The BBC is hyping up it’s refusal to air the ad from the DEC appealing for cash for Hamastan, thus suggesting it is without bias. Mark Thompson was on to say that he believed showing this appeal could be taken as favouring one side over another. Quite right. Sky has also refused to show the DEC sppeal so BBC virtue in this regard is not unique! So what do we make of the BBC approach here? Superficially I welcome it but of course having endured three weeks of pro-Hamas propaganda dressed up as news reporting, I rather worry that what the BBC is actually doing here is a little bit of sophisticated triangulating, giving itself cover so that any future criticism of its coverage of matters in the Middle East is invalidated because of this move. Your view?
TRIANGULATION
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Further from Melanie Phillips today:
‘Mail’
‘The BBC won’t show the Gaza appeal to protect its impartiality.
But does anyone really believe it’s impartial?’
[Extract]:
“One of the great ironies of this situation, after all, is that most people in Britain have no idea about claims that Hamas has apparently been stealing the aid supplies and blowing up the crossing points – because the BBC’s reporters haven’t told them.
Indeed, by reporting many of Hamas’s own claims as fact – particularly its estimate of the number of civilian casualties in Gaza, which Israel strenuously contests – the BBC has helped create a dangerously unbalanced and irrational public mood. It was especially troubling, for example, to hear the jaw-dropping accusation – made by, among others, Health Minister Ben Bradshaw – that the BBC has buckled to Jewish or Israeli pressure.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/debatesearch/article-1127433/MELANIE-PHILLIPS-The-BBC-won-8217-t-Gaza-appeal-protect-impartiality-But-viewers-really-believe-impartial.html
———quote
weirdvis:
BBC spokesperson: Ve haf vays of disarming our critics even if ve haf to scheiss on our Palestinian Kameraden to do it.
——end quote
The trouble with those pesky Germans is they feel ashamed of what the Nazis did. We aren’t ashamed of what we are trying to do, drive the Jews into the sea, and we will not be issuing pathetic apologies after our day of glory and honour.
We will be chanting in most capital cities of the world when our great conquest is complete! Such honour! Remember the day the Ayatollah of Iran came home? That will look like a small social gathering of a few friends compared to the celebrations of our destruction of Israel. I have already reserved the best camera locations for our friends in the BBC.
I haven’t seen any polling data, but my gut feeling is that most people in the UK will think the BBC should show the appeal.
Thompson will find himself not only having to stand up to the government, but also intransigent in the face of the majority of licence payers.
It will be interesting how he handles that.
Why is he doing it?
Because he can.
Osama Bum Laden said: I have already reserved the best camera locations for our friends in the BBC.
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll make sure they receive a warm welcome by infesting those locations with mutant, beeboid eating fire ants.
British hostages in Iraq held by Iranian proxies…
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-27120-Iraq-government-negotiates-Britons-release.html
Not to be seen on the Beeb anytime soon…
Mark Thompson’s father in law is Baruch Blumberg, who won the Nobel prize for discovering the hepatitis B vaccine.
With a Jewish branch to his family, perhaps there is a line he will not cross in terms of sucking up to Hamas.
He will go so far with his leftie pally supporting colleagues, but not all the way.
It’s a thought.
Thompson will find himself not only having to stand up to the government, but also intransigent in the face of the majority of licence payers.
Michael Repton | 26.01.09 – 1:52 pm |
i think you’ll find the majority wont even give it a second thought,gaza he’s a footballer init.
Interesting to note the division of opinion between the upper echelons of BBC management and most BBC journalists who are, of course, vehemently pro-Hamas and most of the slant on the news programmes has been invariably pro-appeal including dredging up former BBC execs like John Tusa on “The World at One” who found the BBC’s decision “painful”.
It is noticeable also the lack of curiosity as to why the various charities decided to form a Joint Emergency Committee, the first time since the Tsunami Appeal of 2006, especially as most of the money for rebuilding Gaza will not come from private charities but from public funds provided by the UN and EU. Could it have anything to do with the potential fall in charitable giving due to the current recession?
