Re David’s earlier post about the scandalously biased audience on this week’s Any Questions.
According to the programme’s website the distribution of audience tickets is down to the hosts:
1. THE AUDIENCE
One of the chief responsibilities for you, the local organiser, is the distribution of tickets . We very much hope that, in general, the audience will be reasonably balanced and properly representative of the local community in terms of age, class, gender, colour, creed and political affiliation.
This week’s programme came from the William Ellis school in Camden. From that school’s website:
Yup, the same Fiona Millar who just happens to be Alastair Campbell’s partner.
The Any Questions website also includes this:
We do from time to time encounter problems surrounding the issue of ‘balance,’ and the BBC, being committed to fairness, therefore reserves the right to allocate a number of seats ourselves if necessary. We may also give out a number of tickets to BBC guests (If space is particularly tight at your venue please talk to the producer about how many additional seats have been allocated by us).
I think I can guess at the BBC’s idea of providing audience balance – more lefties, just in case.
Update 8.30pm. One of Fiona Millar’s vice chairs on the board of governors at William Ellis is Professor Conor Gearty, former human rights adviser to Tony Blair and founder member (along with Mrs Tony Blair) of Matrix Chambers.
Yes, the BBC is hand in glove with Labour party insiders from morning till night.
The BBC has put up the political scam ‘story’ about a ‘visible’ G. Brown – and left it up there all day, untouched by the truth.
In contrast, the BBC tries to make Cameron ‘invisible’ by not mentioning him.
S.Schama imports some extra anti-Tory political bias on the ‘Magazine’ page.
BBC’s ‘Any Questions’ contains one of the most blatantly anti-Tory audiences ever, just before a General Election.
Dimbleby does not even mention that the Chair of Governors of the London school concerned in ‘AQ’ is Ms. Fiona Millar, the partner of national Labour activist Mr. Alastair Campbell.
And what about the politically biased, anti-Tory, BBC distribution of tickets to the audience of this particular programme?
It is all one undemocratic sick joke by the BBC on the British licencepayers.
This story really should go to CCHQ and the likes of Guido and Iain Dale.
I notice the BBC have been full of the one eyed murderer all day, anyone would think Cameron had taken the day off as well as Clegg.
i dont think that tory HQ will anything this side of the election,Dimbledumb will spin all he is worth on the leaders debate as he knows nothing else.Mr gove called the BBC to account but didn’t follow up on it so i think they will not do anything anyway…
Has anybody at the BBC commented on Jack Straws claim that he had a pre programme briefing from Dimbelby?
Relax citizens!
All we are getting now is the death rattle of the elitist liberal project that we suckers have saddled ourselves with since 1997 if not before.
That the BBC is stacking the deck and hoping(never praying of course!) for Brown or Clegg to create some progressive botch job from the ruins of the nation is just desperation.
None of us are listening anymore surely…Campbells squeeze can wander the Green Rooms all she likes under her maiden name but we all know what the Beeb is there for-and hubby needs to get his bagpipes in tune for the Hague before too long we can pray!
Get a Guardian and have a laugh at just what bilge and fatuous thinking did to our country before the nation woke up to the con trick we allowed to be done on our families.
No more talk of dumbing down when we had a Prescott as a Deputy P.M and on any BBC show that wanted him…and we let them get away with this…not much longer though-and let the Beeb talk us into more of the same…not a chance!
I thought it was C. J. Hartnall ?
You are right. It is nearly over. It no longer matters who wins, if that is what it is called, the irrelevant election.
The liberal left delusion ,still rampant in all the main parties, still believes it does.
The mood has been changing for some time. All it now needs is a dose of serious reality in the form of an economic collapse for these children to discover that you do not play games with an ancient, stubborn and proud people with suffering the consequences.
I hope these fools and crooks will soon discover what the English really are like- not the fantasy liberal view but the reality.
A real leader would be the catalyst and then as Cromwell said ” All I need is a few good men”
Three questions:
1. Justine Roberts – who’s married to the Deputy Editor of the Guardian, by the way – arrived with a ‘nothing to worry about’ immigration briefing paper. Who provided it, I wonder.
2. Who thinks this whole episode has got Alastair Campbell’s fingerprints all over it?
3. How long had this show been in the planning? Has it been in the diary for just a couple of weeks – since the election was announced?
Normally it’s blood of others all over that jock turd eater Campbell’s hands
Jack Straw insinuates that because the conservatives have recognised immigration as an issue over the last three decades, they are ‘manufacturing an issue’, audience applauds raptorously.
Does this audience and panel represent the English, or even the Welsh and Scots??
I don’t think so.
One is sure Mr. Dimbelby, the selected audience, vetted questions, studio set-up and editorial staff will do a bang up job with the final leader’s debate.
These days, even when it’s billed as ‘live’ one can hardly credit all ‘shaping tools’ cannot and will not be used in light of revelations of who is running around behind the scenes behind Aunty who has not been exposed under some rock and transferred to other duties this week.
One is sure the BBC can provide all necessary counter-balance to the right-wing, privately (as opposed to uniquely) funded media.
Not that this is meant to be an objective national broadcaster’s role, mind.
Thanks again bBBC – I couldn’t understand what was going on on AQ… but I can now
@Deborah
Likewise.
I tuned in when it was already underway, and when I heard the hissing and booing from the audience of Ms Spelman and the rapturous applause and whoops of delight for Mr Straw I thought to myself that the BBC had overdone the audience selection.
I wonder if the BBC Trustees ever listen to the program?
– if they don’t, they should.
…