I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the result is historic. As for the BBC’s coverage, well thanks for your comments. Iain Dale was also unimpressed, and as evidence of the Beeb’s standing at home and abroad, here’s an American perspective:
The real fun network of the night was BBC America, which picked up the BBC feed being aired back in England. The coverage played like a good-natured “Idiot’s Guide to the American Election,” with references to such states as “North Hampshire.”
After all the hard work, though, it’s only right that the last word goes to the Beeb. And who better than John Simpson (a troll challenge here: can anyone make a convincing case Simpson might have voted Republican?) :
The United States has seen the biggest transformation in its standing in the world since the election of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in November 1960.
This is a country which has habitually, sometimes irritatingly, regarded itself as young and vibrant, the envy of the world. Often this is merely hype. But there are times when it is entirely true.
With Barack Obama’s victory, one of these moments has arrived…
UPDATE: Iain Dale fleshes out his criticism of the Beeb’s coverage here: references to John Bolton’s outburst, “car crash TV”, and a note that this should be David Dimbleby’s last election make it well worth reading.
Umbongo | 05.11.08 – 11:00 am
Could not disagree more. I much prefer the unmediated experience of hearing a political speech in full rather than some beeboid airhead pontificating.
Also, the presidency of the united states is not some parochial matter reserved to those across the pond. Many of us were interested enough to stay up late into the night and other media (e.g. Times online) are running the full video of Obama’s speech.
And frankly, I think you are being a bit hyper-critical about the speech.
I’m writing this with gritted teeth, but I do have to be honest and say that I tried to watch ITV’s coverage last night and it was actually worse than the BBC’s – hopelessly partial, to the point of drooling sycophancy.
I think what we are witnessing here is the result of a wholesale takeover of the media by ‘liberals’. Even the Telegraph abandoned any sense of scepticism and fell for the cipher in a suit.
If nothing else (and in the contrived absence of talk radio here) this is yet another reason why the blogosphere matters and needs to be defended.
One should also know this about Obama and his records: (courtesy of EUReferendum)
1. Occidental College records — Not released
2. Columbia College records — Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper — ‘not available’
4. Harvard College records — Not released
5. Selective Service Registration — Not released
6. Medical records — Not released
7. Illinois State Senate schedule — ‘not available’
8. Law practice client list — Not released
9. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate — Not released
10. Embossed, signed, paper Certification of Live Birth — Not released
11. Harvard Law Review articles published — None
12. University of Chicago scholarly articles — None
13. Record of baptism— Not released or ‘not available’
14. Illinois State Senate records—’not available’
Additionally, when Obama was in Hawaii to visit his dying grand-mother, he had the Governor instruct that his (Obama’s) birth records be sealed.
Now what we need is some BBC journo like Crick to do some investigative stuff and find out who this guy really is. Will it happen – no chance!!
That is really quite chilling, A@O – and utterly unknown to anyone relying on the BBC for the news.
Tom
Yes, an unmediated speech – with content – is possibly valuable. What were you expecting from this speech except the usual platitudes? Broadcasting the full speech wasted 5 minutes of valuable airtime to no purpose. I’m sure you are aware that Today is forever cutting interviews/discussions short because it is severely time-constrained.
If you’re that interested – which apparently you are – you can go (as you tell us you can) to Times Online or even here. However, those of us with slightly less enthusiasm for the minutiae of predictable verbiage would rather hear some news.
I don’t take any of this personally. It’s mike lloyd I feel sorry for.
I resent the notion I just assert and don’t provide evidence. A review of my postings show this is just not so. what of the famous capital punishment in iran incident? or the marcus hanneman slapdown? or the bbc calling the debates for mccain counterfactual? my view on last night was borne of surfing between sky, itn and the bbc. bbc a lot more cautious than the others. they had frum and bolton on too; very formidable characters. and then lots of stuff about what this meant for the gop. a genuine attempt at balance I thought. lots of gush now, but then
which media orgs are not?
If people on here want me to keep my views on
the issue of bbc bias off this site, then say so and this will be my last post. I don’t think your case will benefit from growing in a cocoon. but it’s your site, so you decide.
