Monthly Archives: September 2010

OPEN THREAD…

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Orwell had them sussed. So have we. Here’s a new Open Thread to take us into the weekend. Thanks for all your great comments during this week and also for the many mails that come my way full of further instances of bias!

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BONFIRE OF THE QUANGOS…

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With the Coalition now moving to axe at least some of the more than 1100 Quangos that infest this country, the BBC was not going to let them away with that so cue Today and cue sycophantic interview with former Quango queen Baroness Deetch. Give it a listen. At the end you can almost hear Humphrys smirking with satisfaction having “proven” what great value quangos really are. 

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NOT ALL SCANDALS WORTH REPORTING?

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Many people arefollowing Andrew Gilligan’s reports in the Telegraph concerning the mayoralelections in Tower Hamlets….all except the BBC who have overlooked thisscandal completely.

Why might that be? Is it because Lutfur Rahman, Labour’s candidate, is a Muslimclosely connected to extremists and that he was likely to win and take controlof the £1bn budget? Does this not play to the BBC message that the small numberof extremists represent no danger and that there is no realistic chance of themtaking any power? Lutfur Rahman has now been reported to the police for election irregularitiesand Labour have removed him as their candidate.

(By contrast the BBC are quite happy to report on an American Republican 5000 miles away who saysshe used to “dabble” in witchcraft.)


Financial irregularities, vote rigging, police action and removal as a candidate. 


And yet still the BBC do not report this story, on our own doorstep, not evenin the London page of their website.

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BIASED VOCABULARY….

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I have to say that I found this a fascinating insight into the language of bias employed by the BBC when discussing …Islam. Here’s Roger Bolton from the BBC College of Journalism..

“Journalists tend to be sceptical of religion and those for whom spirituality is important. That’s understandable to an extent. Journalists work with evidence; they want proof; want to see things with their own eyes. Faith and belief are the antithesis of that mindset. Some journalists take this further and find those who live their lives and make their decisions on the basis of their religious beliefs incomprehensible. Or they’re contemptuous of those of sincere spiritual conviction.’

BBC’s description of Islamic words in its college of journalism…

Kufr: ‘Non-belief in Islam.’ (No ‘best not use’…no description of it as derogatory or emotive?)

Islamophobia…Hatred and fear of Islam and Muslims. (No ‘irrational’ hatred of Islam?)

Islamist…A difficult term which, like ‘fundamentalist’, is best avoided… despite the fact that it has a perfectly respectable meaning. Used now pejoratively to refer to politically radical fundamentalist Muslims seeking to achieve political ends for their faith. (Islam is not political, nor fundamental, nor radical to a secular West?)



Dhimmi…Best not used because it can be emotive. It is sometimes used to refer to non-Muslims living under restrictions in Muslim countries. The use of the word is often intended to criticise Muslims. (ah so don’t use it because it puts Muslims in a bad light)

Fundamentalist…Fundamentalists believe their faith rests on the highest religious authority – scripture or God or a prophet. This is a very difficult word to use and is best avoided. Its association with terrorism has become so strong that its original meaning is almost lost.

Madrassa…A term often used – almost always incorrectly – to imply an institution where anti-Western sentiment is taught.

Wahhabi…The state religion in Saudi Arabia – puritanical and against innovations in Islam. Favours Islamic government. (so ‘Fundamentalists’/’Puritans’…those who follow the ‘real’ religion, not those who ‘pervert’ Islam?)

The wailing/western wall…The only remaining part of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. It is an important place of prayer and pilgrimage for Jews. Do not refer to it as the ‘Wailing Wall’. (Why not ‘wailing’?…possibly people may then ask why the Jews ‘wail’…This description stemmed from the Jewish practice of coming to the site to mourn and bemoan the destruction of the Jewish Temple that was on the site before Islam conquered the land.)

Islam. .The word ‘Islam’ means ‘submission to the will of God’. …(not ‘peace’ then?)

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OFF THE RAILS

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More insidious historical anti-British revisionism from the rancid BBC, this time from that cesspit of leftwing bias known as “From Our Own Correspondent”.

“The FOOC programmecontinues on its extraordinary way from supporting Maoist terrorists in Indiato now rewriting Angolan history. In a report on the Benguela Railway Justin Rowlatt tells us the ImperialistBritish exploited and robbed Angola of its natural resources using slave labourin essence…how unlike the new Chinese activities who operate in a much morebeneficial way towards Angolans.

What’s wrong with this? Angola was a Portugese colony not British, the Portugese took the enormous wealth generated there. It was the Portugese who started the railway and then contracted a British company to finish building and running the tracks. Rowlatt’s claim that it was Britain robbing the Angolans because we ran the railway is like suggesting Germany is really running this country because it builds and provides us with a transport system in the shape of cars from BMW, VW and Porsche. But not a mention of Portugal in the report. Guess accuracy and accountability aren’t that important to the BBC after all.”

Of course not. Accuracy and accountability are diversions from the main thrust of BBC output which is all about making the UK look  as bad as possible to fit in with BBC narrative.   


Hat-tip to the B-BBC reader who send me this.

