Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may be moderated.
Come to think of it, I was subscribed to BBC World as part of a cable package. It was at no additional cost.
Maybe you were counting me in the statistics?
Because of the subsidies, BBC can afford it while other broadcasters cannot. Even “Space” channel costs more.
Come to think of it I wonder if there is an anti-trust/unlawful-subsidy case that could be brought to WTO.
Is this a breach of trade agreements between US/Canada and Britain?
Thanks JR!
Peter,
Yes,but only the fashion pages.
I am aware you are joking, but those poor lads at the BBC news service might not have even heard about it:
http://defence.janes.com/
FORMER Radio 1 DJ Kevin Greening died during a marathon kinky sex and drugs session, it emerged yesterday.
Gay Greening took large amounts of cocaine, ecstasy and date rape drug GHB on the eve of his 45th birthday, said a police source.
He is believed to have suffered a massive heart attack after a bondage game at the home of his new lover in Wandsworth, South London.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article643862.ece
I moved onto Janes after the Observer’s Book of Fighter Aircraft or Armoured Fighting Vehicles…
I don’t understand why the BBC (and those twits at the Sun) never use the Janes site due to the large number of mistakes in rank, unit sizes, weapon systems, even aircraft names that we see on a weekly basis. IF they don’t know then they should at least consult someone who does!
PS: Pounce and I are available for OOOH let us say £100 a question plus VAT on Army matters, Tim can be our Security Expert thus ensuring that that fool Gardner can be sacked and sent back to his Islamic studies in Saudi, Biodegradable and/or Ghost can do climate stuff whilst Anat could do Israel. David P can be our US expert and replace ‘Sneerboy Frei’ whilst I would be happy to pop across the pond during the school holidays to stand in for Justin Webb who I am sure really wants to be based in Salford or somewhere given the way he keeps insulting his hosts….
Please pass on details of this newly formed panel to your bosses JR! Thanks!
I am a powerful telepathist and practitioner of psychokinesis, I can read people like open books. $10,000 an hour to hire me.
I agree with Alan’s point above concerning the lack of expertise in BBC presentation of news on TV, mainly through the people they invite on the news programmes to offer ‘expert opinion’. I remember last year when the Government were outlining proposals to expand Heathrow airport, and the occassional Guardian writer George Monbiot got on breakfast news and spouted the most ill informed nonsense I’d ever seen in my life about aiport expansion (and environmental policy in general). I knew he was spouting complete nonsense as I used to work in the DfT as a civil servent on environmental policy for aviation. And yet here he was, live on breakfast tv, spouting nonsense to the public who are largely ignorant of the facts concerning airport expansion. My point is that having two people on tv debating an issue, in my mind, does not create balanced news reporting or presentation, particularly when one of the debaters is so extreme in their view (and so wrong – Monbiot in my example). Why not just get one person on who weighs up both sides of the argument logically, so the public know the truth, instead of being exposed to idiots like Monbiot who spout absolute nonsense? I looked up his antecedents after seeing his woefully ill informed performance. He has a degree in zoology from Oxford and now writes occassionally in the Guardian. So he knows lots about animal physiology and behaviour, and nothing about economics or environmental policy. Clearly an excellent person to have comment live on tv about stopping airport expansion. Maybe his key qualification to get on tv with his association with the Guardian. The mind boogles.
Gay Greening took large amounts of cocaine, ecstasy and date rape drug GHB on the eve of his 45th birthday, said a police source.
He is believed to have suffered a massive heart attack after a bondage game at the home of his new lover in Wandsworth, South London.
Perfectly normal. That’s the kind of thing that normal 45 year old, heterosexual men get up to all the time. And to say otherwise is … gasp… “homophobic!”
At least there wasn’t an orange and stockings involved – had he been a Tory MP it would not have (a) been buried in the entertainment section already and (b) had more info than ’cause of death still not known’ as the BBC article puts it. Which rather forces people to read between the lines and probably get the wrong end of the stick altogether! The BBC had put lots of eulogies about Greening on their site all saying what a brilliant DJ he was etc. So being stoned out of your head on Class A drugs is a good example to young people and also guaranteed to make future DJs think they have to be Class A drug users if they want to be a top DJ with the BBC since the rest of the information is missing from the BBC site.
