The BBC has a new series, The Honourable Woman, starting next Thursday.

It is about a Jewish woman on a one woman peace mission to the Middle East.  Wonder who the villains will be.

Here’s the Telegraph’s take:

Gyllenhaal plays Nessa Stein, a British citizen but an Israeli Jew by origin, whose father– a Zionist gunrunner – was murdered in front of her when she was a child. She has inherited his ill-gotten fortune and used it to create a foundation that forges relationships between Israel and Palestine. When we first see Nessa, she announces a contract to lay fibre-optic cables in the West Bank, but the ghosts of the past haunt her and the internecine plot shows that her father’s murderous legacy is a curse.

Another daunting aspect of The Honourable Woman was its subject matter, bound to provoke strong reactions. “[The Israel-Palestine question] is so polarising because everyone has such a tight grip on their feelings. Throughout the eight hours we veer from one way to another and people will say, ‘Oh my God, they are being totally pro-Israeli or totally pro-Palestinian.’ But because the piece has been written with such compassion, I hope people will loosen their grip on either side.”

This may sound naive but Gyllenhaal is aware that a few hours of drama is unlikely to aid the peace process and she was sensitive to the intransigence of the situation throughout filming.

Here’s the Guardian’s:

“It’s about Israel and Palestine, refracted through the prism of a family,” Blick explains, fully aware that this sounds like a tough sell. He reveals that he took the idea to Janice Hadlow, the controller of BBC2, who made two recommendations. “She said, ‘Not too much sand’, by which she meant, ‘Make it make sense to a UK audience,’” Blick says. And the other? “The other was, ‘Don’t kill too many children…’” he says, laughing.

It casts Gyllenhaal as Nessa Stein, a British businesswoman with a bird’s-eye view of the intractable conflict in the Middle East. Her father’s company sold munitions; Stein, though, wants it be a force for good, and has moved the company into telecommunications. It’s an eight-part thriller that finds as much drama in affluent London as it does in the West Bank, and articulates the conflict there in personal as well as political terms. It travels back and forth in time, revealing ghastly truths in a beguilingly casual way.

I am certain that it would be foolish to prejudge the BBC and the arts world when it comes to creating the ‘ghastly truth’ about Israel and the Palestinians, and all without killing ‘too many children’….based upon the nefarious activities of a Zionist father who flooded the Middle East with arms, a daughter who wants to right his ‘wrongs’, and a murdered Palestinian businessman.

Any bets there will be a Palestinian suicide bomber blowing himself up in a restaurant,  ‘driven’ to do the deed by the oppressive and vicious illegal occupation of the West Bank by the nazi-like, Zionist IDF.

Enjoy.

Mail: Police hunting for group of ‘Asian men’ who took a 17-year-old girl into woods and gang-raped her

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2673311/Teenager-17-taken-woods-gang-raped-group-Asian-men-Berkshire.html

BBC: Police seek group of men in Slough after teenager raped

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-28072433

Muslim men might be more precise…..

The BBC’s early morning Labour Party Indoctrination broadcast, Wake Up To Money, is always worth a visit if you need a good laugh, the two usual presenters offering us a resolutely unusual world view….fortunately most of the guests, with some exceptions, talk a lot of sense…which is then completely ignored by the dynamic duo in charge.

Tuesday was an exception (34 mins) when the guest was brought in to bolster the BBC’s pro-HS2 stance and we had a bit of a love-in and not many hard questions about HS3, the newly proposed East/West high speed line.  As the guest, Sim Harris from Rail News, is a hardened advocate of HS2 we were hardly likely to get a reasoned and measured line from him….as his own thoughts on objectors to HS2 show.

WUTM has always been highly dismissive of the government’s claims about job creation and an improving economy, pouring large amounts of cold water, scorn and derision upon any ‘good news’….for instance still telling us we narrowly missed a triple dip recession even after we knew that there had not even been a double dip recession.

How different when it suits though.  On Wednesday the ‘Living Wage Commision’ pronounced that the government must ensure everyone gets a pay rise to a level determined by the LWC.

WUTM was doing a bit of cheerleading on Wednesday morning on their behalf. (05:47)

Some businessmen were brought in to tell us their thoughts…unsurprisingly they suggested it depended upon the state of the economy whereupon the BBC’s Adam Parsons leapt into action and said:

‘But we’re out of recession, there comes a time when we can’t keep saying we’re barely out of a recession…. because we are out of recession, there is growth’

Funny that the usual refrain  on the programme is just how ‘fragile’ the economy is…heard them say it several times this week.

