Author Archives: David Vance

NO GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN AVAILABLE..

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Nice illustration of how the BBC selects interviewees with an eye towards shaping the story to the BBC’s narrative……

‘BBC seeks angry right-winger to come on show…
She didn’t quite put it like that, but the BBC researcher who phoned me this morning basically wanted to know if I would be prepared to go on air to angrily denounce the Big Society – while preferably making rude noises about the government.
“What” she inquired “did I think about David Cameron’s ideas for the Big Society?”
I told her I was in favour. The bigger civic society, the better. After decades of politicians trying to get the state to run everything, I added, trying to get non state players involved was a refreshing change.
“Oh” she replied, sounding a tad disappointed.
Perhaps in the minds of those who make such programmes, the Big Society has become a kind of shorthand for what is nice and cuddly and modern about the Conservatives.
What better, then, than to find an outspoken Tory backbencher to say how much they are against it. Two lazy stereotypes confirmed in one go, eh.
It simply did not seem to have occured to her that a libertarian, small-state MP might be in favour of less government. Much easier to think of outspoken Tory backbenchers as being opposed to nice and cuddly and modern things ….
It could have been worse. Several months ago, I had a BBC researcher call me up hoping to get me to speak out against proposals for direct democracy.
Outspoken backbench Tory? Must be against more democracy and change, obviously.’

Now, by way of balance and because I believe in trying to be fair, in my OWN experience, the BBC does try to present contrasting views. I have been regularly approached to express a counter-balancing “right of liberal” set of views and respect the BBC for that. The only time I get irritated is when the HOST of a given debate clearly weighs in on one side, so unbalancing the debate. This is usually from the left perspective. Hard to generalise because, for example, I was on BBC Hereford recently and the host only interviewed me and if anything was very  sympathetic to my opinion on the recent tanker drivers strike. It seems the bias is more concentrated in some areas than others. Carswell flags up a more disturbing situation where the clear aim was to bring on a Government critic from within the Government.

TALKING TERROR

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Wonder what you make of this?

A LEGAL battle by the BBC to interview a terror suspect has cost the taxpayer about £100,000 and angered public-spending campaigners. Babar Ahmad, 38, was shown yesterday in prison being questioned by the corporation’s journalists over his fight against extradition to the US. The Ministry of Justice originally rejected an application to interview the British Muslim, who has been detained for nearly eight years. But a High Court judge ruled in favour of the BBC after their lawyers argued the matter was of significant public interest.

RICH KIDS…

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Biased BBC favourite Roger Harrabin has been missing in action for a while now from the BBC airwaves. However the ever resourceful folks at Biased BBC have tracked him down and Alan has the goods.  Enjoy..

“What has he been up to? Well it seems he has been having a very nice time on an all expenses paid (not by the BBC) ‘Fellowship’…..

‘Roger Harrabin is taking unpaid leave on a Knight Wallace Media Fellowship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/ariel/15937222

He is being well paid by the Fellowship….’U.S. fellows receive $70,000 – distributed as $8,750 monthly – from September through April. Stipend details vary for international fellows and are worked out on an individual basis. All tuition and course fees at the University of Michigan are paid for by the fellowship. Spouses and partners are invited to partake in university courses as well.

In addition, all fellowship trips – domestic and international – are covered. Health insurance is provided to fellows and their families, if their employer does not contribute to their insurance coverage.’

Source Link: http://www.fundsforngos.org/fellowships-2/university-michigans-knightwallace-fellowship-20122013-lifetime-opportunity-kinds-midcareer-journalists-academic-prerequisites-world/#ixzz1rFowfBQz

…all of which might lead to some amusement as to his study subject:

 ‘Roger Harrabin, environmental analyst, BBC (London); Scarcity: How many rich people can the Earth take?’

It’s the rich what are causing Global Warming with all their blooming consumption! Get rid of them! He is not the only BBC journalist to have taken this ‘life changing’ opportunity….and many of their subjects are also what you might expect. Maurice Walsh stands out for his perceptive view that the BBC aided the IRA…..’their key victory was in mobilizing public opinion in Britain and the rest of the world.’

‘Maurice Walsh, World Service news editor, BBC, London.

Irish War of Independence.