I recall the fuss when that funny “I wear dark glasses even indoors” woman Magenta De Vine got free drug clinic treatment paid for by us via the BBC; can you see a private sector company letting such staff continue working for them let alone paying for treatment? The Armed Forces have a VERY low level of drug use compared to civilian organisations yet the BBC always screams about “squaddie druggies” when a few are caught. I wonder how many of the BBC would prove positive if tested…? It might explain why CBBC is so weird at times……
Here’s a classic line from BBC North American editor Justin Webb’s latest drivel on the Iowa Caucus:
“That is the aspect of the caucus process so difficult for foreigners to grasp – that Americans (well, some Americans) care so deeply about their democracy that they are willing to go out in the snow and spend time thrashing it out…”
It’s from Justin Webb’s America.
Presumably if this was the Hawaii Caucus, Justin would have no difficulty understanding. A charitable view would be that he’s making a back-handed compliment, but that’s a stretch.
Why does this man even have a job? Concern for the future of one’s own country confuses him? They care and have open minds, but poor Justin can’t get his tiny brain around it. Wot, she’s a John Wayne worshiper but hasn’t sworn her loyalty to a Neanderthal candidate yet? Justin’s brain boggles. If any UK residents hope to get any insight into the US from the BBC, they’re in trouble. As usual.
It’s a joke. Get out of my country, and off my airwaves, and stop poisoning the minds of my British friends while you’re at it.
I see Carolyn Quinn writes for the New Statesman. When was the last time a Telegraph or Spectator columnist presented a mainstream BBC current affairs programme.
Steve: Andrew Marr had a column in the Telegraph
Still on the subject of drugs, I wonder just how rife cocaine use is at the BBC, especially at the highly paid executive level?
A program on BBC coke/drug abuse would make one hell of a documentary and might go some way to explaining the decisions made by the various incompetent little shitheads ruining the BBC.
When was the last time a Telegraph or Spectator columnist presented a mainstream BBC current affairs programme.
Steve Edwards | 03.01.08 – 9:00 pm | #
Emily Maitlis has written for the Spectator and was going to more regularly until it was banned. What’s more shocking is that they’d even invite someone who is part of the left wing conspiracy..
Politics Show attack-dog Jenny Scott also wrote a piece or two for The Spectator recently.
Lord, love a duck. What is happening to me? I am sticking up for the BBC! 🙂
The Grand Dame, Simpson appeared on Newsnight to comment on
The novelist George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman adventure stories, has died aged 82
I think Simpson’s underling interviewer was hinting at a similarity between Flashman & the Liberator of Kabul.
Simpson remained sweetness & light & without a barb. Unlike last night’s World Service reporter who could not resist telling us that some Americans thought Flashman to be factual – stoopid Yanks!
“Unlike last night’s World Service reporter who could not resist telling us that some Americans thought Flashman to be factual – stoopid Yanks!”
Some people think the BBC is factual!
Dear John Reith,
Hope you had a good start to 2008? I wonder if you can give me the name of a current BBC reporter who has served in the Armed Forces?
Could you also tell me why the BBC dropped their coverage of the Farnborough Air Show?
I see that the BBC are quite miffed that Clinton bombed in Iowa despite her mounting one of the most expensive and concerted campaigns ever? Is it possible that the BBC high command backed the wrong horse? Despite the fake smile you could tell that she was pissed, to say the least! I wouldnt want to be her assistant today! I can forsee plenty of desperate dirt digging and negative stories about Obama in the near future, ably assisted by the BBC ‘agitprop’ unit.
On balance do you think the BBC dropped a bollock when it tried to smear/trip up Obama? I have a feeling that the NPUSA will not forget/forgive the BBC for a long time! Oh dear!
Cassandra
Hullo. One of our main presenters is currently in the TA.
Hi David,
Hope you had a good winterval? Can you tell me his/her name and his job at the BBC?