Mickey Clark, the other presenter, added his thoughts and stated that we could afford to pay a living wage because the ‘jobs situation is so vibrant now’.

This is the same Mickey Clark who consistently, day in, day out, tells us that we can’t trust the government figures, that the jobs created are rubbish being all part time, ZHC or self employed, or worthless jobs like gardeners or painters.

How different when it suits.  Suddenly the economy is booming and the jobs market is vibrant and healthy.

And just who or what is the Living Wage Commission?  You might have thought from the way the BBC introduces it that it is an official government body….but it isn’t….it’s just the usual left wing pressure group campaigning for issues close to Labour’s heart.

The Church heads it, along with various charity leading lights, the head of the TUC, a Unison member, and one possible ‘righty’ from the British Chamber of Commerce.

The ‘Living Wage’ is of course a central Labour Party policy.

Good of the BBC to be so obliging in pushing the Labour Party agenda so discreetly.

Listening to BBC radio news I was outraged and astonished to hear Charlie boy had been bending the ear of those trusty yeoman charged with keeping HMS Britain on an even keel…the politicians.

The BBC revealed that David Blunkett told them that Charlie had been campaigning for more Grammar schools.

Imagine my surprise when looking at the Telegraph we find a different emphasis, or rather, a more honest report:

Prince Charles ‘consorted with Labour on climate change and grammar schools’

Former ministers reveal the Prince of Wales wanted tougher policies on climate change and the expansion of grammar schools

The BBC’s effort is more circumspect:

Prince ‘wanted more grammar schools’

The Prince of Wales tried to influence government decisions in areas including grammar schools expansion and GM crops, former Labour cabinet ministers reveal.

Why does the BBC dodge around the climate change part?  Could it be that the liberal BBC sees grammar schools as divisive and elitist whilst tougher policies on climate change meets with its approval and so a careful and less critical approach to Charlie boy’s  advocacy of this particular policy is warranted?

When climate change is one of the most contentious issues (despite the BBC trying to quash all debate) and the policies introduced to deal with the ‘problem’ are set to cost this country an ever increasing fortune surely the fact that Charlie has been putting pressure on government, with the willing co-operation of the Labour environment minister of the time, should be the headline news not grammar schools.

The BBC doesn’t want to stir up a fuss about climate and govenrment policies because it doesn’t want that whole can of worms opened up again and yet more doubts raised in the Public’s minds about what is being forced upon them.

The BBC  mentions climate but only as a minor point after complementary medicine…..

He discussed complementary medicine and climate with other Labour ministers.

and then again a long way down the report…and even then concentrates on GM crops:

Former environment minister Michael Meacher recalled that he and the Prince “would consort together quietly” to affect policy on climate change and genetically modified crops.

He said they worked together “to try and ensure that we increased our influence within government”.

“I knew that he largely agreed with me and he knew that I largely agreed with him,” said Mr Meacher. “We were together in trying to persuade Tony Blair to change course.”

Asked if there might be a constitutional problem in the Prince taking a political opinion, Mr Meacher replied: “Well, over GM I suppose you could well say that. Maybe he was pushing it a bit. I was delighted, of course.”

The Mail reports:

BBC spends £500k to ask 33,000 Asians 5,000 miles from UK what they think of climate change: Corporation savaged for ‘astonishing’ campaign survey on global warming

The BBC has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money asking 33,000 people in Asian countries how climate change is affecting them.

The £519,000 campaigning survey by little-known BBC Media Action is designed to persuade the world to adopt more hard-line policies to combat global warming.

It was immediately condemned yesterday as a flagrant abuse of the Corporation’s rules on impartiality and ‘a spectacular waste of money’ by a top academic expert.

BBC Media Action used to be called the BBC World Service Trust…..it is designed to train journalists and broadcasters in foreign countires how to effectivekly use the media to promote a particular message…in this case the cause and the message has been decided by the BBC itself…global warming and how it must be reacted to.

