If you hoped he’d seek truth and spread a little enlightenment you’d be disappointed, if you believed in his integrity you’d be disillusioned, if you thought he’d bring balance and the judgement of Solomon using wisdom gleaned through decades of mingling with Kings and commoners you’d be disabused of that soon enough.
It is an unfortunate fact that Jonathan Dimbleby is as corrupt, as deceitful, as stupid, as intolerant, as prejudiced, as the rest of us may, or may not, be.
He talks grandly and urgently of freedom of speech, of troubling times, of voices silenced, of living in the darkest of times, he talks of intimidation and bullying, of the threat to British values, of witch-hunts and hate speech. But it’s all a front, a fraud. His moral grandstanding, his pious babbling is all a lie. All this talk of values, of liberty, of freedom of speech is merely a vehicle to deliver his real message, one of course close to his heart and wallet, about the ‘threat’ to the BBC due its charter renewal and the dark forces that seek to detroy it. This isn’t about freedom of speech and liberty and British values, it’s a tawdry exercise in propping up the BBC’s privileged, entrenched and powerfully dominant position in the media world.
Dimbleby knows the BBC is under threat because…
News Corp and its ilk have a vested financial interest in reducing the BBC’s scope and influence in the hope that the edifice will tumble, leaving a gaping hole in the market for them to fill. They and their cronies in Westminster care not a jot for balance or fairness, but are doing their best to shape the outcome of the negotiations over the renewal of the BBC’s charter – effectively its licence to broadcast.
Oh yes, the old enemy…Murdoch and those ‘cronies in Westminster’…by that he means the ruling Tory government, just elected with a decent majority (against all the predictions of the BBC so-called political experts!) whilst of course Dimbleby has never been elected to his position from whence on high he lectures us all…..a Dimbleby dynasty, handed down from father to son(s)…so much for democracy and all that.
Dimbleby suggests that the power of the BBC is a good thing, a vital thing, when social media is an unregulated and yet powerfully influential player in politics and society now…
In this climate, public service broadcasting is arguably more important than ever but, ironically, under greater threat than ever.
The BBC has become the most influential public service broadcaster in the world. It sets a benchmark for all broadcasters – public and commercial. That is why you should be very worried about what is happening to it.
Now all that’s a bit odd really when you consider what the BBC gets up to…as just today Allison Pearson reports ….My Leftie hell on Radio 4’s Any Questions
She tells us that…
I soon realised with a sinking heart, however, that the audience in the school hall was outrageously biased.
How could it be, when almost all of Cambridgeshire and, indeed, East Anglia, is true blue that the Any Questions audience appeared to be composed mainly of Corbyn fans?
I do blame the BBC, which has to take some responsibility for broadcasting a current affairs programme which gives such an erroneous snapshot of the national mood.
After the recording, the show’s excellent host, Jonathan Dimbleby, sighed heavily and told me it was a constant problem.
He and the whole AQ team found it immensely frustrating that Tories simply did not show up on the night to add their voices. The producer said it would cost £5,000 a week to pay someone to assemble a politically balanced audience.
The BBC needs to take action so that its current affairs output better reflects the views of all of the people who pay its licence fee.
Oh the irony…a BBC programme run by Dimbleby that has an audience packed out with hard-left activists and Dimbleby has the cheek to say that the BBC is an essential bulwark against such manipulation of the media sphere by very vocal and aggressive groups. The fact is the BBC is the default goto organisation for anyone with a grievance against British society…be they Irish or Islamic terrorists or embittered left wingers who hate the nasty party or black race-baiters….you want a platform to air your grievance, however unjustified?, the BBC’s the place to go.
All the more ironic as Dimbleby says this..
In institutions across the western world, the “hecklers’’’ veto is growing in frequency and volume.
Remember this is a BBC that essentially banned Lord Lawson from the airwaves because he didn’t submit to the intimidation and bullying of the climate alarmist ‘consensus’, the BBC supinely crumbling after being bombarded with complaints from foam-flecked climate ‘hecklers’… a BBC that allowed itself to fall under the spell of climate activist Roger Harrabin and his mate Dr Joe Smith who effectively silenced climate change sceptics and drove them off the BBC airwaves. So much for freedom of speech and respecting the right to be heard.