Can you also tell me what unit he/she serves with please and has he/she done his/her bit on the front line?
Many thanks in anticipation of your swift response.
Perhaps you can enlighten me about the Met Office story you ran a few days ago, first the BBC came out with a story that 2007 might be the warmest on record but then a few days later that same Met office comes out with the news that the 2007 has been the coldest since 2000! Whats going on? The Mail ran the story and I have not heard anything from the BBC about it yet.
It seems to me(and I could well be wrong)that IF a story supports the AGW/MMCC theory then the BBC are on it before you can say “Jack Robinson” BUT if the story contradicts the AGW/MMCC party line then it seems that the BBC wont touch it with a barge pole!
If you bump into this TA reporter please pass on my best regards.
I live within the region covered by the Farnborough air show and I’m certain it is covered every year by local BBC TV news bulletins and magazines. (My gripe with them is that they give too much time to sailing.)
Are we now debating bias which posters here “forsee”?
Steve Edwards | 03.01.08 – 9:00 pm
When was the last time a Telegraph or Spectator columnist presented a mainstream BBC current affairs programme.
|
Spectator editor Matthew D’Ancona is a regular presenter of Radio 4’s ‘The Week in Westminster’. During 2007 D’Ancona also presented two documentary series on Radio 4.
On ‘The Week in Westminster’ D’Ancona replaced Peter Oborne, the former Spectator political correspondent. Matthew Parris, another Spectator columnist • though his day job is on the Times • also a presents a BBC series on Radio 4.
Simon Heffer of the Telegraph is an occasional presenter on the BBC, as is his colleague Joshua Rosenberg. Robert Shrimsley (ex-Telegraph, now on the Financial Times) used to present on World Service. As has been mentioned, Andrew Marr is a Telegraph columnist. As is, of course, Boris Johnson, who has also presented a number of BBC programmes. John Simpson used to have a regular Sunday Telegraph column and is a frequent contributor to the Spectator.
Alan | 03.01.08 – 7:41 pm
Come to think of it, I was subscribed to BBC World as part of a cable package. It was at no additional cost.
Maybe you were counting me in the statistics?
No, the figure given represents he number of actual viewers, the number of people who can access BBC World is much larger.
Answer me honestly – did you ever see anyone reading Jane’s in your office?
Yes.
I don’t know where did you get 163 millions of viewers/listeners…
The surveys are carried out by independent market research groups and comply with international standards of audience research. The Foreign Office, which pays for it, keeps a close eye on how much bang it’s getting for its bucks.
The BBC World Service’s global audience figures over recent years were: 120 million in 1992, 124m (1993), 130m (1994), 133m (1995), 140m (1996), 143m (1997), 138m (1998), 143m (1999), 151m (2000), 153m (2001), 150m (2002), 150m (2003), 146m (2004), and 149m (2005).
The BBC World Service broadcasts in 33 languages including English. The other languages are: Albanian, Arabic, Azeri, Bengali, Burmese, Caribbean-English, Cantonese, French for Africa , Hausa, Hindi, Indonesian, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mandarin, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese for Brazil, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, and Vietnamese.
Cassandra | 04.01.08 – 8:57 am
…. BBC reporter who has served in the Armed Forces?
Newsnight’s Tom Carver is ex-Army himself • 9th/12th Lancers, I think. (And his Dad was Chief of the Defence Staff.)
Cassandra: Christmas and New Year were lovely thanks.
I think for fairly obvious reasons I’m uncomfortable about revealing that sort of information on the internet. You never know who is reading! I’ll ask him if he is ok for me to do it though.
Actually 8 or so members of staff here spent the weekend with the Army to build better contacts and understanding. We do it every year. I’m trying to make time to go myself this time.
As far as the Met Office goes so far they’ve confirmed the weather in the UK in 2007 was the second warmest on record http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7169690.stm
Rumour is Global Temperature from the Hadley centre though will continue this plateau we’ve seen recently… with predictions that 2008 will be slightly cooler (although statistically the same)
Could you provide a link to your Mail story?
