The BBC exists to serve the public interest.
Or so its Charter tells us.
What it believes is the ‘public interest’ is altogether a different thing.
It certainly believes the police, government and, well, just about every public body and commercial interest should be accountable for its actions…accountable to the BBC.
It is less happy about its own accountability as Mark Thompson goes on to explain:
‘Transparency is as important for the BBC and the other publicly-owned PSBs as for any other public institutions. But sometimes calls for transparency turn out to be a cloak for something else.
Everyone knows that such proposals have nothing to do with the public interest or real accountability and everything to do with an agenda of weakening and undermining the public broadcaster.’
Asking the BBC to explain itself is a cunning ploy to undermine it.
Presumably that’s why they refuse to publish the Balen Report as it would undermine the impression that the BBC was fair and impartial…and presumably why they refuse to divulge by whom and why a film of an argument between Tory communications chief and a BBC reporter was released onto YouTube…..
‘Presumably with political motivation, an employee took it upon him or herself to post on YouTube footage that had been inadvertently filmed by a BBC cameraman of a heated, off-the-record conversation between Craig Oliver, the PM’s communications chief, and Norman Smith, the BBC reporter, over alleged bias.
The BBC promised a “full investigation,” but now, in response to a Freedom of Information request that arrived after the 20-day deadline, Stephanie Harris, the Head of Accountability at BBC News, cites the Data Protection Act as grounds for refusing to say anything further. “The individuals concerned in this investigation would not expect their personal data… to be disclosed to a third party,” she says. “Any future requests for the same information are highly likely to result in the information being withheld.” ‘
Previous to this the BBC faked a film to make a claim of political fall out that was…em…fake….
‘Last November, it took a robust Mandrake campaign to persuade the BBC to issue a belated, on-air apology to Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Treasury select committee, for broadcasting faked footage of him purportedly being brow-beaten into toeing the party line by Steve Hilton, who was at the time Cameron’s strategy chief. ‘
What an admission – they won’t tell us how they go about their business becuase if they did, people would lose respect for them.
Apparently, in BBC land, they are transparent and accountable, unless that would be embarrassing for them, in which case all bets are off. Isn’t that like claiming to be courageous except where there’s danger involved?
Bod Diamond should have tried that one.
If the Not-So-Conservative Party had anyone with functioning testicles, they’ve be air-dropping copies of this statement across the country.
“The individuals concerned in this investigation would not expect their personal data… to be disclosed to a third party,”
…but they were quite content to leak information about other people to the public. This sounds just like the deeply dishonest and entirely political ‘dark arts’ of leaking, behind the scenes briefing and code of silence that were the preserve of Peter Mandelson, Alistair Campbell and New Labour, not the actions of a fully accountable public service broadcaster. No wonder they don’t want to reveal the details of their ‘investigation’. One rule for them…
Indeed.
‘cites the Data Protection Act as grounds for refusing to say anything further.’
I have had occasion to exchange a few complaints escalated to our Steph, who seems to warrant her vast market rate by cutting and pasting the exact same waffle in ‘dismissal’ to everyone.
Have to admit… that IS a talent of sorts.
Great to learn that police have just given up trying to find the Climategate hacker, although Richard Black and co will be sorrowful about this.
If only someone would now get at the Balen report into BBC antisemitism. Copies to Israeli government, Wiesenthal Centre, Melanie Phillips, etc please.
The BBC have many skeletons in the cupboard I suspect but since they police themselves and there is no real competition, Sky is also full of ex BBC journalists and buys it’s news, I doubt we will get any more revelations any time soon.
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