I must make at least some comment on this terrible journalism done by Clive Myrie in his hit piece on the Czech Republic.
It was mentioned by several people in the comments, and I must not let it pass. I would like to take it apart piece by piece but alas haven’t time. Maybe readers can assist?
There is immensely loaded language, a lack of information, and the accuracy of it has already been questioned by the Czech Government. Social Affairs Minister Petr Necas has “accused the BBC of “classic journalistic distortion”.”
He is absolutely right. Myrie’s report on what he called “cage beds” in mental homes was a disgrace. Your humble B-BBCer has numerous Czech contacts and has consulted with many who have without exception been angry when they read the tone and content of the report. Myrie tops it all by his self-righteous BBC busybodying in the service of a Greater Cause:
“Finally, we had evidence that a member of the European Union was not fulfilling its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.” Finally!
Here’s a taster of some of Myrie’s language (with comments):
“Faint sounds could be heard coming from a room nearby – the sound of children wailing.” (yes, and mentally handicapped children never moan, do they?)
“Only then did she reach through the bars to stroke the head of the male teenager inside, as if stroking an animal in its cage at the zoo.” (which animals in a zoo would Myrie be allowed to stroke, and isn’t such human contact the very thing that one might look for in caring nursing?)
“I wanted to find out what happens to the mind of someone who spends much of their life in a cage” (no, ignoramus, a so-called cage bed, and if you bothered to ask yourself why the kids didn’t show signs of malnutrition or why there were no urine or faeces stains visible, or how they were clothed, you’d realise they would have to leave their “cages” accompanied by a nurse and have human contact directly on many occasions every day. Honestly- -ed. I should point out here, Myrie was making a TV item- perhaps you have seen it? It is clear from this clip that the children were clothed, clean and nourished)
Needless to say, the BBC went in by lying, under false pretences, and discovered not very much at all, to be honest- hence the furore which they’ve nicely played down by keeping the Czech response from getting the publicity which the report got.
I could of course go on, but as I said, I haven’t time :-). Read it and judge for yourselves. This is so bad that the words “well meaning” have no meaning in this case.
More autopilot BBC comments in the report :
EU membership has been kind to the Czech Republic. It is the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states. But it is also a deeply conservative land with firm traditions.
1. ie Czech stability and prosperity is down to the EU. (Actually it’s down to them having had some politicians in charge who favour capitalism.) It is a BBC article of faith that everything good that has happened in the old Soviet bloc since the collapse of the Soviet Union has been down to the EU. They didn’t even join the bloody thing till 2004 ! (The EU was also responsible for preventing Soviet occupation of Western Europe since 1945, by the way.)
2. On the one hand there’s stability and prosperity, “but” [sic] on the other hand there’s conservatism and firm traditions.
Thanks for bringing this up. I forwarded the story to my friends, too. So it wasn’t just me paranoid, it was a totally uncalled for smear reporting…
“Faint sounds could be heard coming from a room nearby – the sound of children wailing.”
As someone with a little experience of working with severely handicapped I can tell you that “wailing” and screaming is something you have to get used to – day and night.
Every country has it’s problems, so what right the Beeb has to get on it’s self-righteous high horse is beyond me. The sly sneaky way in which this was conducted this reveals more about the BBC than what it says about the Czech Republic.
This one statement I think sums up the original source of the BBC’s displeasure:
“But it is also a deeply conservative land with firm traditions.”
I already posted on this peace of BBC “journalism”, but I’ll repeated some of it on this thread:
“But it is also a deeply conservative land with firm traditions.”
Being conservative and traditional has nothing to do with sub-human conditions that people got used to live in during over 40 years of Communism.
It is disgusting for a bunch of snobbish spoiled brats at the BBC, to defame an entire nation like that. I have been to the Czech Republic 3 times. Although I am not fluent, I more or less understand the language.
If ever there was a liberal, free-love cherishing society it is the Czechs. Quite the opposite of conservative and firmly traditional.
Yet I know what is ticking off the radical Leftists at the BBC.
Czechs know too well what disaster hard-Left is, and they are not buying into Che Guevara, Fidel and Chavez being folk-heroes.
Not accepting the party line, of course immediately makes Czechs “conservative” and “firmly traditional”.
They lived under the Party for 40 odd years, they can teach the brats at the BBC a thing or two about where they are headed.
Undercover filming took place because the crew wouldnt have been allowed otherwise.
They found evidence that the Czech Rep was not fulfilling its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
“The Czech Republic banned the use of cage-like beds in children’s care homes a year ago, under international pressure.” Clearly they haven’t.
