Monthly Archives: May 2008

MISSING WORDS.

By | | ,
6 Comments

It’s not what the BBC says in its reports, it often what it leaves out. For example, in this report on the Northern Ireland portal it factually reports certain changes regarding the constitution of a Victim’s Commission. Fair enough. It then blithely states concerning the members of this quango that amongst them is “Patricia MacBride, whose brother was killed by the SAS and whose father died 17 months after being shot by loyalists.” It fails to explain that Patricia MacBrides’ brother was killed by the SAS because he was an IRA terrorist stopped before he could carry out a bombing and that her father was murdered by loyalist terrorists. The BBC is indirectly equating the actions of the SAS to those of the IRA, and it is also besmirching the reputation of law abiding loyalists by failing to make it clear that it was loyalist terror gangs that murdered Patricia McBrides father. This is the shameful equivocation at which the BBC excels. Just one sentence with missing words.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

AN ARRESTING HEADLINE.

By | |
40 Comments

Did you spot that the BBC “has learned” that there has been
a dramatic increase in the number of employers being prosecuted for hiring illegal immigrants? Now then, I’m all in favour of ensuring that those who are illegally residing in the UK be booted out pronto so I am naturally delighted to hear this news. However I was wondering if the BBC’s sudden enthusiasm for this new “get tough” prosecution of employers who flout the law and employ illegals extends as far as the Home Office which itself cleared 5,000 illegal immigrants for employment? I wonder will Al-Beeb’s highly trained and highly paid investigators be checking to see to which officials and Ministers are prosecuted, if not sacked, for their flagrant contempt for the law? Or is it just the private sector that gets the prosecutions?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

A TAXING INSIGHT.

By | |
Comments Off on A TAXING INSIGHT.

Did you happen to catch Evan Davies interview Douglas Alexander on the Today programme just after 8am? Alexander was selling the government line that last weeks’ electoral disaster was all to do with world economic crisis, mid-term blues, etc, etc. However the interesting bit was when Evan Davies suggested that what Labour really needed to do to restore fortunes was to bite the bullet and raise taxes on “the rich and middle classes.” Even the mediocre Alexander knew that whilst this is of course Labour policy he can’t actually come right out and SAY it but I found Evan Davies evident enthusiasm for raising taxes as a way to end “end child poverty” to be revealing. This is the big problem for the Cameron Conservatives in coming years because the BBC is institutionally against tax decreases and prefers the idea of punishing those who work hard to raise their incomes. Above all it cannot countenance the idea of the size of the State sector being shrunken because like a big fat parasite, it leeches off the British public, and seeks more and more off our cash. So raising taxes, “in the name of social justice”, is a strategy that the BBC favours and this is reflected in just about every political interview it carries. That’s why Alexander the grate was given such a soft ride by Davies.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

LESSONS IN DISCLOSURE.

By | | ,
36 Comments

I noticed the BBC has given great prominence to the report by the Institute for Public Policy Research claiming that training days for England’s teachers should be quadrupled to 20 a year, costing £75m. The Institute for Public Policy Research says the difference between excellent and bad teachers means pupils achieve more than a GCSE grade extra. However the IPPR is not just any old think-tank – it is a LEFT WING think tank which has acted as cheerleader for Labour’s more controversial policies, including road pricing, rubbish taxes, ID cards and justifying hospital closures. It has also been the recipient of over £1 million of lucrative grants from Labour. So when the BBC reports the latest IPPR advocacy I think it has a duty to put the character of the IPPR in context so that we realise that what we are actually hearing is government thinking – a lit like the BBC itself I guess.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

RIP OFF BBC.

By | |
21 Comments

I’m sure you have seen the news that the BBC is facing a record fine of up to £250,000 after repeatedly ripping off licence fee payers on a string of shows. It’s expected to receive its biggest ever sanction when Ofcom rules on its faking of competition winners on a number of programmes. Viewers on shows including Children in Need, Comic Relief and Sport Relief were all duped. Production staff were found to have made up names of winners and even posed as contestants. The regulator, which will rule on 12 cases, will not give the BBC any special favours. An Ofcom spokesman said: “Whether publicly funded or not the same rigorous high standards apply to all.” The fine will almost certainly be a record and the maximum £250,000 censure is thought to be under serious consideration. Now I do understand that other TV broadcasters were at the same sordid scam but then again no other broadcaster forces us to fund their activities. Given the years of BBC crowing about how much good work it does for charity, this recognition of a lack of control over how production staff operates rather blinds Pudsey in the other eye. How can we trust them when they have shown they cannot regulate their own standards?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

FEELING OUR PAIN?