Dimbleby goes on to build on his claims about the threat to the BBC…
Today its enemies are more powerful than ever. Some are ideological, some are commercial. The former are to be found at their most ferocious on the backbenches of the House of Commons. Then there are the enemies in the media, who are not so much driven by ideology as profit. Principal among these is News UK, owned by News Corp, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
He goes on to whinge that the culture secretary has dared to raise the question of BBC reform…
The culture secretary, John Whittingdale, produced a green paper (open to public comment) that made his agenda pretty clear. It asserted that today, “the BBC is just one voice among many” before going on to ask if the corporation has “become too big, and if so, should it be more focused?” This is what a lawyer might describe as a leading, and a loaded, question.
Dimbleby finishes on this note…as ‘western civilisation is imperilled’...
In this dysfunctional world, the BBC, like other public service broadcasters across Europe, has a vital role. It is a unique forum. It would be a tragedy if any government, wittingly or unwittingly, were so to tamper with the BBC as to turn it into merely “one voice among many”.
Oh, by the way, when he talks of ‘western civilisation being imperilled’ he doesn’t mean by millions of Muslim migrants, terrorism and the looney left but by the Tory government and its alleged attacks on the rule of law, freedom and democracy.
Interesting though that Dimbleby believes that the BBC should be the single most important media voice in Britain and not merely a ‘voice among many’.
Fascinating that, arrogant, imperial, just a touch fascist maybe. The BBC über alles. No wonder the BBC seems so in awe of Frau Merkel and her migrant miracle message.
I would imagine, well no, facts prove, that the BBC itself is one of the major threats to western civilisation, a civilisation that it seems to hate and seeks to undermine and malign at every opportunity. Dimbleby and his dishonest and self-serving tract illustrate perfectly the conceit, arrogance and delusions peddled by the BBC as it seeks to protect itself from scrutiny and accountability.
You have to ask how it is that a major BBC figure, one so very senior within its ranks, is allowed to pen such prejudiced and biased comments that attack not only commercial rivals who have to earn their pay and not have it handed to them on a plate, and also attack the government itself. If that does not breach just about every code on bias and impartiality I’m not sure what would.
£ 5.000 a week to get a balanced audience?
I bet they pay the carefully selected left wing programme hosts and unrepresentative commentators and interviewees a whole lot more than that each hour!
How about getting rid of 90% of the BBC News and current affairs placemats and replacing them with proper journalists and commentators with a more balanced view of world affairs, rather than just telling us their preferred side of any storey?
Not only would the BBC save loads of our money, it might restore the reputation and credibility of an organization I no longer trust, and, increasingly, do not bother watching or listen to.
Agreed , but what gets me is that this Tory Government allows it ?
Where is Essexman on this ?
One of your best posts Alan.
Dimbleby senior (Richard) was a great broadcaster and rarely showed his political allegiance (he tried to stand as a Liberal candidate).
His offspring are a disgrace.
I wonder if the Dimbleby clan would agree if the BBC was left untouched, but became a voice for only Conservatives and Climate realists.
Or how about a Christian as head of religious programming? How about if the BBC told us the truth about Islam, and its history of perpetual slaughter of Infidels.
Or how about the BBC owning up to hiding the scale of the systematic and brutal gang rapes of young White girls by Muslims of a Pakistani heritage.
Or a sceptic physicist ( i.e., genuine scientist), as head of science topics.
What I would like, is to leave the BBC untouched, but its Lefty staff replaced by Conservatives – i.e., by those who love the UK and its culture. Let the Lefty get a taste of its own medicine.
I’d like to see a rival service to the best bits of the BBC, eg, a radio station similar to R4, and a TV station similar to BBC4, but with a general right-of-centre editorial bias (which would be made clear). The problem is there probably aren’t enough right of centre people in the arts to run it/finance it. Fortunately, we do have quite a lot of online TV stations with right of centre content nowadays, perhaps we should be content with that.
Well worth a listen!
http://www.jongaunt.co.uk/tag/talk/
http://www.podcastchart.com/podcasts/jon-gaunt-provocative-controversial-and-funny-views-on-the-days-news-from-the-uk-s-top-talk-radio-host
‘The UK’s Top shock jock exiled from Mainstream radio and media, despite winning Three Sony Awards, is back with his unique uncensored take on the days news. Fed up of politically correct nonsense from the mainstream media, sick of lying Politicians and their Establishment mates? So is Gaunty and now he is giving both barrels to those who think they control us. Top guests from the world of showbiz. politics, TV and sport will join Jon but more importantly he wants your views and your attitude as he shakes up the cosy media and political establishment. Love him or loath him you certainly won’t be able to ignore him as he gives real meaning to the term Freedom of speech.’
