laying in to Stephanie Flanders over that Cameron interview on Newsnight (see Biased BBC yesterday and the day before) didn’t get a mention in the regular BBC In The News section of the BBC Editors Blog on Friday, at least not until after 5.44pm, when one Elliot Spencer commented (see no. 2):
I see Littlejohn’s piece in the Mail didn’t make your list, I wonder why?
…complete with a link to the article. The Littlejohn article was then dutifully added, with a note linking to Mr. Spencer’s comment. Must just have been an oversight. Oh the fun of blogging!
Update: And now an apology comment has been added too, though considerably later than the time on the comment’s timestamp.
I notice in the BBC HYS that there is frequent mention of something called “The Daily Mail Brigade”. Is this the answer to the problem of ‘overstretch’ in the armed forces, or do they only take part in re-enactments of old battles, watched closely by the Stasi (sorry, BBC) with secret cameras?
Ha! Ms Flanders is like royalty in the BBC, the way she took on Mr Cameron (although her arrows didn’t penetrate his armour), and I’m sure she’s had more Facebook friend requests from fellow BBC folks than anyone else this week.
The Beeb wouldn’t dare admit that anyone would criticise Princess Steph.
http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@957.6YoNdmwOC6Q@.775ec647/0
Amazing how the Guardianistas could take lessons from this blog on how to discuss things without (usually) reverting to immature name calling and the insulting throwaway lines often full of vicious swearing. Very mature….
“Amazing how the Guardianistas could take lessons from this blog..”
It will never happen….I have never seen such shrill, foam-at-the-mouth ranting as that of the Guardianista web site contributors.
That link is a prime example; post after post insults Littlejohn and any attempt by a few lone sensibles to actually tackle the issues are shouted down by the ranting, I-take the-moral-high-ground leftie mob.
It’s like some sad, 1970s university marxist debating society, full of right-on sisters and fist waving Wolfie Smiths.
Set against this background, is it any wonder that people like Ms Flanders exist?
The Beeb is stacked full of them…and if Cameron gets in he should do the decent thing and take steps to end the BBC licence fee, rather than have us pay for their left wing sad excuse for impartiality.
Alan-a-Gale: “and if Cameron gets in he should do the decent thing and take steps to end the BBC licence fee, rather than have us pay for their left wing sad excuse for impartiality.” It is the fear that DC might do this that is one of the reasons that the BBC is going to support Gordon “the nose picker” Brown all the way and denigrate the Conservatives as much as possible.
Looking at that link to the Guardian website provided by Lemongrass truely shocked me! The hypocracy of the left is astounding – they accuse Littlejohn of being vile etc (when in fact he was pretty much on the money in his article), and they themselves are vile in return with some astounding insults in their replies and their prejudices are very much on show! Very few reasoned logical contributors to the Guardian site. Says it all really!
The only way to clear the leftie infestation at the BBC is to stop the three and a half billion pounds worth of tax funding they receive. Let them compete for subscribers, that’ll sort the wheat from the chaff.
Told you.
(Looking at that in the preview, it seems a bit glib. But I’m not in the least surprised at the Guardianista reaction.)
As a former single mom myself (though a financially struggling one, not a rich debutante one) I have to admit that back in those days, I was similarly hostile to anyone who dared to cast aspersions on my lifestyle.
Then I got married, had a second child with my husband, and realized quite readily that yes, it is easier to raise a child with two parents instead of one, and that the result is that the child is definitely better off. Just a million little things can make a huge difference — like being able to ask someone whose reliable to stop off at the store and get milk on the way home from work, when you are too harried and tired to get it yourself. Because if you had to add in a milk-getting trip on top of everything else that you had to put up with that day, you were not likely to be very eager to help your child with his homework or listen to the details of his day when you got home. . .that’s just the way it works with single parents.
Of course someone like Stephanie Flanders probably has a nanny to do that sort of thing for her, so of course she wouldn’t understand. . .
The other point is that people like Stephanie Flanders are out there being a “role model” for young girls, making them think that yes, it’s okay, be a single mum, you’ll be fine, but those girls aren’t likely to have all the financial resources or social networks to make all the unpleasant aspects of that “lifestyle choice” go away.
Excellent points Susan. No-one is pointing the finger at single mums, but common sense (and evidence) says two parents can cope better than one, and that kids from two parent familes – especially poorer families – tend to do better.
But, as Voltair said “Common sense is not so common” especially when it goes against the left’s sacred beliefs.
I don’t think Stephanie Flanders ever said she is a single mum, she said she is not married (but presumably lives with a partner). That was the point of asking DC how a £20 subsidy to anyone married (with children or not) would help the broken society. Considering it’s a silly policy, he answered well as he did throughout.
I doubt if Gord or Ming would perform so well which makes it a good style of interview.
One response to ex-BBC presenter Richard Littlejohn stands out:
“I happen to be married and I think it was a pretty fair question. What’s your problem? Perhaps the BBC should ask you for a list of acceptable questions to ask Conservatives. This ‘left-wing media bias’ drivel has been tried out in the USA for the past few years by the Republican party and their friends (as you probably know better than me), and now the Conservative party and it’s friends are trying it on here. In the UK, these complaints draw roars of agreement from the usual suspects who could be depended on to find evidence of left-wing bias in the pages of the Beano – people such as yourself and your readers. The rest of the country either doesn’t see bias or couldn’t care less.”
– Andrew, Olney, UK
Stands out to you JR perhaps. Here’s a link to all the comments on Littlejohn’s article for those who’d prefer to pick their own cherries rather than limit themselves to JR’s careful selection!
N.B. Stephanie Flanders didn’t say that she was a single Mum. She said that she’s an unmarried mother – omitting all the other details of her domestic circumstances that are relevant to determining whether marriage and a £20 a week tax-break would matter to her or not.
flanders, being a champagne socialist bimbo, simply didn’t understand the economics of the proposed marriage allowance.
The purpose of the allowance is not to encourage people to get married but to help those who have chosen to marry to stay married. £20 pw is useful in this regard when you don’t have a beeb salary to live on.
In simple terms the allowance is an attack on the divorce rate not an incentive for the marriage rate.
I don’t think I’ve seen it anywhere else (this is getting mentioned across a few threads), so in case it’s of interest I share this: Bribery and wedding bells.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article2368572.ece
I have to say I only paid attention because I’d seen this lady’s contributions discussed here and on a few other blogs less than impressed with her impartiality, professional expertise and empathy with those she purported to be reporting for, and wondered what was meant by the word ‘bribery’, which seemed quite definitive in setting out some personal views.
I’m sure some here can explain to me what the boundaries of professional analysis and personal opinion are, both within the BBC and when its employees are to express themselves in other media under its banner.
Despite its rather tarnished repuatation, such as ‘Stephanie Flanders is economics editor of BBC2’s Newsnight’ does add some heft to the contribution.
Its an interview…the interviewer aks questions? Thats the point.
‘Baz:
It’s an interview…the interviewer asks questions. That’s the point.’
In the spirit of brevity at the expense of clarity, I accept the point. But as with most discussions here it is only one of many that would make for a clearer, more balanced picture.
The article I read seemed so. The conduct of the interview did not.