It’s a tough job, trundling through BBC’s Editors Blog (did Goebbels have something similar at his Propaganda Ministry?) but two items are worthy of note.
Firstly a tear stained piece from Jeremy Hillman, editor of the BBC News business and economics unit. Jeremy was soooooo upset about George Osborne suggesting
the BBC’s approach to reporting the economy was relentlessly to focus on the bad news and the most gloomy statistics.
Hillman went on to produce a fistful of examples in an attempt to derail Osborne’s case, par for the course for any BBC suit when faced with accusations of bias. Then he sits back smugly thinking he has proved his point.
Actually Sarah Montague, despite Hillman’s spin about consciously downplaying Padoan, did indeed home in on the Padoan remarks so obviously she didn’t get the memo.
But we all know what Osborne was really getting at – not that they ignored positive items about the economy from third parties but the whole question of tone and emphasis which is why he used the word “relentlessly”. Ever since the Coalition took office the BBC’s overarching leitmotif has been CUTS rather than savings and one only has to watch any QT audience to see how successful that campaign has been.
However the good news is that Osborne’s comment touched a nerve. I guess that this issue has been raised at several North London dinner parties recently because Hillman and his pals realise that Charter Renewal is beginning to appear on the horizon and they cannot afford to upset a senior cabinet figure. Let’s hope that other government big cheeses start getting under sensitive BBC skins on a regular basis.
Then this abject apology re the Israeli Dog Stoning story from Nathalie Malinarich, world editor of the BBC News website
We failed to make the right checks. We should never have written the article and apologise for any offence caused.
Don’t worry, luv – we know why you failed to make the right checks…..while you were all busy filling in your expenses forms a breathless young graduate trainee rushed in and blurted out “those crazy religious bigoted Jews – as well as murdering helpless innocent Palestinians they are now going after helpless dogs…”
It fitted into the BBC’s anti Israeli narrative so perfectly you just couldn’t resist it…c’mon, Nathalie…is the Pope catholic? Those Jews aren’t they evil?
‘It’s a tough job, trundling through BBC’s Editors Blog‘
The other night I enjoyed Ann Leslie on Newsnight (Maybe a booker mistook her for Polly?) referring to Avon reporters: ‘It’s all about making up’.
The Editor’s Blog seems to be a JCB testing ground, as all that seems to happen there is stonking great holes get dug.
They either don’t get it, do get it and don’t care, or close up mentally and/or literally when 99.999% of their little navel-gazing exercises result in a well-justified filleting. Even the .001% are either plants, parasites, sycophants or inept contrarians who simply make bad arguemnts worse.
For my file when hauled up in front of the Beak, this blog alone is worth every miserable, two-faced, irony-free, anti-democratic, free-speech-crushing word or closure they impose via its sorry pages.
And I love every market-rate moroned one.
Don’t forget, these mighty minds are those who, to save time and money on modding, spend time after the mods ‘picking’ the ‘best’ posts to ensure things are faster, cheaper and better.
Plus of course, more representative of how you are thinking.
No, really.
Unique.
The BBC’s reporting of the FT100 index alone is blatant bias. 1 % fall = “crash”. 1 % rise = silence.
Reporting on the Emerging Markets, zilch. They are not in the EU, I guess.
The litmus test is that most people I know think that the coalition has been cutting public spending over the past year when, in truth it has actually risen.
BBC Bias has resulted in people getting the opposite message to the truth, which is unforgivable.
I’ve always felt the BBC seemed to be trying to cause another stockmaket crash with exactly the tone you are talking about. Or at least bring the FTSE 100 to it’s knees One wonders what exactly they are trying to achieve…
Robert Peston is a particular pain. It’s not my area of expertise (as you see 🙂 ), but I remember his reports about how quantitive easing “Might not be working”!
Might not be? Is that news?
Henry,
It wouldn’t surprise me if the BBC does think it has some influence on markets. Beeboids really do live in La-La Land.