It looks as though the BBC is going to give lavish publicity to Chris Morris’s film, the one that lampoons incompetent suicide bombers. Morris was treated to a flattering profile on Radio 4. He’s just the sort they like, edgy, dangerous, and as unpredictable as Russell Brand. His controversial paedo programme was overrated, but I appreciated the idea. His take on the public’s groupthink attitude to Paedophilia and the media’s prurient exploitation of it is almost interchangeable with the Israel question. No changes to the format necessary. The same groupthink, and the same media obsession apply to both subjects. Just remove Paedo and insert Israel and Jew wherever appropriate. Only Morris wouldn’t be amused as he is one of the baying mob of Israel denouncers.
On the theme of lampoons and edgy humour, what about Charlie Brooker. His Newswipe holds back just when it seems to be getting somewhere, and frustratingly skirts round things in a PC manner. In his film about Anjem Choudary and the Wootton Basset publicity stunt, he has chosen an easy target. Nobody likes Islam4UK; it’s banned now anyway. The thrust of the piece is that the media is giving, and getting, publicity from Choudary’s efforts. Brooker goes for ITV. The absence of blame allocated to the equally culpable BBC leaves a deafening silence. Of course his programme is on the Beeb, and Brooker is actually another P.C. lefty.
I felt the same about Brooker’s first Newswipe which was entirely devoted to two topics: media fear-mongering and the weather. Only without mentioning the greatest fear mongering in history, Global Warming or its president ideology Global Cooling (soon to become fashionable again no doubt).
BBC and Guardian journalist Brooker shows a marked reluctance to critique his employers, focusing instead on American ‘rightwingers’ who no one in this country can actually watch. Wonder why.
Brooker is a bit of a lefty, but his sidelong looks at TV are often very well thought-out and hard to disagree with. But I do agree that he often holds back – for whatever reason – when a nice dig at the BBC would be deserved.
But… Charlie Brooker probably does more than most to explain to the casual viewer just how contrived and just plain made-up the news is. And he does this often without getting too political. Fair play to him.
It really would be edgy comedy if a comedian laid it on the line about the BBC for once. How the BBC act so dictatorial when it comes to thugs liberally mugging the public to pay for their upper crust lifestyles like a good champagne socialist should do. How this propaganda exercise admired by lefties is rather partial to authoritarian causes but portrays itself as a soft fluffy bunny that has managed to keep its fur clean by pointing at the right-wing or that infamous mythical far-right, when the most illiberal of regimes dress to the left. Maybe an edgy comedian should start off asking “What about those beeboid c***s?” Nah why do that when there’s still mileage to be made about Thatcher and Bush.
Is it me or the BBC? I can’t find any reference to Barry O putting these missile systems and ships in the middle east to defend from an Iranian attack. Could it be the BBC doesn’t want to have to report on YET ANOTHER Barry O failure?
Remember all the open hand of friendship the drug addicts lapped up last year? Not done much has it?
Instead the BBC concentrate on the castration of NASA, which of course was a Bush idea to go back to the Moon (so we know the BBC won’t like that)
Michael Prick on Newsnight ” A hung Parliament is looking more likely”. Really? Is that in the world of the BBC only then? Why bother with an election?
Not a great deal will change if the conservatives get into number 10 anyway because Britain is no longer a sovereign state and we now have a puppet government that can only tinker round the edges. I will probably shuffle my arse down to vote for UKIP as at the very least it will make me feel better about myself.
For some reason can’t access the Open Thread so posting this here:
<!– google_ad_section_start –>Veteran BBC-watchers will recall that for years BBC reporters were describing Kassam rockets fired from Gaza as, “Home-made,” not as an occasional reference but practically every time they mentioned them, frequently adding “Inaccurate, and even “Clumsy.” The motive behind this insistent repetition was obviously to present Hamas not as terrorists but as pranksters hurling harmless missiles at their neighbours, much like schoolboys letting off firecrackers for a laugh. One report on the World Service even made the claim that Kassams, “Seldom cause injuries.” While true in itself, that is a sly omission of the fact that Kassams have killed Israeli civilians, including women and children, and aims at producing the automatic assumption in the listener that Kassams never kill, only injure.
In the build up to Israel’s attack on Gaza, BBC reporters began to quietly shelve the “home-made” reference since even they could dimly discern, through the fog of their bias, that Hamas was managing to smuggle in and fire sophisticated rockets, some of them Iranian, at cities 40km inside Israel. These rockets were not made in somebody’s back yard and they killed a number of Israelis.
However, the BBC is evidently unable to let go of its precious “home-made” propaganda tool and yesterday on the World Service a reporter resurrected it for use in connection with the period before the Gaza attack:
Before Operation Cast Lead, Hamas had been firing home-made rockets at Israel from their stronghold in Gaza.
But no mention, of course, of the long-range rockets that were starting to be used with increasing frequency. And certainly no mention of the fact that shortly before the Israeli attack the terrorists had stepped up the frequency of their rocket attacks to around a hundred a day. Hell, that might show a justification for the Israeli attack, and we can’t have that. The reporter was distorting the picture through omission of highly-relevant facts. And that has the same detrimental effect as simply lying.
People who rely on the BBC for their news will be terminally misinformed and misled.
The very inaccuracy of the Kassam means Hamas really had no choice but to aim at the largest targets ie towns and villages and hope they hit something vital. That means every Kassam fired was a home-made, inaccurate, clumsy WAR CRIME. Every one.
Brooker’s getting quite a bit of praise here, suggesting he’s not been read or watched much. He’s Brigstock mark 2, and his show is non-stop, shrill hard left soapboxing (anyone see last week’s John Charles de Menezes ‘analysis’). His US special for example made only one mention of liberal bias, which was to dismiss it, then went on full Fox Derangement Syndrome.
Adam “Power of Nightmares” Curtis is heaped with praise; in an episode last year a bunch of schoolkids were shown it and interviewed saying how fascinating and instructive it was, thereby showing how the yoof are actually politcally astute and turned on.
I wouldn’t recommend regulars here watch Newswipe on account of their bloodpressure: Tony Benn is one of the few politicians we all like; the BBC’s wonderful; bog standard, boilerplate ‘fury’ at Iraq, Bush, AGW deniers, Fox, Tories, the Daily Mail…
Hell, don’t mention the Mail. His shtick is to go on a long, super-sweary rant at anyone who might think slightly differently from him, check his comments on Dan Hannan or his ‘kill Bush’ article. Lefties lap this up, I often hear his garbage parroted back at me as profound insight from morons who think saying “Faux News” is remotely clever.
The Beeb love him – you’ll be seeing a lot more of him, he’s on their rising star list, and if you think Brigstock’s bad… 🙂
Absolutely bang on Simon. A new generation is being brainwashed with this stuff. They know, for instance, that Fox News is ranting and racist, despite never having seen it, due to Brooker’s selective clips.
You’re probably right, but the segment on a typical news report last week was class.