Here is the blurb from the old World Service Trust that shows how they use the Media, including inserting subliminal messages into drama and other non-documentary programming, to get across a message in order to change attitudes and perceptions and then behaviour…all very Big Brother:

BBC World Service Trust(where the BBC does not think you are looking…so they print the truth):

• ‘Media’ matters because it underpins how societies respond to the problems they face. This makes media not only relevant to the most urgent problems of poverty and marginalisation – it makes it critical to solutions designed to address them.
• It matters too because it is a critical part of strategies to [alter and control behaviour.]
• The media, and increasingly new technologies, is increasingly how humans communicate with each other.
• How well we communicate with each other has a good deal to do with how successful we’re likely to be in confronting the massive problems we face (and the masses.)

Making informed choices

• Media enables people to access information on issues that shape their lives, without which they cannot make choices.
• Media enables people to hold their governments to account and provides a critical check on government corruption
• Media and communication enables people and communities to understand, debate and reach decisions on the issues that confront them

Media and communication can be immense and powerful instruments for change and empowerment in society

• Media can be an important part of the solution to development challenges. But they can also be a part of the problem
• Media can be used as instruments of oppression, manipulation and hate
• Truth can be distorted as well as illuminated, malpractice hidden as well as revealed.
• The character of a country’s media tends to determine the character of a country’s democracy and society. It underpins how people learn, understand and shape change.

Engaging at high levels to gain influence:

• Our initiatives and corresponding audience research seek to engage at four different ‘levels’:
• The sector level with policy and decision-makers
• The organisation level with state, commercial and not-for-profit entities
• The practitioner level with professionals and opinion leaders; and
• The individual level with various target audiences

Facts
75-250 million people across Africa will face water shortages
Crop yields may increase by 20% in East and Southeast Asia, but decrease by up to 30% in Central and South Asia
Agriculture fed by rainfall could drop by 50% in some parts of Africa
20-30% of all plant and animal species will be at increased risk of extinction
Glaciers and snow cover will decline, reducing water availability in countries supplied by melt water
Africa is likely to be the continent most vulnerable to climate change.

Our approach
It is essential that people in developing countries receive accurate information about climate change and other environmental changes such as deforestation, soil erosion and pollution

In India, we worked in partnership with national and international NGOs to mobilise public opinion around the environment by improving the media’s coverage of the environmental issues, and helping environmental activists communicate their messages more effectively
In the Eastern Caribbean, we worked in partnership with media professionals, local authorities, and national and international NGOs to build public awareness of climate change and the need for national and regional environmental policies

Journalists learned how to better connect with their audiences by explaining the impact of these key environmental issues on their lives.
Senior editors also worked with international specialists to develop strategies for moving environmental issues up the news agenda.

The workshops covered:

• How corporate interests and party politics shape environmental news coverage
• The ethics of journalism – including objectivity and reporting a plurality of views
• Finding and authenticating sources

• The process of designing a mass media programme or campaign begins with a ‘messaging workshop’, where the results of formative research are analysed to produce a ‘messaging brief’. The brief describes which messages need to be communicated to achieve key behaviour change.

• Identify formats

• The next step is to find out which formats – drama, discussion programmes, public service announcements – can be most effectively used to deliver information and stimulate discussion.

Drama can be a powerful mechanism for development. It can build an emotional connection with target audiences over a period of time, while modelling situations or behaviours.

Viewers or listeners become attached to characters and share in their experiences, sometimes discussing them with people around them, reflecting on their situations and actions and how they might respond if it were them.
Reinforcing the message
In building a campaign we generally use a range of formats, because they cross-promote one another and reinforce messages. Additional materials – such as posters and comics – may also be used to echo the messages and stories conveyed by other media outputs.

This is from BBC Media Action…all a bit ironic, all that talk of ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘holding power to account’,  when the BBC itself closes down debate in the UK and does huge damage to the democratic political processes of this country:

Does Peter Oborne not think the BBC is ethical, an organisation without a proper, working moral framework?  Does he think it needs such a firm grip at the tiller that Seb Coe couldn’t cope?

Lord Coe failed to instil a culture of honesty at Fifa. Why would he do better at the BBC?

This concerns Lord Coe’s record as head of Fifa’s Ethics Committee in 2007. Allegations of Fifa corruption were swirling around even then. BBC Panorama sought to question Lord Coe as to what the ethics committee, which he chaired, was doing about it. He refused to answer or even detail his responsibilities. I urge anybody wishing to assess the suitability of Lord Coe as Chairman of the BBC Trust to watch him avoiding questions about Fifa’s corruption scandal when Panorama’s Andrew Jennings door-stepped him.

