During the war there were so many American aircraft based on British soil that Britain was often referred to as America’s aircraft carrier. The BBC seems to think that just like an aircraft carrier we can up anchor and sail away from Europe, presumably to somewhere nice and sunny. Nigel Farage thinks the BBC’s strange concept of the British Isles is a plot to jerrymander the EU referendum….
BBC accused of ‘dishonesty’ and bias over EU referendum coverage
The BBC has been accused of “dishonesty” in its reporting of the EU referendum for using the word “Europe” in place of “European Union”.
In a letter to the corporation’s top bosses Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader and Leave.EU campaign backer, called on the broadcaster to stop using “Europe” as shorthand in discussions about the referendum, because it benefits the In campaign.
Private polling suggests that the phrase European Union is toxic to voters, the Telegraph understands, making it beneficial for pro-EU campaigners to use Europe instead of EU.
Mr Farage also cited an email from pro-EU campaigner Laura Sandys in which she called on supporters to “always talk about Europe rather than EU”.
In a letter delivered to the BBC Trust and Ofcom Mr Farage wrote: “In recent weeks and months it has become normal for many correspondents to use ‘Europe’ as shorthand for ‘the European Union’.
Speaking after the launch of the In campaign he said; “They [the pro-EU camp] know that the issue is the European Union, not Europe.
“Who could have a complaint with a continent? A land mass? But they also know that if they are honest, they will be defending the indefensible. So they start their campaign with an untruth.”
Arron Banks, founder of the group, said: “The question that the Electoral Commission has recommended in the forthcoming referendum is ‘Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?’ Therefore we believe ALL reporting by the British media should reflect that.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We report impartially using language that makes sense to our audience within the context of the story we’re covering and it would be wrong to suggest that this shows any pro or anti EU bias.”
Strange that the spokesman is from the BBC. Nigel sent his letter to the Trust and OFCOM.
If the spokesman is from the Trust then it is pretty damn quick to rule on something like this.
Didn’t someone say that complaint about the referendum needed to be taken seriosly?
Not so strange that this ‘spokesman’ on a critical issue remains anonymous.
So it could be anyone, even ((c) A. Newsroom Tealady).
Such BBC responses are therefore… worthless.
Odd all other media seem prepared to go along with this. Other organisations are rarely permitted such a vague measure of accountability unchallenged.
It would be interesting to see which of their transparency opacity tools they would deploy to ensure such information remains their little secret.
It should be Glenn and sooner than 2017- talking of impartiality, we had a Muslim woman speaking this morning on ‘Thought for the day’ -so cross I switched her off. Political governance being shoved down our throats.
Strangely the whole ‘language that makes sense to our audience’ get out clause never seems to apply when it’s time to find words to describe people who blow up crowded buses or decapitate hostages.
Either that, or ‘our audience’ turns out to describe a *very* specific subset of the country.
Spot on DJ.
Pakistani rapists are known as ‘men’ in BBC land.
My disdain for the monster grows by the minute.
So the BBC uses language that makes sense to it’s audience.. that isn’t of course a patronizing statement in any way!
I understand both the use of the word ‘Europe’ as a piece of landmass and the ‘EU’ as an organization, does that make me a super intellectually gifted genius in the eyes of the BBC then?