“The News from Ireland” by Maurice Walsh ’02 has been released in paperback. The Anglo-Irish war of 1919-1921 was a historical landmark: The first successful revolution against British rule and the beginning of the end of the British Empire. However, the Irish revolutionaries did not win their struggle on the battlefield – their key victory was in mobilizing public opinion in Britain and the rest of the world. In his book, Walsh recounts the work of British and American correspondents in Ireland and offers a persuasive assessment of the revolution’s place in world history as well as the role of the press and journalism in the conflict.’

For interest I list the others from over the last decade:

http://www.mjfellows.org/fellows/

Sarah Robbins, senior producer, BBC World News America; The Economy of Brazil.

John Walton, senior broadcast journalist, BBC (London); Data-Driven Journalism and its Uses in Interactive Storytelling.

Roger Sawyer, deputy editor, BBC Radio (London): Reporting science in an accurate, but inclusive and comprehensible manner.

John Cary, editor, “Drive,” BBC Radio 5 Live.

How children are educated – Does a teacher’s gender make a difference?

Joanna Mills, assistant editor, BBC World Service News.

How is the way crime is covered in the media impacting society?

Patricia Whitehorne, senior broadcaster, BBC.

On-Line Social Network Sites.

Charles Partridge, managing editor, BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

What does “Local” Mean in Today’s On-Line World?

Hilary Bowden, duty editor, BBC.

User Generated Content.

Richard Lister, reporter, BBC.

Should the EU Adopt the US Constitution?

Stephen Titherington, editor, BBC World Service News (London, England).

How Science is Covered.

Alicia McCarthy, senior broadcast journalist, BBC (London).

The impact of terrorism on media, politics and people.

Pam O’Toole, reporter, BBC (London).

Migration and asylum.

Andrew Whitehead, editor, BBC (London), “The World Today”.

Origins of the Kashmir crisis in 1947.

Joanne Episcopo, arts producer, BBC (London, England).

Spanish history and Basque culture.

David Edmonds, Current Affairs editor, BBC, London.

German History/Film Studies.

Caroline Finnigan, producer/bureau manager, Havana, BBC News.

Origins of investigative and campaigning journalism in the US and Britain.

Every year the Knight Wallace Fellowship publishes the work of these journalists in its archive…..this years of course is not out….it might be interesting to come back to this at the end of the year and see what Harrabin has produced:

KWF Journal Archives

http://www.mjfellows.org/news/journal_archives.html

 

OPEN THREAD….

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Well folks, it is just over a week since the new site went “live” and I have to say that I am very pleased with it so far. There is always a stress that accompanies such change and of course one expects teething problems. Traffic levels are great, I am finding this much easier to navigate that on the old blogger site. Hope you also like it.

There are two quick points that I want to make; Firstly, I notice some new names commenting which is great and a big hello and warm welcome to you. A few older names don’t seem to have made it here yet but I do hope they will migrate. Second, can I ask fellow writers to please send their brief bio to ASE so we have a comprehensive authors page?

And apart from that, the floor is yours….! I declare this open thread…OPEN! Enjoy.

ALWAYS THE SUN…

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If there is one faith the BBC does follow, it is that of AGW. Biased BBC contributor Alan comments… “BBC getting very excited:

‘CO2 ‘drove end to last ice age’
A new, detailed record of past climate change provides compelling evidence that the last ice age was ended by a rise in temperature driven by an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. The finding is based on a very broad range of data, including even the shells of ancient tiny ocean animals.’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17611404

However the Nature article the BBC quote also trumpets the headline:

‘Global warming preceded by increasing carbon dioxide concentrations during the last deglaciation’

but look at this in the small print:

‘The role and relative importance of CO2 in producing these climate changes remains unclear, however, in part because the ice-core deuterium record reflects local rather than global temperature.’
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v484/n7392/full/nature10915.html

But what drove the temperature change and release of CO2? Hidden way down the BBC report we find out it was the change in Earth orbit and the increase in power of the Suns rays. So global warming was in fact driven by the sun.

CO2 may have added to it….and we know that global warming preceded CO2 release by up to 800 years as even Phil Jones from the CRU admits….but the initiator was solar power.

Looks like BBC and Nature still pulling wool over our eyes.

RACISM AT THE MET!