A friend of mine who used to work in the charitable sector once told me that an emergency appeal is a good way to boost a charity’s income to cover those periods when the public were not as generous so “emergency” income is seldom disbursed immediately. Remember 80% of the Tsunami appeal income never reached the victims.
Also why has there not been an emergency appeal for the victims of the fighting in Sri Lanka (which is still conrtinuing and has been almost completely ignored by the broadcast media) where the Sri Lanka Government are trying to end the 25-year long campaign of the Tamil Tigers and hundreds have been killed and over 230,000 displaced? Oxfam, Save the Children and their ilk seem supremely indifferent to this humanitarian catastrophe. Are Sri Lankans worth less than Palestinians or is it because no Jews are involved? I think we should be told.
alan D..
good piece here.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5586716.ece
local politicians have done their math. There are only 8,000 Jews in Calgary, and more than 75,000 Muslims. Denouncing anti-Semitic bigotry is fine for politicians when the bigots are politically powerless neo-Nazi skinheads…………..
…………..you do the math. This is the demographic reality, not just in Canada but in the Netherlands, France, Britain and many other places. When your demographic energy is predominantly Muslim, so is your future. It might be relatively benignly Muslim, like Malaysia. Or it might be toxically so, like Waziristan. But more Muslim is what it will be, one way or another. If you’re confident that Muslims will be assimilated by exposure to the west and that (as the Dutch gay humanist author Oscar van den Boogaard hopes) Islam will “learn to laugh at itself”, then there’s nothing to worry about. But, if you’re less sure about that, there’s a mighty big question mark over the future.
http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/1701/128/
It reminds me of a thief loudly showing Stop Thief to divert attention.
BBC TO SCREEN GAZA APPEAL IF IT INCLUDES PHONE-IN SCAM
THE BBC has agreed to air a charity appeal for the stricken people of Gaza, as long as they can include a fraudulent phone-in contest, it emerged last night.
The Corporation is finalising the details but insisted it needs time to develop a phone-in scam that is both horribly dishonest and completely impartial.
A BBC spokesman said: “Obviously we are looking at ways of skimming five, maybe ten pence off the top of every donation.
“But we’d also like to set up a fake competition to run alongside the appeal that would then be won by a member of staff posing as one of the plebs.
“We could maybe offer a two week trip to Israel and the question could be something like, ‘how do you spell Gaza?’ Is it a) Gaza, b) Gazzzza, or c) fyjyplymp?'”
The BBC had earlier refused to screen the appeal claiming it would face accusations of being biased towards not dying horribly.
The spokesman added: “Screening a humanitarian appeal which most people are going to ignore anyway would have destroyed the BBC’s reputation, just as if it had been hit by wave after wave of indiscriminate air strikes.”
Tom Logan, professor of communications at Reading University, said: “It’s a difficult one for the BBC. It has to weigh up a lot of very complex factors before surrendering five minutes of airtime that would otherwise be filled with vapid, unoriginal shit.”
The BBC appeal will be introduced by Jonathan Ross, the jumped-up researcher, who will highlight the suffering of Palestine’s 80 year-old grandmothers, many of whom he would like to have sex with.
I think most sensible people can tell the difference between an appeal and a news report
Yes, but 90% of the British population are idiots who believe the BBC’s lies. After all, some people voted ‘Labour’ last time – after TWO terms of these gangsters destroying the country.
It was especially troubling, for example, to hear the jaw-dropping accusation — made by, among others, Health Minister Ben Bradshaw — that the BBC has buckled to Jewish or Israeli pressure
Not exactly jaw-dropping. This little shit has already made his antisemitic credentials known by his demented screeching after the Jenin ‘massacre’.
I think Ben Bradshaw used to be a BBC presenter
Pat | 26.01.09 – 4:13 pm
That’s right. He was an unbiased and impartial reporter by day.
By night he was climbing NuLab’s greasy poll to get a parliamentary seat.
If you belive that, you’ll believe anything.
Oh what a quandary!