Roland Thompson-Gunner | 04.01.08 – 10:22 am:
I live within the region covered by the Farnborough air show and I’m certain it is covered every year by local BBC TV news bulletins and magazines.
Sorry old bean. Didn’t realise that the Farnborough Air Show was a local event. Silly me! Clearly, broadcasting the thing on BBC South is sufficient then!
Interesting piece from Russia, reportedly by a scientist, who thinks the global warming phase is over • and that it may be a whole lot colder in thirty years or so time:
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080103/94768732.html
I am sure the BBC has somewhere reported this (almost certainly with appropriate headlines) but I thought you all might like to see the article in this form.
Of course, if the beeb disagree no doubt their article will have sensible, carefully considered arguments against • gathered from reputable scientists and not from arts graduates looking for a proper job.
Just a thought for the BBC and its Middle East Editor: notice how a news organisation worthy of the name deals with questionable reportage by its correspondents. The reporter in question is no longer working at NRO. Orla Guerin – to pick a name at random – is still a valued resource of the BBC.
Come to think of it, I was subscribed to BBC World as part of a cable package. It was at no additional cost.
Maybe you were counting me in the statistics?
Because of the subsidies, BBC can afford it while other broadcasters cannot. Even “Space” channel costs more.
Come to think of it I wonder if there is an anti-trust/unlawful-subsidy case that could be brought to WTO.
Is this a breach of trade agreements between US/Canada and Britain?
Thanks JR!
Alan | 03.01.08 – 7:41 pm | #
Again, I’d be interested to know what these subsidies are that people bleat on about. According to a blurb I’ve got here, it’s stated that it is financed by advertising and subscription revenue.
I’d wager France24 is a far more likely candidate for any legitimate complaint..
Ben | 04.01.08 – 11:25 am
Quite so.
BBC World is a commercial arm of the BBC, and funded by advertising, sponsorship and subscription. No revenue is received from the UK licence fee or government.
http://www.bbcworld.com/Pages/FAQ.aspx?
“Perhaps you can enlighten me about the Met Office story you ran a few days ago, first the BBC came out with a story that 2007 might be the warmest on record but then a few days later that same Met office comes out with the news that the 2007 has been the coldest since 2000!”
Both stories are correct. Due to heavy cloud cover during most of the summer the UK recorded low DAYTIME summer temperatures. But heavy cloud cover keeps the nights warm, so when averaged over the complete cycle the temperatures were quite high. The Winter, however, was quite mild too.
Thus 2007 becomes the 2nd warmest year on record when averaged over the full day and over a full year. But – the Met office has only been able to do such averaging over a relatively short period of years so “on record” in this case doesn’t actually mean as much as usual.
This underlines a fundamental problem with using weather records to “prove” anything about MMGW. In a country like the UK where the weather is very variable you can hand-pick a variety of statistics at any point in time to suggest that 2007 was warm. But most people would say that in their experience 2007 was pretty cool and wet, so Met office comments about it being the second warmest on record undermine its own credibility, and the credibility of MMGW theory.
Personally I think this winter will be a cold one and the next few winters will be cold – as we repeat the cycle of the eatrly 80s. But the proponents of MMGW theory will still manage to find a statistic that claims otherwise.
“BBC World is a commercial arm of the BBC, and funded by advertising, sponsorship and subscription. No revenue is received from the UK licence fee or government.”
Excellent,you see you can do it.Now extend it to the rest of the Corporation.
In the Mail today:-
BBC children’s TV presenter arrested over girlfriend’s ‘drugs’ death
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=506026&in_page_id=1770&ct=5
So in recent memory we’ve had at least five BBC presenters involved in drug related criminal offences, including two suspect deaths and a charge of male rape.
I know the BBC is a large organisation prone to (in Andrew Marr’s words) “cultural liberalism” – but all this leaves the ordinary taxpayer with the impression of a huge contingent of over overpaid and underemployed public servants who have nothing better to do with our money than indulge their own jaded and unsavoury appetites.
I can’t think of any other public or private orgaisation where so many examples of this kind of behaviour would be left unchallenged.
