (A brown skinned person living in the UK) am a victim.
Sounds about right.
BBC View:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6537861.stm
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shias have demonstrated in the holy city of Najaf, calling for US-led troops to leave Iraq.
The protesters were responding to an appeal by cleric Moqtada Sadr, who branded US forces “your arch enemy” in a statement. ”
But others were different:
“Both the Associated Press and New York Times reported that “tens of thousands” attended the protest.
However…
“From the pictures that were released by the MSM of the protest it was impossible to tell exactly how many showed up to stomp on and burn the US flag… An aerial shot from Najaf, Iraq yesterday shows a protest of 5,000-7,000 Al-Sadr devotees rather than the 3,000,000 that was hoped for.”
The Multi-National Force Iraq added this report on the Al Sadr protest in Najaf, yesterday:
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11314&Itemid=128
BAGHDAD — Citizens of Iraq assembled in Najaf Monday to conduct a demonstration against the U.S. presence in their country.
Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for the protest on the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, when Coalition forces toppled the Saddam Hussein regime.
The number of participants that took part in the event ranged from 5,000 to 7,000, based on aerial photographs, said U.S. Army Col. Steven Boylan, a military spokesman with Multi-National Force-Iraq.
But funny how the BBC (a) added hundreds of thousands when even the NYT and AP said there were tens of thousands and (b) the BBC extracted info about Sadr from the same MNF Iraq statement but for some reason did not show either the [picture or reveal the very low figures…this is a major blow for Sadr whose popularity has collapsed since he ran away to Iran. Funny how the BBC fail to give the full picture hmm?