Comments here torn between their love of Israel and their hatred of the BBC….it’s almost comical.
Grow some balls, and stop supporting the terrorist state – the state founded on the backs of terrorists, whose past Prime Ministers have been terrorists, whose potential next PM, Tzipi Livni, is the daughter of terrorists….
These terrorists killed British people. And your support of them is sickening.
If you were a Palestinian, you would either be fighting or hiding behind a sofa. Judging by your responses, it’d be the latter….
labour only keep getting re elected cos of the bloody immigrants they let in! the more muslims we let in, the more antisemitic the country gets. labour lets the muslims in and its gonna change our country forever
I think Ben Bradshaw used to be a BBC presenter
Pat | 26.01.09 – 4:13 pm |
According to Wikipedia
Personal life
When first elected in 1997, Ben Bradshaw was one of the first gay MPs to be out at the time he was initially elected, along with Stephen Twigg. On 24 June 2006, he and his partner Neal Dalgleish, who is a BBC producer.
Biography
In 1986 he joined the BBC as reporter with BBC Radio Devon. In 1989 he became the award winning Berlin correspondent with BBC Radio and was serving in the city at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. He became a reporter in 1991 with BBC Radio’s The World At One programme, where he stayed until his election to Westminster. He won the Sony News Reporter Award in 1993.
Minister announces gay ‘wedding’
I get the distinct impression from the comments on this blog that you have been highjacked by a rather intolerant outlook. Namely, a discussion about who are worst sort of anti-semites: The ones who know they are and admit it, or the ones who dont know they are and should admit it anyway.
Has debate in this country really sunk so low that it is only possible to declare an opinion once one has declared ones religious or cultural affiliation. I am neither Israeli, Jewish, Palestinian nor Muslim. I deplore cruelty, I deplore hypocrites and I deplore any attempt to categorise views as recist, anti-semitic or anti-islamic when I perceive injustice. That sort of intolerance is what feeds the evil of religious hatred and that is why these two sides appear to wallow in the irrational certainty of a just war. Can we just get on with behaving like adults and treating others with respect? Thats the British way.
Josh | 26.01.09 – 4:36 pm
You sound a reasonable chap.
So perhaps you’ll tell us which comments in this thread, for instance, show signs of extremism/intolerance?
(PS I’m not Jewish or Muslim either)
It is a pathetic attempt at “balance”, maybe a slight admission of guilt.
How about a BBC appeal for charities dealing with the Israeli victims of Hamas and other terrorists ?
Pounce 12:22
Well said !
In a few weeks I shall be in Casamance, S. Senegal and I know I shall hear stories from local Africans about the brutalities of French troops there.
Mikewine. I invite you to join me on that trip. See a bit of the real World not reported on the BBC !!!!
Absolutely spot on observation Mr Vance, I’m sure.
Tom,
I suppose that’s a perfectly fair request. Though any cursory examination of the comments left about this BBC Appeal for Gaza appears to illustrate the polarisation of views pretty consistent with highly motivated blogosphere participants ‘having a rant’. Intolerance doesnt just start from scratch, it usually accumulates over time, by increments, as one’s views are frustrated and denied by others. I actually caught myself saying to a friend..”I’m not anti-semitic, but as a father of two, I find the images of injured children make me furious”. Thats GOT to be wrong. The images of injured children SHOULD make me furious..end of story. Its the conflation of a reasonable humane view with the perception that this requires a biased political stance…its wrong. I am entitled to feel disgust, irrespective of who is doing the killing and who is doing the dying. I feel that my sympathy has been hijacked by both sides. I come down firmly cynical about both ideologies, but still people are dying in Gaza and both Hamas and the IDF treat civilians as collateral . Are all Israelis or Palestinians murderers and/or terrorists? What an amazingly stupid question.
Josh | 26.01.09 – 5:11 pm
I hear what you say, Josh, but my personal experience is that even the most partisan people in this debate can be perfectly reasonable.
No one is more in-the-tank-for-Israel than Melanie Phillips.