The views of NOAAgirl, an American in England (and not a fan of John Bolton)
The BBC, ITV, and Sky News coverage was abysmal – SkyNews especially, but I was really surprised how bad the BBC was… One thing I noticed about all three was that their on-the-ground reporters were kinda dicks. I mean, I know that the UK has the reputation for direct questions in their news reporting, but their clear bias in favor of Obama even tasted bad to my mouth. At one point there was a BBC reporter in Virginia questioning a farmer why he had voted for McCain / the republicans when the Bush Administration had let so much go awry. The poor farmer didn’t have much defense for his vote, other than the fact he had consistently voted the GOP party his whole life, but the BBC reporter basically niggled and poked this poor guy about his vote so much that it made them look like they were trying to make this guy out to be stupid. It was not a flattering moment for the BBC.
This was a recurring theme during the campaign – those who said they were voting McCain were challenged to justify themselves whereas Obama supporters needed only mouth the word “change” to satisfy the BBC hacks.
NOAAgirl adds some interesting points about the superficiality of the coverage before concluding:
I can’t believe I am going to say it, but I missed the US cable news networks – yes even CNN – in this election coverage.
In any case, the UK stations could not conceal their glee and elation about the Obama victory. Maybe that’s why John Bolton was such a crab.
whitewineliberal
I disagree with much of what you say but I will repeat what I said yesterday: we need to hear opposing viewpoints otherwise we will succumb to groupthink.
Talking to ourselves will change nothing; talking to others just might change some viewpoints. Keep on posting, and ignore those whose arguments against you consist of name calling.
whitewineliberal | 05.11.08 – 12:56 pm
Don’t be so sensitive.
I certainly don’t want you to go. There’d be no-one to argue with.
Who is Mike Lloyd anyway?
“Are the corridors of Shepherds Bush awash with empty champagne bottles this morning ? I think we should be told.”
Highly unlikely, they’re all over on a junket in America
DB 10:28
Brilliant clip of drunk Brummie journalist in Miami. Yes, I guess he has lost his job with the Birmingham Mail, but I’m pretty sure that the BBC would employ him !
Allan Oslo 12:10
Try getting a copy of Gordon Brown’s PhD thesis !
Re the drunk Obama-supporting, copy ‘n’ pasting Birmingham Mail reporter – I thought it only fair to let the paper’s editor know. The article, which was on the Mail’s website this morning, has been removed. I think Mr Smith will soon have some time on his hands to consider other projects.
Taiko-san 11:13
I’m not really disagreeing with you. You say that this blog is right-leaning ( “oh yes it is “! ).
Well, it is “Biased BBC”. It is hardly going to be left-leaning as they have no reason to complain about BBC bias,as it is all in their favour. That is the whole point.
If you are new to this website, hang around for some time. There are some much smarter people than me who post here, exposing some of the real excesses of BBC bias.
Whitewine 12:56
No, please don’t go off in the huff ! I enjoy our posts, very entertaining.
Sometimes, I almost believe that you genuinely think that the BBC is unbiased.
I wish I thought of this but it is too good to not share. Its based on a comment by an “Anonymous” on Ian Dale’s blog site.
At the inevitable early brown nosing (pun only half intended) meeting of our GB with BO after the inauguration will some journalist/reporter please have the temerity to ask at the press conference of GB “Do you still think “This is no time for a novice”?”.
For obvious reasons the question putter will not be anyone remotely connected with paid employment at the BBC, neither would it be aired.
I wonder if the BBC will now apologize to the American people?
Obama won white men 57-41…..So much for the idea that this election would expose America’s racist underbelly. I wonder if those who have been banging on about it for the last few weeks will now ask if Obama’s “improbable journey” would have been possible in any European democracy?
http://www.spectator.co.uk/americano/2576156/initial-thoughts.thtml
The half of all BBC employees who didn’t go to the US to cover what was, only in my fevered imagination, The Most Important Election in Human History, and the Final Chance to Defeat George Bush, have contributed their thoughts on what the world expects from a President Obamessiah.
BBC correspondents: What the world expects
Unsurprisingly, they mostly say that all these countries want President Obamessiah to pander to them, but some may be disappointed.
Amongst all this profound insight (much of it ripped straight from campaign talking points, taken as gospel), I noticed a couple of, shall we say, odd perspectives.
South Korea, John Sudworth:
The first bit is pro-farmers and pro-auto workers’ union. Farmers and US working class – yay! Bush’s free trade deal – boo! I guess in BBC Journo school one learns that US auto workers are good, but Korean auto workers (who will get the bad news in this scenario) are trumped by Korean farmers. Farmers are always the coolest part of the Leftoid karmic totem pole.