“An undercover BBC team found children kept in high-bar beds in five homes.” – Thats FIVE homes, not a one off.
‘Martin Zarsky, from the Ministry of Social Affairs, wrote the law banning cage beds. He agreed to look at the findings of our investigation. “Based on what I’ve seen,” he told me, “we will establish immediately an inspection team. Sanctions could follow – the most serious being to withhold the care home’s licence.”
“Council of Europe human rights commissioner Thomas Hammarberg called for a more child-oriented approach.”
You say ‘they’ve nicely played down by keeping the Czech response from getting the publicity which the report got.’ That would be the response in the article you linked to!?! (A broadcaster you claim is so thoroughly biased yet reports such criticism?)
So in conclusion, the BBC used undercover filming to expose something that was happening that was in defiance of a legal ban and a condition of the Czech Republic’s EU membership and involved vulnerable children. And all you can do is suggest that this is all part of some bizarre pro-communist, pro EU agenda.)
*This post edited to remove gratuitous insults to site writers. I am too bored with hearing (for 4 yrs) that we have reached a “new low”.
Edited By Siteowner
“The Czech Republic may be a great place to live for atheists – even those Czechs who aren’t atheist are, by and large, disdainful of organized religion. A recent poll and found that only 33.6% of Czechs belong to a religion and only 11.7% attend services once a month or more. That’s the lowest rate for any country in Europe aside from Estonia.”
http://atheism.about.com/b/2006/02/15/czech-republic-most-atheist-country-in-europe.htm
What is this conservatism of the Czech Republic the BBC is talking about? Maybe the BBC is to the extreme left that even the czechs are too conservative for them?
Joel,
The Czech Republic and other small countries are frequently bullied into accepting EU “standards”- standards which do not actually prevent abuses and may sometimes encourage them. Enforcing EU regulation is not within the remit of the BBC, since the BBC is funded by British telly taxpayers.
The reason the BBC knew so little about the homes was because they lied and therefore couldn’t ask direct questions. I wonder if any of the homes had a rolling programme of purchasing other equipment, for example? The BBC, pretending to give out teddies!, couldn’t have asked.
They also ignored the reality of the kids’ lives, in the sense that they were fed, clothed, and clean- all of which implied a life outside the “cages”.
The BBC’s bias is manifest in not giving the objection the same prominence as the complaint. Since the objection came from a national government this was especially bad.
Five out of eight suggests merely slow progress in making changes.
The fact that the BBC never say what the alternatives to the beds are and what that means in terms of staffing etc suggests that rather than be constructive they are simply trying to embarrass a “conservative country”.
It is obvious that in all countries there may be shortcomings- some of our UK old peoples’ homes, not to mention NHS hospitals, neglect their charges on many occasions. All systems have faults, the BBC went to town on this one unfairly.
That’s the reality.
Joel,
“So in conclusion, the BBC used undercover filming to expose something that was happening that was in defiance of a legal ban and a condition of the Czech Republic’s EU membership and involved vulnerable children.”
Ok. I, see. But undercover filming of sermons in some of British Mosques is off limits for the BBC?
Even though they amount to incitement to violence and racism and are also contrary to EU laws.
BBC didn’t have to go as far as Czech republic to film something that was not in line with the laws.
It is this choosing and picking of dubious causes that brings accusations of bias.
“The Czech Republic and other small countries are frequently bullied into accepting EU “standards”- standards which do not actually prevent abuses and may sometimes encourage them.” – Irrelevant.
Enforcing EU regulation is not within the remit of the BBC, since the BBC is funded by British telly taxpayers. – Public interest.
“It is this choosing and picking of dubious causes that brings accusations of bias.’ It is you that picks and chooses the dubious cases.
“Five out of eight suggests merely slow progress in making changes’ – exactly.
“It is obvious that in all countries there may be shortcomings- some of our UK old peoples’ homes, not to mention NHS hospitals, neglect their charges on many occasions. All systems have faults” So don’t bother reporting them? I’ve seens numerous reports about the NHS, old people’s homes etc.
“They also ignored the reality of the kids’ lives, in the sense that they were fed, clothed, and clean- all of which implied a life outside the “cages”.” – Did they suggest otherwise?
The BBC’s bias is manifest in not giving the objection the same prominence as the complaint. Since the objection came from a national government this was especially bad.
– patent nonsense.
“But undercover filming of sermons in some of British Mosques is off limits for the BBC?” No, it isn’t.
