Author Archives: David Vance

Could the deck of cards be crumbling?

The BBC’s director of news, Helen Boaden, and her deputy have “stepped aside” pending the outcome of an internal review. The move by Ms Boaden and Steve Mitchell comes after director general George Entwistle quit on Saturday. The BBC said it was not commenting yet, but there will be an announcement within hours.

Time to axe the institutional bias and time for a REAL debate on it. It is curious how the BBC studiously ignores the MOST vocal critics at this time….

The BBC has been to the fore of the “Anti Bonus and Anti Pay off” Jihad.  But it is do as I say, not do as I do.

“The decision to pay a year’s salary to ex-BBC director general George Entwistle, who quit after eight weeks, has been criticised by senior MPs. John Whittingdale, Tory chairman of the commons culture committee, said he wanted to know why the BBC Trust thinks the £450,000 payout is “appropriate”.”

I thought Entwistle voluntarily stepped down so the basis for this pay off seems dubious but I suppose when it is OUR money they are splashing on their sacrificial lamb that is OK?

Well, BBC D-G George Entwistle has resigned. But the question is rather larger – should the BBC now be AXED as a parasite bleeding off the public purse? One sacrificial lamb is not sufficient.

“The BBC’s director general, George Entwistle, has resigned in the wake of the Newsnight child abuse broadcast. In a statement given outside New Broadcasting House, Mr Entwistle said: “I have decided that the honourable thing to do is to step down.” Earlier, Mr Entwistle said the Newsnight report, which wrongly implicated ex-senior Tory Lord McAlpine should never have been broadcast.The broadcast covered cases of child abuse at north Wales care homes. Mr Entwistle took up the post of director general on 17 September.”

Pity Chris Patten did not also resign.

Think we need this one…

I caught a rather interesting debate on BBC Today @ 7.50am this morning concerning that BBC favourite, Windfarms!

 “This week one of the world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturers announced it was cutting 3,000 jobs around the world. Chairman of the UK’s independent Committee on Climate Change Lord Deben and Dr John Constable, Chairman of the Renewable Energy Foundation, discuss the matter.”

If you get a chance, give it a listen and contrast the treatment afforded to Dr Constable to that given to Lord Deben. (The former John Selwyn Gummer, natch). Gummer gets to insert his eco-alarmism at several points without interruption or challenge whereas Constable is clearly attacked for DARING to suggest that we should NOT be subsidising these whirling grotesqueries.

Interesting article here on the BBC and how it has handled Savile and now McAlpine.

Worse still, just as this scandal began to die down, Newsnight has embroiled itself in a sexual abuse scandal.

Last week the show ran a segment that featured allegations that a well-known Conservative British politician had been a part of notorious pedophile network that operated in Wales in the 1970s. The segment didn’t name the politician — apparently out of legal fears — but the name of the suspect soon spread online.

On the surface of it, it looked like Newsnight’s attempt to remind the British public that they were the most important TV news show in the UK — and unafraid to ask serious questions about the British establishment. However, the show set off a storm of speculation that even British Prime Minister David Cameron had to admit verged on a “witch hunt”.

The scandal gained another dimension today when The Guardian announced that the man many had assumed was at the heart of the scandal — former Margaret Thatcher aide Lord (Alistair) McAlpine — was innocent of these and had been the victim of mistaken identity.

Lord McAlpine, who now lives in Italy, has apparently had throngs of reporters outside his villa for weeks, and has been forced to leave his home because of the media frenzy. He has now issued a lengthy statement that goes into some detail in its denial of the accusations, and his lawyer has told the BBC that they are considering legal action against the BBC as well as a number of Twitter users who had named him.

The man who accused McAlpine has now apologized for inferring the Lord was involved, and conceded it was a case of mistaken identity.

For the BBC, and Newsnight in particular, this was a big chance at redemption. And, rightly or wrongly, it looks like the show was rushed. It really appears that the BBC blew it.

A Biased BBC reader notes;

“Besides the BBC’s usual practice of making Israel always look bad, it is interesting to note how when there is a news story that inescapably shows Israel in an absolutely positive light, the BBC does its best to not report it. The recent Melcom building collapse in Ghana resulting Israel’s quick dispatch of an expert rescue team is a good example.

Here is what the Ghanans themselves say in praising Israel’s efforts:
http://www.allghananews.com/general-news/6568-president-congratulates-israeli-government-for-rescue-mission

The BBC’s story totally ignores Israel’s heroic efforts, which had earned the praise of Ghana’s President. There is only one reference to an Israeli rescue team being present, but you’d have to look very hard to find it, buried deep within the article directly under the heading, ‘Bad concrete mix’:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20250494

Here we go, on time and in good order…detail the bias you see here please!

Interesting piece here concerning Katty Kay;

“The umbrella organization of British Jewry criticized the BBC’s correspondent in Washington for referring to the “Jewish lobby” in a tweet about the U.S. election.

Katty Kay used the term in a question-and-answer session on Twitter, raising the ire of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Kay was asked by a tweeter late last month why U.S presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney became defensive when their commitment to Israel was questioned. She replied, “US sees #Israel as key ally in MidEast but no one running for Pres wants to alienate the power and money of the Jewish lobby.”

Board of Deputies head Jon Benjamin told the British newspaper The Jewish Chronicle that the reporter’s “loose use of language really has to be seen in a context where support for America’s key ally in the Middle East is cynically questioned — and the motives of Israel’s supporters are seen as suspect.” A BBC spokesman told the newspaper that Kay’s “primary point in responding was that the U.S. regards Israel as a key ally in the Middle East and also recognizes the importance and influence of this relationship on the voting.”

Katty Kay has been the subject of several posts here, all pointing to her unrestrained bias. I am sure she may WELL have problems with the “Jewish lobby”