Compared to his liberal predecessors, the conservative Mr Lee has taken a tougher line with North Korea.
His insistence on raising the issue of human rights, and linking further aid and trade to progress on nuclear disarmament, has infuriated Pyongyang.
Apparently, “liberals” don’t care so much about human rights. And Sudworth seems to be saying that linking aid and trade to nuclear disarmament is a bad thing.
Mr Obama will continue with the multilateral “six-party talks” on North Korea.
But he has also promised to be a president “willing to meet with the leaders of all nations, friend and foe.”
The possibility of closer US engagement with North Korea, at the same time as the South gives it the cold shoulder, could leave Seoul out of the loop.
So only the more conservative South Korean government will lose out under President Obamessiah. The South Korean farmers, US auto workers, and North Korean Government will benefit. Who cares about what’s more important to the Korean and US economies, or nasty old human rights?
Andrew North fibs about Iraq. Few believe the country is heading yet towards a permanent peace. Few? Really? Only a few in Broadcasting House, maybe. The Obamessiah campaigned on a quick withdrawal of all troops, but had to fire his foreign policy adviser when she told The Scotsman and Jeremy Paxman that he didn’t really mean it. Since in reality the second war in Iraq has been largely won, it’s just a matter of how long we need to stay, and in what capacity. More importantly, the Iraqis themselves need to continue making cultural progress away from corruption and fear.
But North’s closing line is only true in the fantasy BBC version of the realities in Iraq: There are no good options in Iraq for the next US president. Not if you want all troops pulled out immediately, no. But that’s only a BBC and anti-this war mentality.
Lastly, one of our favorites, Azeem Maqbool in Gaza, does what is expected of him. We’re all glad Bush is gone, we hope The Obamessiah will be better. As usual, the only reason that there’s no peace is because the US President hasn’t saved the Palestinians from Israel.
Sarah Bender, in Mexico, merely regurgitates a couple of campaign talking points:
In a move to improve relations, he has proposed annual meetings with Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon and the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to seek active involvement of citizens, labour, the private sector and non-governmental organisations in setting the agenda and making progress.
Does she even know what that sentence means? I sure don’t. It sounds like doublespeak to me. But happily parroted by a Beeboid as something wonderful to expect from President Obamessiah.
My eyes glazed over after Lee Carter’s contribution from Canada. All he has was a stale story from the beginning of the year when Canadian businesses got nervous when The Obamessiah did a little pandering to US labor unions during a speech and talked about tearing up NAFTA. Of course, it was just a little white lie he told on the stump, as one does, and his people had to reassure the Canadian government that he didn’t really mean it.
So all this guy can come up with is a dead non-story from, what, January?
I can’t force myself to continue reading these.
GCooper.
Yes, apart from one late editorial and honourable mention of Janet Daly and Simon Heffer, The DT too failed to provide balanced brain food.
Now McCain/Palin are not there to denigrate hopefully our “taken in” media will start to scratch below the surface of BO.
Some good comments on the after effects of the election from blogger Chizumatic:
“It is no longer possible for anyone to deny that the MSM is heavily biased. The MSM have been biased for decades but managed an illusion of fairness. That is no longer possible; the MSM have squandered their credibility during this campaign. They’ll never get that credibility back again.”
Read the whole thing
http://chizumatic.mee.nu/not_the_end_of_the_world
The BBC was simply disgraceful. Now I’m sure they feel they can help heir other candidate – Gordon Brown – win his re-election bid.
Indeed it is a historic result. It’s the first time in history that a President of the United States has been elected because of the color of his skin and a couple of vapid catchphrases.
History in the making.
I would rather you didnt post whitewine.
There are plenty of liberal blogs to post on.
I am not fooled by the unbiased nice guy image you fool yourself with, ive seen a million like you on the internet. You are trying to sabotage the site and it encourages others like you to post.
Im am fully aware of how much i disagree with the left wing. The more right wing groupthink the better. We need to stop holding ourselfs to such high standards when the left has none.
The BBC has no shame
Whitewine liberal:
Stay or go, do what’s best for yourself but please stop coming up with the comparisons with sky, itn or any other outlets coverage being similar to BBC.
As you have been told repeatedly, those comparisons would only be of interest if the people were forced to pay for the sources you reference. Thay are not.
GB 2.14pm
Dave asked that question in PMQs today
DB – gosh lad, you gotta feel sorry for the guy but he’s right in saying he’s an idiot. Blag the Huff or Drudge or just find someone sober and get a tape recorder.
