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.
General BBC-related comment thread!
Bookmark the permalink.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1068169/The-great-lie-How-immigration-actually-costs-Britain-money-cause-huge-social-problems.html
Funny I didn’t see the BBC cover this story, which is odd as it directly relates to a hot topic on their news order at the moment, the Economy.
Not sure if this is quite the thing you are interested in – but it seems to me that Roger Bolton’s article linked from my post (linked below) definitely contains elements of clear bias…
http://markmeynell.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/the-rival-to-the-bible-nice-line-transparent-agenda/
A suggestion for this blog, if I may:
I wonder if the template for posting messages here could include a box for a subject title for each post.
For instance, the subject of the first comment posted on this thread is Immigration; the second is The Bible.
It would be helpful for readers to know this. It might also facilitate searches for posts on particular subjects.
@Millie Tant | 07.10.08 – 2:36 pm
I’m afraid that I don’t agree with this point. The subject is the topic from the main page (or it should be) and we don’t want to encourage people to stray from the point.
However, I would like to suggest that all posts are numbered within a topic to make it easier to scroll through posts when you are returning to a topic. If the topic has 100 comments (45 unread) it means a lot of scrolling and counting.
I see the Mail has a piece featuring Robert “Pinko” Pesto-sauce today….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1069374/Bank-shares-plunge-40-hour-news-50bn-banks-deal-leaked-BBC.html#comments
Like the pink shirt Pesto. Is it BBC-issue? “Easy access” flap at the back.
gordon-bennett | 07.10.08 – 2:50 pm | #
However, I would like to suggest that all posts are numbered within a topic to make it easier to scroll through posts when you are returning to a topic. If the topic has 100 comments (45 unread) it means a lot of scrolling and counting.
Agreed!
Millie Tant | 07.10.08 – 2:36 pm | #
I wonder if the template for posting messages here could include a box for a subject title for each post.
Also agreed! It could always be left blank for threads that are “on-topic.”
The BBC’s obsession with the most important election in human history, and final chance to defeat George Bush, gets ever more bizarre. Now they’re having a weekly quiz, with some really awful questions.
US election quiz
Guess which party the questions favor?
gordon-bennett | 07.10.08 – 2:50 pm |
In some threads, it is a single subject but in this case, which is a General Comments category, we can have pretty much a ragbag of subjects as illustrated by the first two comments about two very different topics.
I agree with you that automatic numbering of posts would also be helpful.
Justin Webb doing his usual regurgitation of the US Left media. This time, he’s only about two weeks late to the party on Democrats being responsible for FMae and FMac.
Did deregulation really cause the crisis?
He’s late because he only just now read an article about it in the Washington Post – written by a friend of his (I’ve been saying for months that this is how he operates – hanging out in DC joints and dinner parties with his fellow travelers, then paraphrasing them a day or two later). A similar, and better, article appeared in last week’s Spectator. If a story making the Dems look bad at a time like this is in the WaPo – belated as it may be – it must have more merit than the unsubstantiated rumors they like to peddle about Republicans. Ol’ Justin had to take notice.
The BBC could save a lot of money simply by getting rid of him and Matt Frei and just buying all the license fee payers a subscription to the Washington Post. You’d all still be misinformed in the same partisan fashion, but it would cost less and you wouldn’t have to listen to Webb’s voice.
Some say it cuts glass.
THE BIBLE AND THE BBC
Religious discussion on the BBC (Thought For The Day etc) has long been the province of those dreadful vicars who wear sandals and ask you to call them “Dave”. Like the Church of England, belief in “God” is optional, and even “Jesus” is viewed as nothing more than a good chap. The religious department is often the source of anti-Christian propaganda.
Then, suddenly, out of the blue comes a report of such honesty and complexity, that it leads one to believe that the BBC is indeed an organization that truly explains the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7637087.stm
But caution: the BBC is not one single entity but a series of tribes, each fighting for it’s own share of turf. There’s no-one in the engine room. It’s the lunatics who are running the asylum.
I hope I didn’t get Soutik Biswas, the writer of the above report, into trouble for not towing the BBC’s anti-Christian party line. Can you imagine Justin Webb’s version of it?
Today I was more than usually struck by the bias on the BBC politics home page, so I did a bit of analysis… Take a look here.