No doubt the BBC would claim “commercial sensitivity”, but I would dearly love to know the audience numbers for both Question Time and Any Questions. I suspect a huge decline, because they more and more resemble the Roman arena with anyone having a non-pc view being fed to a mob. Either of the smug Dimblebys performing the part of Nero.
The Dimbleby clan are practically the monarchy when it comes to the BEEB, jobs for life.
I think the problem at the BBC is as much one of groupthink as it is of bias. On so many issues, immigration, Israel/Palestine, a general left of centre worldview etc., there is an absolute certainty that there is only one valid point of view. You can almost hear presenters like Naughtie on the Today programme checking themselves as they speak, to ensure that they are towing the party line. This groupthink feeds into everything, not just news reports and analysis but even drama and comedy – but worse than this is the proselytising, the need to force public opinion. Lying by omission, half-truths, obfuscation, all these are seen as legitimate means to this end.
Is it possible to break this kind of groupthink, or is in inevitable in any large corporation? No one cares, for example, that The Guardian is left wing, because that’s what you buy into when you pick up a copy, but the BBC is different. The BBC represents balance and impartiality. But of course it doesn’t. If it did I would be gladly pay my license fee.
It does seem as if it is getting worse, but I suspect it has always been like this. I believe I am right in thinking Orwell based much of the detail in 1984 on his time at the BBC.
The BBC in the old days was more Reithian – old fashioned liberal, but patriotic, with a quite strong sense of British values, particularly around the family, Protestantism, the idea of fair play and supporting the underdog. There was also a great deal of respect for British institutions such as the royal family, the Church of England, the public schools etc.
Where I think it changed was firstly in the 1960s, as part of the general cultural revolution occurring at the time. That I think is when the soft-left bias began to creep in. Then, after the fall of the Soviet Union, I suspect there was a sudden disorientation of the hard left, who were almost overnight deprived of their natural mental and spiritual home and means of support, and I suspect a lot of them began to look to institutions nearer to home such as the BBC to get involved in.
Good points. The hive recruits only like minded so it never sees that it is of one mind. This has been the position for many years and is now irreversible. Which is why I favour the ending of it’s taxpayer funded status. Once fully commercial it will be forced into a new mould and this will only have a beneficial effect on the rest of the media.
As much as I dislike the Dimbleby’s, imagine how much worse their replacements might be.
“This isn’t about freedom of speech and liberty and British values, it’s a tawdry exercise in propping up the BBC’s privileged, entrenched and powerfully dominant position in the media world.”
Which in turn leads to a real erosion in the freedom of speech and expression as the BBC seeks to exclude any voice, any opinion, which does not obey their political agenda and world view.
Recently, spooked by Corbyn’s win and the uncertainty of the direction in which he will take the labour party, the BBC has obviously decided to break cover, and instead of using reporting of the labour party as a front for the BBC’s own political machinations… The BBC is now overtly, blatantly and in-your-face directly pushing their own political will with a barage of unconcealed propaganda.
The BBC is NOT fit for purpose. Come on Cameron. Grow a pair and close the BBC down.
‘It would be a tragedy if any government, wittingly or unwittingly, were so to tamper with the BBC as to turn it into merely “one voice among many”‘.
It already is ‘one voice among many’ you silly old twit! Long may it continue to be, so we can get some semblance of balance and objectivity by comparing what the BBC says with what other media outlets say. Can’t he see that in a free society there has to be a free press with differing viewpoints, and a populace educated to understand how to discern between them?
The BBC seems to have this idea that somehow, it is on some higher plane of reality that is utterly impartial, a sort of ‘extra BBC nulla salus’ mindset where only they have access to the truth and everybody else has some biased view. Utterly sickening!
Alan’s disembowelment of this bore is first rate.
IT’s hard to imagine each of Dimbelby’s points have not been scripted from the propaganda dept.
It’s phase 2 after the luvvies letter was discovered to be an inside job.
What this man and his clan needs is a harsh lesson of commercial reality…………make his proramme one of the first wave available by subscription only………………you never know he might surprise us?
On the other hand he might have to collect his fee in a biscuit tin.