To watch a chap lose his job is car crash.
adam
Thank you. I will listen closely on Today in Parliament tonight and probably more tellingly Yesterday in Parliament on the Toady programme tomorrow to see what the BBC made of it.
Will Jones | 05.11.08 – 3:32 pm
please stop coming up with the comparisons with sky, itn or any other outlets coverage being similar to BBC. …..those comparisons would only be of interest if the people were forced to pay for the sources you reference
No – such comparisons are most useful in assessing the merits of claims of political bias.
If, for instance, someone says ‘the BBC are saying XYZ – that shows they’re left-wing’ and someone else counters that Paul Dacre, Simon Heffer and Peter Hitchens are all saying XYZ too, and so is Bill O’Reilly on Fox – then one would wonder about how strong a case the first guy had about the BBC.
Tom
Mike Lloyd is reputed to be the real name of mikewhineliberal, a beeboid troll according to a poster on another BBBCstrand.
To watch a chap lose his job is car crash.
dick | 05.11.08 – 3:38 pm
I’ve little sympathy. I read the article he posted before it was, quite correctly, removed from the Birmingham Mail’s website. Apart from the copy and pasting, he didn’t declare that he’d been campaigning for Obama. Plus, he did kind of resign in the video anyway.
whitewineliberal, you must be joking.
You come onto the Biased BBC forum, do nothing but contradict postings in favour of the BBC and then complain that people aren’t taking you seriously enough.
Oh please, with such a fragile ego and inflated sense of vanity, are you SURE you don’t work for the BBC?
If you’d ever posted ONCE – just ONCE – that you you agreed with any topic ever posted here on BBC bias, then perhaps you’d be handled with the kid gloves you are accustomed to.
The media in general and the BBC in particular appeared to be in the grip of a prolonged orgasm at the thought of `black’ Pres Obarmy during their coverage last night. It was so biased, it was almost funny.
Obarmy strikes me as a black version of Blair – all mouth and trousers!
One of the highlights was good ‘ol Justin almost wetting himself in anticipation of `black kids padding around the White House corridors’ Definitely a bucket-passing moment.
I look forward to that time in the not-too-distant future when all those inflated expectations come crashing down around the ears of the half of the electorate who were daft enough to vote for this man.
Don’t know where it sits in the ‘debate’ – personally I err on two wrongs (or is that ‘lefts’?) not making a right – but in the spirit of ‘balance’ have to mention the Snowmail from Ch4, I presume penned by Jon Snow, that has just dropped into my in box. sample:
What a staggering and indescribable moment this is.
He goes on to, er, try and describe…
…up there equalling any political event since the downing of the Berlin Wall and the release of Nelson Mandela.
Interesting mix.
I spent last night at Howard University, a black institution on the edge of Washington. In the moment that Obama was elected, 2,500 young, black people crammed into a vast dancehall erupted in a way I have never seen a condensed group of humans perform.
DANCING IN THE STREETS
It was no performance. It was a spontaneous eruption of both joy and grief – 18-year-olds howled, tears streaming down their cheeks.
This is what some are suggesting money already given to the BBC is top-sliced towards?
Yes, in many ways there are facts that need to be shared, but he makes the boozy-brummie look like the Ed Morrow of disapassionate reporting.
Can we just get back to a professional giving me the news and not their ‘feelings’ about it as well. Or, in the BBC’s case, speed dialing their best mate to say what they want to.. because their hearts are bursting with joy and they just need to share!
Sheesh. Dude won an election. Get over it. And on with the day job.
Kill the Beeb 4:14
Whitewine, on the top strand, has just admitted that the BBC is biased, but the bias is “overstated” on this website !
The BBC and to be honest the rest of the media have been having on screen orgasm’s all day over the son of God. But there is an old saying that the bigger they are….
I just think that like bLiar the son of god will come in for a big fall. Of course the BBC will try to blame Bush, but just WHAT is Obama going to do abou the Taliban in Pakistan? Will he stop US forces going after them? That will possibly piss the military off (not a good idea)
What will he do about Iran if they continue to devlop their nuclear programme? I doubt Israel will trust his as far as they could throw a beeboid attached to his rent boy.
Iraq? Announce a withdrawl date and watch the Muslims go after US forces.
The economy. He backed the fat cat bail out which was about as popular as a fart in a lift with the US people.