Yet just look at this bit of her article in the Mail this morning (emphasis mine):
So no wonder many have been baffled by the decision not to broadcast this particular appeal for Gaza, where the need for humanitarian relief for people suffering the grievous effects of war is undeniable.
Very fair and reasonable, no?
What this bog is about is the role of our chief public service broadcaster.
Ms Phillips makes a good point about that farther down her article. There she alludes to one of the reasons given by the BBC’s chief operating officer, Caroline Thompson, for refusing the DEC request – viz the fact that Hamas might steal the aid –
One of the great ironies of this situation, after all, is that most people in Britain have no idea about claims that Hamas has apparently been stealing the aid supplies and blowing up the crossing points — because the BBC’s reporters haven’t told them.
http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?p=640
Yes I too am angered by pictures of suffering children.
I am angered in a different way by the discovery that the state broadcaster lies to me and suppresses facts.
You surely can’t be altogether happy with that state of affairs yourself?
I totally agree. It drives me to despair on a daily basis. In particular, the persistent editorialising by reporters. Its all data and no information. They dont allow the stories themselves to illustrate their context. Its paternalistic AND patronising.
…And dont get me going on the nepotism!
Josh | 26.01.09 – 5:41 pm
…what nepotism?
If the BBC had been honest about Hamas all along, then they wouldn’t be in their current predicament.
The BBC needs first to inform the public that Hamas took full control of Gaza by force (they fought against Fatah and kicked them out), took all the international aid cash, food, fuel, and medical supplies for themselves, terrorized and killed their own citizens, deliberately pushed their own citizens into the path of Israeli attacks, and are not a self-defense force but a faction dedicated to destroying Israel and killing Jews even after the blockade ends.
Once that has been established and understood by the public, then – and only then – can they do an appeal for Palestinian victims on a purely humanitarian basis without appearing to support one side. As it stands now, due to their own biased reporting, most people will not know any of that, and see the Palestinians purely as victims of the nasty Israelis.
The BBC has basically hidden the truth from the public, and created this situation for themselves. Why they would do such thing in the first place is another discussion entirely.
Anything else is pure BS. Kind of like what they’re doing now by having people on reading phone numbers and wringing their hands over it. It’s not a spat between the BBC News editors and management. It’s their way of supporting the appeal without actually running the film. The editors aren’t autonomous like that. Management may not set the agenda all the time, but if they want something stopped, they stop it. There’s vast amounts of evidence for that. They are allowing BBC News to do what they’re doing, no question. And it’s their own fault.
I’ve been a BBC customer for years and I pay for programmes not charity appeals.
Of course, if I could simply withdraw my custom if I was unhappy with how the BBC used my money, and still be able to watch football on Sky Sports without getting a fine and a criminal record, I wouldn’t give a damn what the BBC did.
The MPs and others who are so concerned about why the BBC won’t show the Gaza charity appeal should also ask why the BBC actually does show so much downmarket trash like Eastenders, Casualty, Top Gear and Celebrity Cash in the Attic when it is free of commercial competition and has a vast annual income.
Not re the appeal, but Jeremy Al Bowen & Co should take note of this:
Branding foreign journalists “spoiled crybabies” unwilling to make “a little effort” to get into Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, Israeli Government Press Office head Danny Seaman denied Sunday there had been any ban on their entry into the Strip during the battle. ….”There was no ban,” Seaman declared, “Israel did not want to endanger the lives of the workers at the crossings so we didn’t open them, not for humanitarian reasons and not for foreign journalists.”
“Those spoiled crybabies just didn’t want to put a little effort in [to getting into Gaza],” he said “We never arrested anyone who went in, nor are we running after them now,” which proves that it wasn’t an actual Israeli policy.
“In hindsight, next time we should make it an actual policy. This week proves it. All of the reporters have been let in and they are accepting everything everyone says at face value. Maybe 3% are calling and asking for an Israeli response, or talking to the IDF spokesman. They are a fig leaf for Hamas.