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THE BIAS TONIGHT

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Couple of great examples of BBC bias on “The World Tonight” last night…

“In the first, an Indian journalist was asked forhis views on the preparations for the Commonwealth Games. Presumably, nobodyhad read out to him the Beeb’s ground-rules, as he trenchantly observed thatthe defects in the preparations typified the corruption, incompetence andcronyism of the Indian public sector. He contrasted the efficiency of theIndian private sector, pointing out that the new airport at New Delhi was putout to private contract and is up and running, in fine working order, incontrast to the sports facilities and the athletes’ village (which might seem,to the casual observer, rather lesser undertakings). In the news headlines at11 P.M., his words were quoted, but with no acknowledgement of the distinctionhe had drawn between the virtuous private sector and the venal,child-labour-exploiting public sector.”

“Later on in the same broadcast of “The World Tonight”, the last itemwas a discussion of the UN’s report on the “Mavi Marmara”.Predictably, the fundamental assumption of the article was that the objectivityof the UN could be taken for granted. The “expert” interviewed wasthe lawyer representing the British “humanitarians for Hamas pyschopaths” who accompanied in the flotilla.No-one was invited to defend Israel, or dispute the findings, or the motives,of the UN “investigation”. Why would they – to the BBC Israel is always in the wrong, that’s the rule.”


Hat-tip to the eagle eared B-BBC reader! 

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Question Time LiveBlog 23rd Sept 2010

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Question Time tonight comes from Liverpool, home to the United Kingdom’s first council house and the first Juvenile Court. This may not be a coincidence.

Controlled by Labour and without any Tory representation, Liverpool City Council was rated in 2008 as the worst-performing council in the country. This may also not be a coincidence.

On the panel we have the BBC’s newly re-haloed St Vince of Cable, John Redwood, Caroline Flint, Ian Hislop and the nutter’s nutter Mehdi Hasan.

For those playing the Buzzword Bingo, we’ll be playing the LibDem Conference Rules which means players are banned from bringing knitting needles or helium balloons. Bonus points tonight for Spivs and use of the word Comrade. Be aware of the diagonal moves allowed on the new bingo cards, meaning for example that getting Thatcher, cuts and starving orphans in one answer, or perhaps Carriers, Bribing and Labour Voters on the purple squares, is an instant win.

Returning as well, the LiveBlog will also cover the entertainingly awful This Week, presented by Brillo in cahoots, apparently, with Michael Portillo and Diane Abbott again. Is she really back? Can this be true?

David Vance, TheEye and David Mosque will be engaged in legitimate crowd control here from 10:30pm.

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PAPER TRAIL

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The Today programme claims to set the news agenda for Radio 4 each day. Well, it certainly tries its best, and its own agenda is often plain to hear.

The Sky News website publishes an invaluable daily gallery of the UK newspaper front pages. Which of the lead stories found there today were ignored by the Today programme’s paper reviews?

Well, besides some tabloid gossip about Posh and Becks, two leads were conspicuous by their absence from any of the programme’s three slots (at 6.12, 6.40 & 7.40).

The first was the Times‘s ‘ I won’t be rushed out of Afghanistan – Petraeus’. Above the article is a photo of laughing, open-faced Afghan girls under the banner ‘Exultant: faces of freedom in a war-torn land’. Why would the defeatist, anti-this-war Today programme choose to completely ignore this lead story?

The presenters did have time to mention the Independent and the Guardian‘s take on Bob Woodward’s new book on the Obama administration’s Afghan squabbles, with John Humphrys reading out a paean to Mr Woodward.

It’s even easier to guess why they ignored the other lead – an immigration story from the Express – ‘How migrants snatched our homes’, concerning a group of Lithuanian squatters “terrorising part of east London“.

The angle taken by the Telegraph and Mail regarding the speech on anti-social behaviour by Denis O’Connor, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary – ‘Police give up the fight as yobs take over’ and ‘Police: We have let yobs rule streets’ – was mentioned by the presenters, but how did the Today website, which also made it its lead story, choose to angle the subject?: “The Chief Inspector of Constabulary says that police efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour in England and Wales must not suffer because of spending cuts.” Ah yes, budget cuts!

“Our job is to ensure we remain absolutely impartial and present the facts to our audiences – without following any agendas,” said Helen Boaden, director of BBC news. Really?

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WARMING AND COOLING

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My Biased BBC colleague Robin Horbury is much better at AGW posts than me but I wanted to bring Richard Black’s latest salvo to your attention. Note how poor Richard feels oppressed by those who dare question AGW. He seems to now saying that “ideological purity” (or what we simply call balance) is impossible because he is under attack from pro-warmers as well as   “deniers”. Please be gentle with your feedback, I fear Richard is feeling hot under the collar!

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EVER COMPLAINED TO R4’S FEEDBACK ABOUT LEFTE BIAS…

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..and got nowhere?

Well, save yourself the trouble in future because the presenter isn’t interested:

“Of course everyone has views. It is undeniable that most editorial staff were, and probably are, of a liberal inclination when it comes to social issues, and that they cluster around the middle ground of the political spectrum. I would also suggest they are predominantly secular as well. We all have biases, the crucial thing is to be aware of them.

“However it is something else entirely to suggest that we flawed creatures made predominantly leftwing programmes.”

For further reference please see Jeff Randall’s quote in the right-hand sidebar.

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