“I can’t think of any other public or private orgaisation where so many examples of this kind of behaviour would be left unchallenged.”
The Conservative (and indeed Labour) party? 🙂
I can’t think of any other public or private orgaisation where so many examples of this kind of behaviour would be left unchallenged.
Perhaps that other darling of the BBC, the EU?
Can anyone tell me why immigrants have suddenly become “migrants” on the BBC news website? Apparently “migrants” are going to get free English lessons. So if I want to leave Britain to go to Australia, will I qualify?
“I can’t think of any other public or private orgaisation where so many examples of this kind of behaviour would be left unchallenged.”
What exactly do you mean by “unchallenged”?
Do you really believe that this would be reported quite so prominantly had they not been television personalities/profile?
Let’s look at BP as a large organisation employing 115,000. I’m sure they had less than five instances where employees have been caught involved in illegal activities!
Of course the reporting of Brown and his rent boy had nothing to do with profile and everything to do with the crime.
Right.
“I can’t think of any other public or private orgaisation where so many examples of this kind of behaviour would be left unchallenged.”
The BBC has always had its share of squalid coke-sniffing libertines: the hapless Frank Bough, Angus Deayton, Richard Bacon, Johnnie Walker… I’m sure there are others we don’t know about, but this is true of the industry in general, if you allow me to generalise.
My concern is that there are senior level staff that take this stuff, thereby affecting their decision making faculties.
Steve Edwards | 04.01.08 – 12:39 pm
Can anyone tell me why immigrants have suddenly become “migrants”..?
Some people • especially politicians • are beginning to use the two words interchangeably .But there is a distinction worth preserving.
An immigrant is normally understood to be someone who has arrived in a new country with a view to settling there permanently.
A migrant worker, by contrast, moves from one region or country to another in search of short term work opportunities. Migrants will generally go home eventually, though some may decide to become immigrants.
Thus, a family moving from Pakistan to Bradford are most likely immigrants, while a Polish plumber, or the Kiwi in Oddbins, is more likely to be a migrant.
Ben:
“Not really evidence of bias, only recently have most news orgs really started to believe the figures were worth reporting as a trend. Even the army are playing it down. It’s now 10 months since it began and probably a more reasonable time to assess its impact.”
Der Spiegel(hardly a rightwing magazine) had a article in july or august reporting that the americans where much more succesfull than the media were reporting. So there were news organisations which did there research and came to different conclusions. I think that one of the problems of the BBC and the media in general is that it like a giant echo chamber. They constantly repeat each other (without refering to each other) and once the story is repeated the original source sees it as confirmation of their story.
What was the reason for having a string of articles named “monitoring the surge” which the BBC ended in september when you acknowledge that in september it was to soon to see a trend. And why stop in september. The BBC loads the suspicion on it that wanted to influence the congressional hearings.
Ben:
“I can’t think of any other public or private organisation where so many examples of this kind of behaviour would be left unchallenged.”
What exactly do you mean by “unchallenged”?
I think we all understand, Ben, that people are fallible and any large organisation will have a percentage of people who get into trouble.
However, if there are a number of similar instances over a short period of time – it often indicates that something has gone wrong with the concept of what constitutes acceptable behaviour in the organisation.
In this case the management of the organisation (particularly if it is funded with public money) has a reponsibility to “challenge” the behaviour by taking a hard look at the sort of people they are employing and making sure that they understand what the acceptable limits are.
I personally think many licence fee payers would be apalled to think that Class A drug use was considered a normal recreational activity for a significant number of BBC employees – even if they only do it in their own time.
We may well hear that the BBC is seriously concerned about the problem and taking steps to address it – I won’t be holding my breath though.
“Didn’t realise that the Farnborough Air Show was a local event. Silly me! Clearly, broadcasting the thing on BBC South is sufficient then!”
Cassandra stated that the BBC had stopped covering it. I live in the same local coverage area and I don’t think it has. If Cassandra means the BBC has stopped covering it as a national event, s/he should say so.
And then:
a)Is that statement true?
b)Is mine?
c)Whichever, is there a valid explanation?
d)Has it always automatically been covered as a national event, or only off and on e.g. when that huge Russian transporter visited?