“Their coverage right now is a disgrace to the profession. Instead of reporting, they are settling scores. Reporting without both sides, without a context is an abuse of the profession,” he declared.
Dr. Yariv Ben-Eliezer, director of Media Studies, The Lauder School of Government, IDC, was even more vociferous….”There is a tendency in many countries to view the Jews as the beaten, downtrodden ones. If the Jew does the beating, then that is deemed unacceptable. I would rather be accused and alive than be the favorite of the British and the others and be dead,” he declared.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1232643746482&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
I haven’t seen any polling data, but my gut feeling is that most people in the UK will think the BBC should show the appeal
I am afraid your ‘gut feeling’ is not a good enough indicator.
Also, weight of numbers does not ensure that those calling for the ‘appeal’ to be shown are right.
I deplore any attempt to categorise views as recist, anti-semitic or anti-islamic
And I deplore any attempt to crush my entitlement to categorise antisemitic views as such.
You can see it coming: UMMAH-SWP demonstrations to get more Islamic jihad suspects of Guantanamo to get residence in Britain, and it all to receive sympathetic political reporting by BBC Islamic jihad Hamas sympathisers.
When the weak dhimmi D. Miliband says ‘no’, that will probably be changed into a ‘yes’ under E.U. pressure:
‘Mail’
“The UK will NOT take any more Guantanamo prisoners, says Miliband… as EU foreign chief predicts bloc will help Obama”
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1127716/The-UK-NOT-Guantanamo-prisoners-says-Miliband–EU-foreign-chief-predicts-bloc-help-Obama.html
BBC report:
“EU makes no Guantanamo commitment”
BUT…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7850868.stm
As Islamic jihad suspects get their places inside OUR societies, (many of whom are jihad recidivists) an indigenous political representative in Europe, GEERT WILDERS, is to be prosecuted, with no outcry from ‘human rights’ lobbyists, or ‘leftists’.
‘National Review’:
“2009: A year to defend free speech” by Geert Wilders and Robert Spencer
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODBhOTYyZWYzYjQ2MDUxOWI2OTU2YTY4Yjc2ZmFlMTk=
Millie Tant, 1:05:
Absolutely right. The average viewer is ignorant about the ME, and therefore gets brainwashed by Al Beeb’s anti-Israel bias.
both Hamas and the IDF treat civilians as collateral
Ignorant drivel. Just shows how much you have been brainwashed. Israel refrained for years from taking action against the ongoing shelling from Gaza, and finally – and rightly – decided that enough is enough.
Or should Joos just take it quietly forever?
Excellent post, David.
.
Great post as usual, David. I find myself agreeing with previous poster Bert on this one. I think al-BBC instinctively knew that banning the ad would whip up more coverage for it then just showing it and getting it over with. This way Al-Beeb can claim to be “un-biased” while t the same time constantly referencing the appeal story to further highlight what the Korporation sees as “Israeli brutality”.
Also, has anyone else noticed that Abu Bowen’s so-called online “diary” has descended into a non-stop propaganda piece for Hamas. He picks random “victims” of the Israeli bombing and with no journalistic input he just quotes their unproven stories about the “wicked IDF”. There is no attempt to fact check these stories, no attempt to give any background on them …just endless “why are the Israelis so evil” quotes & comments. It’s like Jenin all over again with Abu Bowen working as a Hamas spokesman…..disgusting but now par for the course for this disgrace to journalism.
The ‘humanity’ of Palestinian Authority, sworn enemy of the West:
‘Jihadwatch’ –
‘Palestinian Authority preparing to execute man for assisting the IDF in the “elimination of a terrorist”‘
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024590.php
Terry Johnson
facts? evidence? no, just another BBC conspiracy theory.
funny how people who are obsessive about facts and evidence one minute, suddenly turn to hearsay and their own crackpot theories the next. do you really think the BBC actually make a conscious decision to do these things? someone at the beeb actually sat down and said, ‘you know what, we need to show hamas in a good light tonight, sod the truth, its all about making hamas look good’. why would they do that? its not some amateurish student newspaper.
pointing out bias is one thing, but these conpiracy theories with no evidence are all pointless.