Equality of coverage? Lack of bias? Denying the Conservatives the oxygen of publicity?
Just been on the computer at the local library. Biased BBC is banned! BBC blogs are accessible.
Tory council too! Trafford in Manchester.
Pete: If this is true, complain loudly…
I did complain, though not loudly – it’s impolite to be loud in a library. The librarian agreed with me and she said she’d try to remedy the situation.
Pete,
Notify your local Tory council. URLs don’t get blocked accidentally.
Pete
I thought blocking websites only happened in China and other dictatorships, er,……..
BLOCKING URLS ETC
Check out the anti-Obama videos being taken off YOUTUBE. David Freddoso (“The Case Against Obama”) seems a particular target. A radio interview he did has just been deleted.
Shares plunge as Peston of the BBC leaks bailout detailsBanks losing %40 in a day ,Stupid wanks sink banks.
Pete | 07.10.08 – 3:51 pm
It could be a language issue. Naughty words. Things do get blocked because of ‘adult content.’
The BBC anti-Christian? You must be joking. The level of church coverage is hugely disproportionate. We hear almost daily some garbage about what the CoE thinks of this; what lionel blue thinks of that. And you can’t move for superstition on Radio 4’s sunday morning coverage. The BBC should be far more secular (in line with the country) and not act as an unquestioning platform for increasingly anachronistic religious viewpoints.
It may be difficult to prove that the BBC is actively anti-Christian. As so often a lot depends on “tone”.
But what is indisputable is that the BBC is fanatically pro-Muslim !
Did anyone notice the second-place story on the website front-page about how the US election is ‘turning nasty’? On first issue, the caption was complemented by a sole picture of Obama looking aggressive/determined.
Somebody moaned because now the pictured is divided in two to include some guy…not sure who he is…oh yeah, the other fucking candidate.
David
This may seem a tad arcane in these troubled times but have you noticed the extent to which the Beeboids have taken, in discussing (sic) Scottish affairs / politics, to referring to the assembly at Holyrood as “the Scottish Government”?.
Now I was (no doubt mistakenly, for how can the Beeb possibly ever be wrong?) that while many regional and local government powers and functions have been devolved to Holyrood, the writ of HMG still runs north of the border, if only for minor matters like defence, foreign policy, and taxation – and that it is the Government of Great Britain that has responsibility in these fields.
So why is the Beeb referring to “..the Scottish Government..”, rather than the Holyrood Parliament,or some such? I can see that the standard lefty-lib position would be to do anything that would denigrate the concept of Great Britain of the United Kingdom and hasten its demise into a clutch of regions controlled from Brussels, but surely even the Beeboids can guess that if Scotland were to float off to independence, then Broon and NuLab are history in England?
Any thoughts on what is going on?
It’s not just Al Beeb that is pro-Muslim. Just found this gem on Jihadwatch:
Muslim youths to advise ministers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7656108.stm
That’s the way forward! Nice one, Liebour.
So why is the Beeb referring to “..the Scottish Government..”
Because that’s what Alex Salmond has called his administration. The BBC has gone along with this. Rightly or wrongly.
The BBC have now upset the Philippines.
Harry Enfield maid sketch angers Philippine government
The offending bit:
During the scene, a man can be seen urging his lethargic neighbour to have sex with a Filipina maid, who is wriggling provocatively.
He encourages the neighbour to “mount her”. And at one point he tells the maid, wearing a grey uniform and apron, to “present your rear”.
How crass. The response:
The petition, posted by a group called the Philippine Foundation on the GoPetition website, claims that the skit incites “stereo-typed racial discrimination, vulgarity and violation of the maid’s human rights”, and calls for the BBC to be “re-educated”.
A BBC spokeswoman said that they had not yet received a formal complaint, and Tiger Aspect Productions, which makes the show, was not immediately available for comment.
The British Embassy in Manila issued a statement saying the BBC has editorial independence and the views expressed and portrayed by the network “are completely independent” from the Government.
The article goes on to say that Enfiled was banned from playing a muslim hoodie…………
whitewhineliberal
Oh dear, oh dear. Hell hath no fury like a “liberal” if somebody (real) or some body (corporate) does not agree with his viewpoint. Do I sense a bias complaint soon to be sent to the BBC over excessive “religious” coverage.