OLPC = One Laptop Per Child
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/01/intel_says_goodbye_to_one_lapt.html
“OLPC was always going to face an uphill battle when confronted with a mighty corporation like Intel. Now it has suffered another crushing blow to its efforts to put what was supposed to be the $100 laptop in the hands of millions of children.”
That evil corporation! How dare it refuse to stop offering choices to poor communities! Competition is a bad think, and millions of children will clearly suffer. Why can’t Intel just agree to go along with a plan to create a paternalistic monopoly?
“I can’t think of any other public or private orgaisation where so many examples of this kind of behaviour would be left unchallenged.”
Fox News? 😉
if there are a number of similar instances over a short period of time – it often indicates that something has gone wrong with the concept of what constitutes acceptable behaviour in the organisation.
In this case the management of the organisation (particularly if it is funded with public money) has a reponsibility to “challenge” the behaviour by taking a hard look at the sort of people they are employing…
Bacon and Deayton were fired, weren’t they? And I believe Frank Bough was working for LBC at the time his cocaine use hit the headlines. Wrench was suspended pending his trial. (I notice he’s back…..suggesting charges dismissed.)
As for your most recent example • what has this actually to do with the BBC? According to the Mail story, the dead woman was an actress appearing in dramas aired by both BBC and ITV…. i.e. not a BBC employee.
“The BBC has always had its share of squalid coke-sniffing libertines”
One of the primary side-effects of cocaine use is paranoia. Like believing that the US wants to take over the world, George Bush planned the twin towers attack, the world is about to be destroyed by polution and the big oil companies are keeping it quiet. Typical BBC fare really.
Still, it could be worse. I don’t know what drugs Evan Davies uses but his version of Evanomics bears no relation to economics. He really shouldn’t have taken from that bottle marked “DO NOT DRINK”. Now he’s stuck in Wonderland with Alistair Darling.
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/databomb/index.htm
An excellent article which shows the bias, political influence (George Soros etc) and possible downright fraud involved in the infamous Lancet survey of Iraqi deaths that was deliberately released just before the last US elections. Given that the Lancet survey has been well and truly trashed by Der Spiegel and others in the media who are not exactly right wing organisations, can we now exppect the BBC to do a follow up article or Panorama on why they so blindly pushed their anti war agenda with such a dodgy dossier? Oh wait not ANOTHER dodgy dossier!
Ryan,
From my own observations coke turns people into raging assholes that think they are bigger than they are.
I suspect that coke use is endemic at the BBC at all levels. I say this in anticipation of some pretty robust refutations!
Cassandra
The last Farnborough air show (2006) appears to have been quite extensively covered by the BBC News Website. Not bad for a trade fair.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5188120.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5189168.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5189168.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5196804.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5192662.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5189038.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5185910.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5195964.stm
Andy | 04.01.08 – 2:03 pm
From my own observations coke turns people into raging assholes
We clearly move in very different social circles. I defer to your extensive experience of assholes…
A BBC report below so expect their usual dishonesty about the effects
http://antigreen.blogspot.com/
dave t | 04.01.08 – 1:55 pm
can we now exppect the BBC to do a follow up article ..?
Follow up? The BBC was there first…..read this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6045112.stm
JR,
“BBC World is a commercial arm of the BBC, and funded by advertising, sponsorship and subscription. No revenue is received from the UK licence fee or government.”
Right, so there is no spillover of work between the World Service and BBC World.
The same journalists are not doing the reporting for both. And there is no passage of information, equipment etc.
What a joke.
JR, with your capability to devotion to the team, you should join USMC.
When it is a Tory councillor it’s there.
Councillor on drink-drive charge
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7169896.stm
A Lib Dem?? No
A Birmingham Liberal Democrat who has claimed incapacity benefit for 25 years because he is too ill to work told a court that he wanted to become a city councillor because it would be an easy life.
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birminghampost/news/tm_headline=councillor-quizzed-over-disability-benefit-grants%26method=full%26objectid=20313610%26siteid=50002-name_page.html