La Cumparsita, 6:21:
Excellent. And pretty much what I have been saying for ages.
oh and i’ve spotted some bias, the BBC keep talking about how bad liverpool are at defending corners. oh thats bias all right, anti-scouse bias. has nothing to do with the fact that they ARE bad at defending corners.
see?
do you really think the BBC actually make a conscious decision to do these things? someone at the beeb actually sat down and said, ‘you know what, we need to show hamas in a good light tonight, sod the truth, its all about making hamas look good’. why would they do that? its not some amateurish student newspaper.
This sad man just gets more and more absurd by the minute.
Yes, Gussie baby, that’s what’s called editorial policy. I suppose you’ve never heard of it. Just the usual Gussie ignorance.
Give it up, Gussie baby: you are only making yourself look stupider with every post. You know fuck all about Israel, you know fuck all about everything you waffle about.
In his interview on C4 news, the DEC representative was asked (in effect)
” if they had told the BBC that they were likely also to help Israeli kids, if you are as non partisan as you say”. The DEC man stuck to his guns and argued that DEC recognised no geography and helped where it was needed most.
This startled me. If the BBC has refused to broadcast the Gaza Appeal, could everyone be wrong and they have made the decision precisely because Israeli kids might benefit!!! Perhaps, it is the hard left-muslim clique that they are actually responding too???
Quite. Gus should take note of your sane and rational approach if he’s to gain any purchase on b-bbc.
“..do you really think the BBC actually make a conscious decision to do these things? ”
Thats an odd statement – so the BBC do not make any conscious decisions. Surely the top brass at the BBC get together and decide what to report and what does not merit being reported. Someone must have made a decision not to air the appeal.
Who decides to let Bowen eulogize about how nasty Israel is and how Hamas are the victims?
Who makes the decisions to air claims by Hamas as fact?
Who decided that Jonathan Ross and Brand were allowed to insult Andrew Sachs’ family?
Who decided to splice Obamas speech to make it fit an agenda?
Or maybe your right – there is no one in control at the BBC and everyone does their own thing.
‘Harry’s Place:
“BBC made the right call”
It’s a bit of a politically tame piece, avoiding criticism of BBC’s biased, anti-Israel coverage of the conflict, but opposing political bullying of the BBC by the Labour government.
http://www.hurryupharry.org/2009/01/26/bbc-made-the-right-call/
———————————-
[Just a word about SKY’s correct decision not to run charity appeals re-Gaza, this is despite the fact that one of the biggest percentage shareholders of News Corporation (whose percentage ownership may increase in future?) is (source: ‘Wikipedia’):
“Saudi prince, Al-Waleed bin Talal, who is an investing tycoon and chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company said in an interview with Charlie Rose that he had about a 6-7% stake in News Corp.” ]
Steve 4:30
You are so funny, best laugh of the day so far !!!
Gus Haynes | 26.01.09 – 8:21 pm |
You have missed the point. The BBC knows it has gone over board reporting the recent events in Gaza. They know they accepted the word of Hamas as gospel and didn’t check their ‘facts’. You can fill in the reasons why they didn’t fill in the gaps themselves, yourself. It could be because the nasty Jooose took the time off from running the banks (into the ground) and controlling the media and ordered them not to or it could be that they were not allowed into Gaza in the first place (although you’d think that would be enough reason to not run unverified footage).
But no. They are cooking up this fake argument because they know the truth will come out. Just as it did about Al Dura and Jenin. They know they went too far and they are now worried about the consequences so they pretend to be impartial by banning this appeal footage.
The constant reportage of the appeal itself is, I believe, the underlings defying their masters. So compare and contrast. When a presenter says something un_PC or queries the race of the taxi driver she has just ordered what do the BBC do then? It seems in some circumstances the BBC is more than capable of shutting their staff up.
So the only conclusion can be that the management approve of what the journalists are doing whilst covering their own backs with a fatuous attack of impartiality.