Re. *This post edited to remove gratuitous insults to site writers. I am too bored with hearing (for 4 yrs) that we have reached a “new low”.
Yeah, I bet you get that a lot.
Such insults are not gratuitous, they are entirely justified. (See above)
Joel – merely retorting “patent nonsense” and “No ,it isn’t” are not arguments. In fact they represent an absence of an argument. Its a typical BBC response to criticism – being accountable for your work (which everyone else in our society is) is a foreign concept, clearly. Hence your replies. Pathetic.
As a frequent lurker, and very occasional contributor, I’d like to thank Joel for doing such a good job for B-BBC with his non-arguments and tired old insults.
We may not always agree with John Reith and David Gregory, but at least they make strong, reasoned arguments and often valid points. Joel’s pathetic offerings, far from helping the BBC cause, merely weaken its arguments.
Joel, we salute you.
Not only has ‘Joel’ been found out for his constant repetition and insults, but when he is moderated for doing so he merely attempts to reassert those insults again.
Whilst some may merely take the fact that his arguments are so poor that the fact alone helps the BBBC cause I have to say that I find it an intolerable abuse of the blog and he must consider himself near being rendered unable to post.
Joel’s attitude is just a reflection of the true lefty temperament:- If anyone disagrees with their childish politics they resort to childish insults before storming off for a big sulk.
Grow up Joel, you’re just proving everyone right when it comes to criticizing the malign and immature attitudes of BBC employees.
The hypocrisy of the BBC reporting here is, of course, expected.
This is the same BBC which has, for 7 1/2 years quite deliberately censored any mention whatsoever of the deliberate genocide of 210 people in Dragodan in Kosovo, purely because it was carried out by by KLA sworn in as NATO police & acting under the direct authority of the |Labour government.
They have also censored any reporting of the KLA kidnapping thousands of schoolchildren, mostly female, from Kosovo to sell to brothesls across europe.
And then these corrupt racist Nazis hope to get a bit of credit for dunning up a story about Czech children’s homes. These scum don’t care in the smallest degree about human rights.
Perhaps, in an ideal world the response of the Czech Government would be given the same kind of coverage that the original story was. Perfect balance is difficult to achieve.
I’ don’t think the response is as newsworthy as the original, perhaps if they take any further steps, such as taking legal action against the BBC then it would get more coverage.
It’s also difficult to compare coverage of any news story from one day to the next because it all depends on events. One day might be a quiet news day, the next might see half a dozen big stories. This will affect the running order.
I recall a story the BBC ran about the Queen storming out of a portrait sitting. It got some coverage, the next week saw significant coverage of the Queen’s reaction. Does that make the BBC biased against…the BBC?
Also worth mentioning that not everyone in the Czech Gov is of that opinion. Martin Zarsky, from the Ministry of Social Affairs isn’t.
“But undercover filming of sermons in some of British Mosques is off limits for the BBC?”
It simply isn’t. If the point being made is that the BBC does not make programmes about Islamic extremism, then you must have been watching and listening to a different BBC from me for the last 5 years.
No, the BBC didn’t make ‘Dispatches: Undercover Mosque’.
I would imagine that someone who attended one of these mosques went to Channel 4 and told them there was a story there. So they went, found that there was, and made a programme about. That hardly makes the BBC biased does it.
* Koran and Country: How Islam Got Political – an Analysis Special
*Public Eye – Islam’s Militant Tendency: A radical Islamic group is targeting Britain’s youth in universities, mosques and inner cities. Its goal is a worldwide Islamic state – Hizb’ut Tahrir.
Panorama- Taking on the Taleban -The Soldiers’ Story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/7071859.stm
Panorma – How I became a Muslim extremist: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/7016299.stm
Panorama: Faith, hate and charity:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/5209466.stm
Panorama: A question of leadership:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/4727513.stm
It wasn’t too difficult to find these with minimal research, most came from the Panorama archive.
I would happily dismantle all accuastions of ‘bias’ if I had the time. In other words though: “patent nonsense”.
Joel | Homepage | 27.01.08 – 3:25 pm |
I recall a story the BBC ran about the Queen storming out of a portrait sitting. It got some coverage, the next week saw significant coverage of the Queen’s reaction. Does that make the BBC biased against…the BBC?
No, you silly boy, it makes them biased against the Monarchy!
See the comments above Fat Man.
The point made was that the Czech Government’s response did not get the same coverage as the original BBC story, and that this indicated a bias against the Czechs.
Hence my analogy…