The link
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/3151759/Harry-Enfield-maid-sketch-angers-Philippine-government.html
Gerald – Oh dear. i think this site attests to the fact that the trait you identify isn’t limited to “liberals”. As soon as i can find a green pen, though, i’ll write to the Queen on the matter.
Michale St G – The Scottish Government is the standard term used by most. It distinguishes the executive from the legislature i think.
TPO 5:38
So, in the BBC’s eyes, it is OK to offend Philipine Christians with a tasteless sketch about a maid, but not OK to offend Muslims with a sketch about a Muslim hoodie.
Tells you all you need to know about the scumbags at the BBC.
TPO 5:39
Thanks for the link.
I see from the article that the BBC also banned a sketch about a paedophile Catholic priest.
I thought that was a bit puzzling, until it struck me that it was probably the paedophile bit that just struck a little too close to home for the BBC.
Whitewine 5:49
My view from North of the Border is that the legal name is still the “Scottish Executive”.
When Salmond became First Minister he “re-branded” it as the “Scottish Government” without consultation with the opposition parties.
He claimed it was because the Scottish people were too thick to understand the word “executive”.
Probably true in many cases, but not his real reason for changing it. Another porkie from the man who almost rivals Brown in that department.
The BBC , of course, lap it up hook, line and sinker.
“So, in the BBC’s eyes, it is OK to offend Philipine Christians with a tasteless sketch about a maid, but not OK to offend Muslims with a sketch about a Muslim hoodie.”
I guess that has something to do with the relative likelyhood of a Phililpine maid marching into a studio and blowing herself and everyone else to pieces (low) compared to that of one of the devotees of the Religion Of Peace doing similar (inevitable, even if you look at them a bit funny).
CitizenZero 6:05
Spot on. Typical BBC bias and cowardice.
They have calculated that Filipina maids are not a threat to world peace so they can be safely ridiculed.
whitewineliberal:
I preface my remarks by saying I am not a practicing Christian.
The BBC’s view of Christianity is the same as it’s view of politics: center-left all the way. Here in the USA (especially in the South) one sees on TV on a Sunday a cross-section of views, from the frauds who claim to cure cancer for a donation, through fire-breathing Baptists, earnest Methodists and the wealthy Episcopals. I even once saw a group of Catholic nuns saying the Rosary. (Not good TV!). One of the biggest hits on TV, Joel Ostein, is more a motivational speaker than a true “preacher”.
However, from watching the BBC for 40 years or more I never knew about any of this diversity. The Beeb’s view of “religion” is milk-toast state Christianity and a sprinkling of other faiths. The only time Evangelicals are shown, its to make fun of them. And frankly you’re right: British society as portrayed by the BBC is a secular one (“rational” as our old pal Justin Webb puts it) and maybe the state broadcaster should come clean and just take all religious programming off the air. Meanwhile, once again the BBC doesn’t give a true cross-section of views. Christians are derided and Muslims (for political reasons) are sanctified. Other religions are also-rans.
The broader point is this: the BBC does too much, its ambitions are too great, its commercial arm too powerful, its political clout to pervasive, its effect on its opposition too destructive, and its effect on the country too demoralizing.
FAIR competition. Please.
I agree that all religious programming should come off the air. Not programmes about religion, which is of course part of the human condition. But giving a platform to religions to proselytise is not fair as there are so many competing dogmas. When for instance did you last see the church of the flying spaghetti monster on the bbc? Pirates of the Caribbean came closest. And Ramen to that.
100% Labour stories on the BBC Politics section of its website. The opposition do not exist apparently.
evil Tories, we must never hear from them
whitewhineliberal
Indeed it appears not, but the vast majority of posters do not allude to themselves as being “liberal” with all the connotation that “liberals” like to think that implies.
You will have to explain the reference to a green pen and the Queen as that is far too intellectual for me.
The Queen wouldn’t be another subject that you are “liberal” on, would it?
Is the White Whine Liberal another incarnation of “Hillhunt” or “Anon”?
George R | 07.10.08 – 10:12 am previous thread
From your link:
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.636/pub_detail.asp
Azzam Tamimi:
he was asked about Hamas’ suicide bombings in Israel, and answered: “If I have the opportunity I would do it .. If I can go to Palestine and sacrifice myself I would do it. Why not?”