By | |
89 Comments

Good old Auntie – always willing to give dour Mr Broon a second and third chance. On this Sunday morning with the rest of the media speculating as to whether Brown even HAS a future (He does, as a rejected politician) the BBC leads with the ridiculous headline “I feel voters pain.” Brown is afforded a non-critical platform from which he dribbles his alibis. The ONLY pain that Brown feels is that of seeing his political ambitions disappear in smoke. An effective broadcaster could ask so many questions of Brown and challenge so many of his wild assertions but then again, as with Brown so with the BBC – “L’Etat, c’est moi”

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

AFTERMATH.

By | | , , ,
103 Comments

Well, it’s the morning after as the dust settles and what have the BBC been saying? Well, they have been struggling to get past a sentence about Boris Johnson which does not contain the word “buffoon” for starters. Then we have them giving Jack Straw – the Chemical Ali of the Labour project – being given an easy ride on Today where he was allowed to babble about how great Labour had been but how it had been damaged by not listening enough and those pesky global financial pressures. You could feel the pain in the interviewers tone, I doubt champagne corks popped last night at Broadcasting House. I also noticed two stories that the BBC have not bothered much about following the results of the London elections. First the success of the BNP. Whether you like them or not – and I don’t -nonetheless their performance was quite credible and worthy of more coverage. It got virtually no coverage. Why? Also the crushing defeat at the poll by Saddam Hussein’s cheer-leader George Galloway has hardly been mentioned. Surely the BBC wouldn’t want to minimise the rejection of this nauseous specimen?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

BYE BYE MR BROON AND AU REVOIR KEN!

By | | , , ,
128 Comments

Sorry for the lack of output from me here these past few days but normal service is resuming! Hey – have you been following the BBC’s coverage of the Local Council and London Mayoral elections? Some hilarious stuff – did you see Jeremy Vine’s performances late last night? Cringeworthy! Makes Peter Snow seem good. These results must be such a nightmare for Al-Beeb as Labour are humiliated across the country and it’s looking like Boris is going to dethrone the gruesome Livingstone in London – fingers crossed. I’ve heard some very easy rides being given to those Labour Minister suckers forced to come to camera – Alan “Postie” Johnson was given the most gentle of interviews on the lunchtime news. Did you see it? Tonight should be great stuff as the dawn of the end of Ken becomes apparent and the BBC have to see their beloved Jihad supporting Mayor take a hike..post your highlight of the election coverage…!

UPDATE ONE:

Just as Sky News are making it clear that Boris will win, the BBC are still equivocating on the Mayoral result as of 10pm. The line being taken is that Ken Livingstone WON the last time despite Labour, now he “may” lose because of Labour! Looks like the BBC will berate Labour but still loves the IRA supporting Jihad understanding Jew hating Livingstone.

UPDATE TWO. It’s now 10.30pm and Newsnight are still in denial mode. The air of depression is obvious although I noted that the lead item was prefaced with the description of Boris being a clown, a joker and chat-show host. Better than being a terror-supporting anti-semitic goon, eh?

UPDATE THREE. It’s now 10.45 and Newsnight are now in full-on “Save Gordon” mode. Ruth Kelly, a vision in pink, is being allowed to talk tripe and commentator Michael Crick has been saying that in a way this was not unexpected.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

John from North Carolina

By | |
27 Comments

a.k.a. John Hawkins of Right Wing News writes:

What’s not OK is that the BBC’s World Have Your Say radio program does something that is very annoying and also, in my opinion, a little dishonest. They have guests on and then they have what sound like callers, who are actually ALSO unidentified guests booked on the show.

They have done this to me (and for that matter, other bloggers) before — asked me to be a guest on their show and then announced me as “John from North Carolina,” as if I had just called in to the show.

(Via House of Dumb.)

That’s just not on, whether it’s done for invited blogger callers from the Right, as in this case, or from the Left, as I suspect is more common. (We have several instances recorded on this blog of Joe Activist being passed off as Joe Public.) A few years ago the BBC might have had the excuse that no one knew what a “blog” was, but those days are gone.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

General BBC-related comment thread

By | |
Comments Off on General BBC-related comment thread

! 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 also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely!

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.