Biased BBC by its very nature doesn’t often praise the BBC, or rather, doesn’t praise some of its professional, reliable and scrupulous journalists.
One such journalist could be Ross Hawkins (7 mins) who delivered an excellent overview of the latest controversy over the sale of school playing fields…or rather the new rules for regulating such sales.
He explains the complexities and various scenarios simply, with clear insight into motives and likely outcomes…it is all intelligent and without drama or any perceivable political side to it.
In other words exactly what you would hope to receive from a highly professional BBC intent on keeping the public up to date on the latest news and all viewed from a completely neutral standpoint.
Why do I mention this? Because so many of his colleagues fail utterly to work to these standards…and it seems the more senior they are the less inclined they are to toe the line. The longer they have been in the job the more complacent, arrogant and ‘untouchable’ they become, seemingly left to their own devices as long as they don’t do anything too outrageous and obvious.
This attitude is not only prevalent in the Today programme but is endemic across the BBC from its other key news programmes to its environmental reporters and the darkest corners such as ‘Wake Up to Money’.
Perhaps Ross Hawkins is the result of a new ethos and training at the BBC’s journalism college…if so, good. However that still leaves a lot of ‘old timers’ in place who will be around for years to come not living up to the ideals and standards that should be demanded of them.
If you can’t teach old dogs new tricks and get them to mend their ways, move them to another job where they can’t stagnate and become bored and disinterested…..or sack them.
The excitable Evan Davis could learn a lot from the calm and concise Hawkins.
“the Today programme”
Now called in this household “The John Humphreys Show”. When did it happen that the presenter became more important than the story? And what kind of shit is that?
After this post, the poor chap won’t be able to hold his head up in Beeb House. Ross Hawkins is already having to live down having tweeted (1 August) praising the Daily Telegraph.
Praise, where praise is due. On BBC4 on Tuesday, in The Last Explorers, a sombre & informative Neil Oliver followed David Livingstone’s remarkable journey down the Zambesi River to bring commerce, Christianity & civilisation to Africa. An even-handed Oliver didn’t shy away from the horrors of the Arab slave trade, or the inter-tribal brutality that so disheartened Livingstone, but didn’t stop him from pressing for the abolition of slavery in East Africa. The Royal Navy having already blockaded the slave stations of Western Africa. Oliver gave us a rounded view of the great, though flawed explorer &, together with the beautiful photography, delivered a quality programme devoid, as far as I could ascertain, of any of the BBC ‘narrative’ blipverts that often reduce potentially good programmes to wish-fulfillment leftoid propaganda. One little feather in the oversized beeboid cap.
It is the one real sad thing about the BBC ! they can do it right [no pun ] they can make great well balanced interesting stuff and for that I do thank them though not in the last few years as C4 /ITV has kicked them in every field , but most of the stuff they buy in is just bad they have too many thin ideas with too many voices and way too much input from outside groups with big mouths , they also have to fill too many channels for too many hours of the day !
‘..exactly what you would hope to receive from a highly professional BBC intent on keeping the public up to date on the latest news and all viewed from a completely neutral standpoint.’
Why do I suspect that somewhere a cherry vulture’s brain, hard-wired by default to deride anything you write, has just exploded trying to figure out how to respond?
The Cherry Vultures don’t understand the balance B-BBC has demonstrated here by giving praise where praise is due to both the boy Hawkins and Neil Oliver.
Enjoyed the excuses pouring out to explain the sales figures: oh it discounts, oh it’s this, oh it must be that. Never used to be so forthcoming with such details about 2 or more years ago, can’t think why.
Off topic enrichment news: this certainly contradicts the BBC’s beloved multicultural mantra of Muslim immigration = ENRICHMENT…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2189249/Jobless-refugee-mother-seven-family-trashed-1-25million-Victorian-townhouse-given-ANOTHER-free-home.html
Agreed about Hawkins. He was by far the most sober and reasonable of the Beeboids reporting on the 9/11 anniversary and the Mosque near you-know-where.
The BBC can still do it well occasionally, but it is so rare that it really stands out. An item on R4 (5?) early on Monday morning about youth unemployment had me doing a double take. The interviewer twice (!) pressed the guest (unfortunately don’t know who either was) about the impact of immigration, [he used the ‘I’ word!] and whether it had harmed the job prospects for today’s youth.
There are plenty of studies showing that immigration has had an impact, hugely so in some areas, but the BBC usually avoid all mention of it and makes so many BBC reports simply lack any credibility. Maybe it’s a new edict from demob happy Mark Thomson – maybe the next report on housing will mention the major reason for the shortages. But I won’t hold my breath.
A self-riotous chapie from the Housing Federation said this morning that the country needs 250, 000 new houses built every year. They (the Housing Federation) are the voice of affordable housing in England and believe that everyone should have the home they need at a price they can afford.
He said that the shortage is due to a multitude of reasons (the economy, the government, the banks, etc.) but he did not mention multi-cultural folks. So it’s nothing to do with immigration OK! The more concrete that covers this green and pleasant land the better says the man from the Federation. Keep the boats and trains and planes full of invisible people coming then.
Meanwhile, The chairman of Migration Watch UK, Sir Andrew Green, warned that population would run out of control if immigration were not quelled: ‘The latest projections show that immigration will account for two thirds of our population increase in the next 15 years. That is five million people and is the equivalent of the combined populations of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Sheffield, Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol. Nobody wants to see the population grow at this rate’ he said.
When will the gentle folks in the Salford Palace of Truth wake up?
Yep, the BBC were back to the old ways this morning. James Naughtie was having a go at the Conservative Housing Minister over the lack of affordable homes, either to buy or rent.
No mention of why there is such a huge shortage, or who was in power when this crisis developed. No demands that the Minister gets a grip on the primary cause – ie crack down on immigration.
We can’t deny that Labour’s mass immigration is a major cause of housing shortage, but I’m not sure that it’s the primary cause. Isn’t that the lone parent, fatherless ‘family’, long espoused by loony feminists and left-wingers?