‘The BBC deals a blow to investigative journalism’

The BBC criticises the Telegraph for allegedly shaping its editorial to suit HSBC when HSBC were unhappy with the Telegraph’s reporting about it….similarly the BBC is unhappy about the Telegraph exposing the BBC’s own failings and bias in its journalism and rather than accept that criticism the BBC set out to attack the Telegraph using its own news platform as a weapon….are they any different in effect to HSBC in their reaction to criticism, or any different to the Telegraph in compromising their journalism to suit their own interests?

The Telegraph’s latest look at the BBC’s politically corrupt broadcasting…Anti-Labour bias at the BBC? What a fiction!

 

From the Telegraph in 2012:

The BBC deals a blow to investigative journalism

 

This newspaper cares passionately about maintaining the highest standards of journalism. We believe that journalism, when practised properly, protects the public from abuses of power by exposing those who are guilty of dishonesty, corruption or injustice. Journalism that harms the innocent – by telling lies or spreading falsehoods about them, or by unjustifiably invading their privacy – does the exact opposite of what good journalism aims to achieve.

Good journalism is in peril in Britain today. The cloud of suspicion, condemnation and mistrust that is starting to engulf the BBC will increase the public’s growing distrust of what journalists do. Newsnight’s claim that a leading figure in the Conservative Party participated in the abuse of children at a care home in North Wales has been retracted, generating an appropriately grovelling apology. But it is too late for an apology to do much to diminish the damage done to the BBC’s reputation for accuracy.

Newsnight apparently lost faith in its own journalists, for it used a freelance organisation, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which is attached to London’s City University and funded by David Potter, a former Labour donor, to provide much of the story. Even then, Newsnight hedged its bets: it did not broadcast the name of the individual it wanted to “expose” as a paedophile, leaving it to users of social media sites such as Twitter to name him.

The BBC’s journalists broke the most elementary rules of journalism.

That fundamental failure to follow basic journalistic standards is what has led so many people to question whether the BBC can be trusted. Investigative journalism is a serious business. It can take months of work and cost a great deal of money. It requires adherence to the highest standards. Newsnight’s spectacular fall from grace raises the question: how can we be sure that standards are not compromised elsewhere within the BBC? Where does the rot stop? Has it been stopped? Can it be?

It would be terrible if, in a few years’ time, Britain has a regulatory environment that prevents a free press from investigating and publishing the truth about the abuse of power by our rulers, but allows innocent people to be smeared as paedophiles on social networking sites or, in effect, via the BBC. Unless we are very careful, that is where we are likely to end up.

 

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14 Responses to ‘The BBC deals a blow to investigative journalism’

  1. dave s says:

    The BBC to be taken seriously? You are joking. Overt and self censorship rules and before the usual suspects start to moan – why was the March on Sunday not reported?
    We know why and so do they..

       20 likes

  2. George R says:

    Latest example of Beeboids’ perpetually biased political broadcasting agenda, today, Mardell on Radio 4, ‘World at One’ has yet another propaganda piece on its open-door advocacy for illegal immigrants from Syria, smuggling themselves into Britain via Calais (Beeboids’ wrongly described ‘migrants’) .
    Opposition to Beeboid unlimited mass immgration campaigning is censored out.

       24 likes

  3. LostOverThere says:

    Very interesting piece in this week’s Private Eye (page 14) regarding the fallout from the Savile scandal. Basically, the whistle-blowers (Panorma journalists, etc) have mostly been hounded out of the beeb, yet the ones who aided the cover-up are still enjoying a healthy career path

    It’s been a long, long time since they had genuine investigative journalism, as opposed to merely reporting press releases as fact

       23 likes

    • Manonclaphamomnibus says:

      Take comfort though that the BBC haven’t given much time to the alleged establishment murders and paedophiles. For that you have to read Exaro.

         1 likes

      • The Beebinator says:

        probably because as the BBC is part of the establisment, its got something to hide

           6 likes

        • Manonclaphamomnibus says:

          It’s being a bit meek at the moment since the Tories have held back the licence review until after the election.Cant think why!

             0 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Is there an Exaroisntbaised blog? Less constrained than public sector media monopolies?

        Maybe if there was you could spend quality time there?

        What the BBC doesn’t give much time to does of course crop up. In fact, a fair bit.

        On the topic you allude to, the problem appears to be proof (a point made by Andrew Neil recently to a twitter poster complementing your further attempts here), not that the BBC has a history of being too concerned if the target is juicy enough. But BIJ/Newsnight did singe a few fingers.

           3 likes

        • I Can See Clearly Now says:

          the problem appears to be proof

          Indeed. Pretty liberal use of ‘alleged’ without much thought. Still; I’m sure if The Man On The Clapham Omnibus wants to make the allegations in public often enough, they will be considered public knowledge and the Beeb can get stuck in. Sally Bercow could advise him on the best way to get going.

             1 likes

  4. Richard Pinder says:

    The BBC told Mensa members that it had no scientific investigative journalists.

    The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is publishing its report on the Future of the BBC on Thursday at one minute past midnight.
    A copy will be sent out to the Daily Telegraph for arrival on Thursday morning. Other interested parties should request copies from the Committee at: cmscom@parliament.uk and the report will be available on the Committee’s website at the time of publication.
    If the Committee fails to publish everything sent to it, and the Daily Telegraph wants more information about complaints by Mensa members about the BBC’s censorship policy for climate science, scientists and scientific debate, then I would send such information by email gladly to the Daily Telegraph for its war with the Liberal Fascists at the BBC.

    If the article on page 14 of Private Eye is a guide, then any Scientific Investigative Journalists at the BBC would have been sacked years ago for doing Investigative Journalism. No doubt the BBC would have been advised by the very charlatans being investigated, to sack such people.

       3 likes

  5. George R says:

    Beeboids ‘report’ according to their political biases.

    For example, BBC-NUJ supports Qatar and Islamic Al Jazeera, against Egypt
    ( with walk-outs in work-time).

    So why should we accept today’s BBC biased report online for Qatar vis-a-vis Egypt?

       2 likes