But hey he’s black, he’s cool and he’s a leftie.
Or, in the BBC’s case, speed dialing their best mate to say what they want to.. because their hearts are bursting with joy and they just need to share!
Or if it’s in t’other direction wheeling in Polly T or Yasmin AB to tell us that the electorate were too dumb to understand the issues and popped up the wrong result.
Senator Obama fought a good (in political terms) fight and won. It’s happened 44 times before and will happen again. The loss of bladder control in senior media luvvies is just bizarre. But I guess that’s what paying market rates for talent gets you.
Does anyone know who the reporter who pissed off Bolton was…. and what he said that got the ambassador riled?
Tom | 05.11.08 – 11:07 am |
It’s Rajesh Mirchandani. Another out-of-his-depth ethnic brought in to stop the BBC being “hideously” white.
So 63 million voted for Obama and 56 million voted for McCain.
Can’t help feeling that if it had been 63 million for McCain and 56 million for Obama we’d have wall-to-wall BBC wingeing about the US being a ‘bitterly divided’ nation.
I think the reporter Bolton referred to was John Sopel. I watched that section live on the BBC and found the interview dreadfully unfair before Bolton said anything. He had a point.
The coverage was biased beyond belief, though I agree that ITN and Sky were probably the same. One last question: I’ve heard so much about Obama’s charisma, but did anyone else not find his victory speech unbelievably boring?
P.S. Re: MikeWine
We’re supposed to operate a free speech policy on this forum. While Mike may disagree with us routinely, he is always courteous and has never, to my knowledge, exhibited any serious characteristics of a troll.
We all complain at how the BBC suppresses views it doesn’t like, and that is a valid criticism. It would be wrong of Biased BBC to go down the same route with people like MikeWineLiberal.
I vote he continues to post here, and we use facts to demolish his arguments. That’s just my twopenneth.
Obama’s election is widely supported, not only by the BBC, but also by many groups in the Islamic world:
-from ‘Jihadwatch’:
“Muslim Brotherhood ♥s Obama: ‘We consider this an apology from the American people'”
[Extract]:
“The Muslim Brotherhood ‘must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.’
“That’s from ‘An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America,’ a 1991 presentation by Muslim Brotherhood operative Mohamed Akram.
“Since we’re talking apologies here, can we get an apology from the Brotherhood for its efforts to destroy Western civilization from within? Oh, and a complete cessation of those efforts?
I didn’t think so.”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023378.php
ALSO:
“Indonesian jihadists ♥ Obama, praise Allah for his victory”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023376.php
ETC.
Heron,
Couldnt agree with you more. The last thing I want is to be in a place with only people who have the same views as me (what a scary thought! 🙂
Regards
Mailman
Heron | 05.11.08 – 5:07 pm |
Beg to differ.
Look at the clip from above provided by DB | 05.11.08 – 10:13 am |
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tiPuqvO6qT8
Heron 5:11
I agree about whitewine. He also adds a lot of fun to the website.
If he changed his name to blackwine , I might even vote for him.
If he changed his name to blackwine , I might even vote for him.
That made me laugh.
Anyone notice in Barak’s speech last night…NOW he’s saying he doesn’t think all the damage can be repaired and all of his goals can be achieved in “one year”…or maybe even “in one term”!! HELLO! Can you believe it? He is already setting up the public for when he fails at all of the ridiculous promises and lies he has told…remember, he is a politician people…this is what he does for a living…and the public fell for it! Liberal illuminati at work again….
BBC brief video report:
“Kenya celebrates Obama victory”
No mention of fact that Obama’s Kenyan ancestors ( father’s side) were Muslim slave traders.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/us_elections_2008/7710003.stm
GeorgeR
And the BBC seem to have airbrushed Obama’s mother from history. What does that remind me of ?
To echo Tom (11:07 a.m.), does anyone know who the BBC reporter in Colorado was or what he or she said that made Bolton so mad? A link to the piece would be useful, too, so we can judge for ourselves whether Bolton was “throwing his toys out of the pram” or not. My bet: not.
as mentioned above by TPO.., reporter was Rajesh Mirchendani.
i too would like to see what John Bolton was pissed-off about.
any link?
I certainly don’t think mikewhine or whitewine or whatever should be excised at all from this blog.
But asking us for the sympathy vote…oh come off it Mike. If you want to stick your arse out like that I’ll happily kick it for you.
Carry on by all means, but expect some not to be too gentle.