Had Coe had adopted a more transparent and forceful approach as chair of the ethics committee, Fifa might not be in the mess it is in now. He clearly failed to instill a culture of honesty at Fifa, as the sordid tale of bribery associated with the later Qatari World Cup bid shows.

As the chairman of the BBC Trust, one of Lord Coe’s central obligations would be to set a moral framework at the BBC. His record at Fifa suggests that this would be beyond him.

The BBC were all too keen to report the words of a couple of Polish politicians when they were insulting Cameron….the BBC is not so keen to report our very own, home grown ‘LibDem Friends of Palestine’s’ little homage to Ed Miliband (via Harry’s Place):

Lib Dem Friends of Palestine promote Atzmon

Even though Gilad Atzmon’s vile views have been widely condemned by anti-racists, including many pro-Palestinian activists, Lib Dem Friends of Palestine have promoted his racist attack on Ed Miliband’s speech to the LFI on their Facebook page.

As the Brits were expressing their disapproval of ‘Red Ed’ and his clumsy politics, the Labour leader found the time to socialise with the Jewish Lobby. The following is Ed Miliband’s speech to LFI (Labour Friends Of Israel), the same Zionist Lobby group that funded Blair’s government as it drove Britain into a criminal war in Iraq.

In his speech, Ed Miliband affirms his deep Zionist affiliation. The verdict on his reign is clear, Miliband should never have been the leader of a major British political party. He would have been better suited for a position as a local Rabbi or a part time job as an Israeli consular.

Britain doesn’t need a ‘Friend of Israel’ in Number 10 Downing Street. It needs friend of the British people, an ally of truth and justice and not a Zionist merchant. It needs a humanist and a universalist, instead of an imbecilic tribal operator who sees the world from a kosher perspective driven by the primacy of Jewish suffering.

The following speech serves to convince every proud Brit that the time is ripe to cleanse British public life of Zionists and Jerusalemites. Britain needs to search for its path back to Athens, ethics and the universal so that it can reminds itself its greatness and its role in Western civilization.

 

 

If that had been said about a Muslim leader of a political party the BBC would have been all over the story.

Ever wondered why your complaints to the BBC about their coverage of climate change and immigration go nowhere?

Bishop Hill could have the answer to one of those…and the BBC register of interests the other.

Here Bishop Hill brings us a leak, via the Guardian, of the result of a complaint to the BBC about Lord Lawson being ‘allowed’ to speak on the BBC  (Transcript of interview)

New BBC policy: right is wrong, wrong is right

Reviewing the broadcast, the BBC’s head of editorial complaints, Fraser Steel, took a dim view. “Lord Lawson’s views are not supported by the evidence from computer modelling and scientific research,” Steel says, “and I don’t believe this was made sufficiently clear to the audience …

So probably not much good complaining about the lack of contrasting views about the ‘science’ to Fraser Steel:

• Fraser has overall responsibility for the BBC’s Editorial Complaints Unit, which investigates complaints about serious breaches of editorial standards where the complainant is not satisfied with previous replies from the BBC, or where a complaint has been taken up by the external regulator Ofcom.
• He is required to investigate impartially and independently. His findings are subject to appeal to the BBC Trust, but cannot be overruled by the BBC Executive.

Well worth his £90,000 remuneration.

Though he seems to think he’s not busy enough and has taken a second job…….

UK Immigration Services has over 15 years experience offering legal advice on UK immigration rules including assistance with UK citizenship applications.

• We are members of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants(JCWI) who campaign for justice in immigration and asylum law.
• Easy to find, 10 minutes from Heathrow Airport and 45 minutes from Central London.

How on earth can someone working for the BBC, especially as the head of the complaints department, many of which will be about the BBC’s immigration coverage, and also working for an immigration advisory and campaign group, be considered by any stretch of the imagination, impartial?

Apart from the fact that his decision on climate change is clearly ill-informed about the ‘science’ and therefore his judgement questionable, he clearly has a vested interest in keeping immigrants ‘flocking’ here and using the services of his company.

Here you go, a brand new Open Thread ready to see us off into the wide blue yonder of the weekend. Here is where you can share the BIAS from the State Broadcaster.

Paxman has jumped ship and fired off a torpedo as he did so.

Newsnight is ‘made by 13-year-olds’, says Jeremy Paxman

The former host says his Conservative leanings made him a lone voice on the show as the younger producers wanted to change the world