Just to say that those who can tune in to Sunday Sequence on BBC Radio Ulster just after 9am can hear me discuss the issue of journalistic protection of sources. This is the background. My own view is that given the neo-Totalitarian desires of those little Hitlers in the local devolved Assembly, I am grateful for those journalists like Suzanne who show an independent mind and who, via their sources, reveal truth to the public that frequently annoys the political elite. That’s worthy in my book. Should a journalist protect sources in ALL circumstances? No. There is a moral obligation on all journalists and each must wrestle with this – but where innocent life can be saved, sources should be revealed. That is not the case here.
Then there are those journos who sell sleaze and who seek to protect their sources when in fact all they are really doing is to dishonour their own profession. However liberty is not best served by the Police aggressively leaning on journalists as an alternative to the police doing their own job and building a case against terrorists. Here in Northern Ireland we have a politically correct ineffective police service at the behest of politicians, if it can’t do the job we pay it for and gain convictions, maybe questions would be better directed the way of those within it’s senior ranks. Your thoughts?
Suzanne Breen is the mother of a very young daughter, she could face from six months to five years under the terrorism act. She is between a rock and a hard place. If she gives the information she is in danger from the RIRA, if she doesn’t under the terrorism act she could face jail.
If the courts don’t dispense with this quickly it could go to Europe and drag on and on for an extremly long and expensive legal trial for her, the NUJ and the Tribune.
Anyone would think we’re living in a police state….
Gosh
Important and interesting subject. But is this Biased-BBC or the David Vance promotional blog?
Well it’s David’s blog, so he can do what the hell he likes with it. This isn’t a public platform.
Vance has got his Irish paws on it. This blog is headed for the slums.
Gosh,
Thanks for addressing the issue. Fully agree it is a scandal and Sir Hugh Orde is attacking journalistic freedom.
For me, it’s always been the David Vance promotional Blog.
Funny how in doing that on a ‘BBC bias’ website he ends up writing about his appearance on the Beeb. And the Beeb, that Islam loving, liberal institution keeps inviting David Vance back on, despite him being probably its most fervent (and irrational) critic.
I don’t know about BBC bias on the NI topic, but later on in the show there was blatant anti-Star Trek bias.
The one sci-fi fan (with a PhD in Astronomy as well as one in theology) on the panel was a Star Wars fan who even had a book out about it. That’s sort of like having Robert Peston on to discuss a film about Margaret Thatcher’s economic policies. And the guy got things wrong about chronology and certain aspects of the series. He also got it absolutely backwards about the exploration of religious issues in various Star Trek series.
After babbling about how much fun and and humorous it was, they came to the conclusion that there really were no moral or religious issues touched on in the new film. Because there were a few glaring moral failures by characters in the film, the entire panel is disqualified in my view.
Having decided that there wasn’t anything else useful to say, they accused the film of being racist because there were no Arabs (when they say “Middle Eastern” they never mean Israeli) and because all the baddies “looked Slavic”.
You can’t win. If the baddies had had dark skin, it would have been racist, too.
Scott your comments are irritating me.
Funny how the silliest comments are by Anonymous.
Its a shame Scott’s hiding behind the Anon tag as well. You don’t need to hide mate. Your posts are the same on different threads so its a bit daft to hide.
Scott,
Having read your blog it seems full of your own personal insight.Why dont you allow Vance to do the same.
If you are going to do commentary work then its important for your readers to get some idea of what you do and what makes you tick. I am from the other side of the peace wall from David but I respect his position and I am glad to get a whole picture.
Can anyone offer a reaosn why the BBC would be ‘anti-Star Trek’ or was that meant as a joke?
Perhaps you could dedicate a post to how the employment practices of the BBC create an institutionally anti-Star Trek mindest?
Perhaps we could create some kind of statistical analysis of how much coverage there’s been of the new movie compared to…oh say Star Wars?
I think I’ll write to my MP.
Interesting topic David, sorry to have missed it.
“Its a shame Scott’s hiding behind the Anon tag as well. You don’t need to hide mate. Your posts are the same on different threads so its a bit daft to hide.”
I’m really not. Funny as it may seem, there is more than one person who thinks that David Vance’s egotism and lack of regard for factual accuracy do the whole Biased BBC site a disservice.
As does, indeed, deleting posts which point out his all-too-obvious deficiencies.
Scott,
I have not deleted ANY of your posts. I have plenty of deficiencies and have feet of clay. I am sorry my presence here causes such annoyance for you and certain others.
“I have not deleted ANY of your posts.”
Fair enough, but somebody did. From his comment above, maybe it was ed?
Let me reiterate, though: I have always signed my posts, both on this new system and on the old Haloscan one.
Well, when it comes to the latter I suspect one or two could have inadvertently slipped out anonymously, but I think we all fell foul of that problem at one point or another… that’s part of the reason why, for all its faults, I much prefer the native Blogger commenting system.
@David Vance Irish man.
Deleting the posts of people who do not agree with you, and censoring comments – it’s about time you moved on.
Interesting and informative thread, from an English perspective on the little known, and/or little reported machinations of the post “Good Friday” regime.
Shame its been completely f****d by trolls.