If Lauren Booth can go to Gaza, why not indeed?
****
George R | 07.10.08 – 10:16 am previous thread as well.
From your link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7656108.stm
One of the advisers, 18-year-old medical student Aziza Al Yassin, said: “I hope to highlight the forgotten achievements of the Muslim community in Britain, …
such as?
….as well as the areas where improvement is needed, not only with regards to tackling violence and extremism, but also in helping develop our mosques, …
so we need more mosques?
…education and interaction with the wider community.
Interaction in what sense?
Ms Blears said: “There are over 800,000 Muslims under the age of 25 living in the UK but we don’t hear enough from them.
Good Grief! I certainly have (heard enough already,) courtesy of the BBC.
****
Pat Condell.
The mentally ill laws of Saudi Arabia etc.
whitewineliberal | 07.10.08 – 5:05 pm |
There are 37.3 million people in England and Wales who state their religion as Christian
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/commentaries/ethnicity.asp
Hardly the BBC secular state
Harry Enfield Accused of Racism
There are also plans for a silent vigil of protest at White City.
I wonder if the BBC will be doing one of their anti-racism witch hunts on Harry Enfield, or is that special treatment reserved only for eeeviil Torieeees? The BBC always look after “their own” on the left. They will do their best to play this down.
What made me laugh was the statement from the British embassy:
The British Embassy in Manila was forced to issue a statement saying the BBC has editorial independence and the views expressed and portrayed by the network “are completely independent” from the Government.
The views expressed by the BBC are completely independent from the Labour government? Who are they trying to fool?
Jon:
Yes, sorry, I wasn’t clear in my last post. Britain is not a secular state, but the BBC is.
It’s all too much: Probably. You can add Colin Chase to that list.
IATM + Martin.
Is the White Whine Liberal another incarnation of “Hillhunt”?
If so, bad karma – he must have left his sense of humour behind with the previous one. Ones.
Was he (they) banned?
woooah.. anyone checked out Guido Fawkes today?
http://www.order-order.com/
Peston. Beeboid. and the markets are pissed off with the BBC…
http://www.order-order.com/2008/10/guidos-plan-to-stabilise-uk-markets.html
http://www.order-order.com/2008/10/pesto-wire-causes-more-misery.html
Did anyone read the article in the Sunday Times about the forthcoming docudrama about peace activist Tom Hurndall. It’s based on the book written by his mother, and seemingly will be another Rachael Corrie-alike affair, portraying him as a saint. (Rather than a useful idiot)
I know it’s on Channel 4, and I apologise for mentioning it on this blog, but they are as bad as the Beeb on this subject.
A worrying fact is that the contract gave the Hurndalls full control of the content, and they vetoed a scene that represented a provocative act ( an Arab sniper shooting at the watch tower) that might have given context to the conditions in which the Arab/ Israeli IDF soldier shot Tom Hurndall.
The grounds for the veto are that “It didn’t happen.” Fair enough you might think, but the argument is that it summed up life in the watchtower – as evidenced by similar stuff on Youtube. “We essentially mocked up counter-sniping that actually happened.” said director Rowan Joffe. But out it went.
“The integrity shines out” Jocelyn (mother) says. It is in part the memorial she and Anthony wanted for their son, in part a damning indictment of the IDF….
We need another damning indictment of the IDF like we need a hole in the head is what I say. We get enough of that sort of thing from Auntie.
“I agree that all religious programming should come off the air.
whitewineliberal | 07.10.08 – 6:43 pm ”
even as an atheist, i virulently disagree.
the free exchange of ideas is a fundemental cornerstone of all democratic societies.
Check out the Media Standards Trust: it’s very Orwellian, but it has the cheek to offer an Orwell Prize. It is supported by that defender of liberty, Common Purpose. As expected, it awards ‘journalism’ prizes to the BBC.
http://www.mediastandardstrust.org/home.aspx
Michael St George
Check out this link –
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/
If the Beeb is tripping over itself to refer to Mumbai , Beijing , Harare and Chennai by their new , official names , I don’t see how we can complain when it refers to the devolved government in Scotland as “The Scottish Government” .
The previuos incarnation of “The Scottish Executive” was designed , quite intentionally , to give the impression that the administration of Scotland was a Labour satrapy .
Even Unionists like me are glad that’s changed .