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Good Friday arrives and the BBC Today gets stuck into one of its favourite themes – “institutional racism at the Met.”  Naturally the assumption pursued is that those officers accused of racism are guilty and by way of balance we have Dr Richard Stone, who was a member of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry and who has penned an open letter to the Met Police chief commissioner, calling on him to show leadership and suggesting that that is what has been missing all along and Superintendent Leroy Logan, the founder and past chair of the Black Police Federation. Again, the clear message is guilty as charged. I guess they could not find the chair of the White Police Federation…hang on, that doesn’t exist because if it did it would be racist.  But when it’s the Black Police Federation…

Like all sensible people, I find racism abhorrent, but what’s worse is the enthusiasm from some quarters, including the BBC, to somehow characterise white officers in the Met as “institutionally racist.” In itself this seems, well, racist!

AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES

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Biased BBC’s Alan notes;

“The Church has always been astonishingly wealthy with vast resources from its taxes upon the people and income from its large estates, more than enough to build the fabulous architectural triumphs of the Cathedrals. It might therefore be something of a moral dilemma for someone like Giles Fraser, the once Dean of St Paul’s, and BBC favorite, to lecture us on the sin of being rich.  After all he has jumped ship from his previous employ to join with the new, equally rich, Priesthood of the Liberal Media.

I mention this merely because whilst watching (ironically enough) the BBC’s ‘How to build a cathedral’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00b09rb/How_to_Build_a_Cathedral/) they quoted St Bernard of Clairvaux.

Not only does St B. inform us that concerns over the merits of financial wealth as opposed to spiritual riches were of major concern many centuries ago but that the Church is certainly not immune from criticism.

‘The church is resplendent in her walls and wanting in her poor. She dresses her stones in gold and lets her sons go naked. The eyes of the rich are fed at the expense of the indigent. The curious find something to amuse them and the needy find nothing to sustain them.’

The BBC et al have the bit between their teeth at present about wealth and inequality as if it was a new dilemma…..was it Andrew Marr who told us the Victorians were in a more equal society than we are now? You must be kidding….Dickens anyone? Nothing like a stunning, wilful blindness to reality when you have a point to make.

I link to St Bernard’s quote because I’m pretty fed up with sanctimonious rubbish about the ‘new’ inequality and super rich in society and it’s also just a brilliant piece of scathing vilification that no well paid Guardian columnist could ever aspire to…..intellectually nor artistically.

Bernard was the chief spokesman for Cistercian values. Monastic life was to be austere and disciplined. Food, buildings and even worship were to be kept simple. Monasteries were to be built away from population centres, thus shielding the brothers from distraction and excessive contributions.

BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX: APOLOGY

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/bernard1.asp
‘I say nothing of the enormous height, extravagant length and unnecessary width of the churches, of their costly polishings and curious paintings which catch the worshipper’s eye and dry up his devotion, things which seem to me in some sense a revival of ancient Jewish rites. Let these things pass, let us say they are all to the honor of God.

Nevertheless, just as the pagan poet Persius inquired of his fellow pagans, so I as a monk ask my fellow monks: “Tell me, oh pontiffs,” he said, “what is gold doing in the sanctuary?” I say (following his meaning rather than his metre): “Tell me, poor men, if you really are poor what is gold doing in the sanctuary?”

We know that the bishops, debtors to both the wise and unwise, use material beauty to arouse the devotion of a carnal people because they cannot do so by spiritual means.

I shall speak plainly: Isn’t greed, a form of idolatry, responsible for all this? Aren’t we seeking contributions rather than spiritual profit?

The church is resplendent in her walls and wanting in her poor. She dresses her stones in gold and lets her sons go naked. The eyes of the rich are fed at the expense of the indigent. The curious find something to amuse them and the needy find nothing to sustain them.”

Good Lord! If we aren’t embarrassed by the silliness of it all, shouldn’t we at least be disgusted by the expense

HALF THE NEWS…

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Excellent catch send my way!

Here is a BBC news story (last paragraph), reporting the “Palestinian man” who was shot dead near the Gaza security fence: Here is the same story by Israel National News:

Note that the BBC’s sanitised & sketchy version makes absolutely no mention of the fact that the “Palestinian man” who was shot also happened to be carrying a Kalachnikov assault rifle. (Maybe he was just going shopping?) This vital fact, missing from the BBC’s account, would strongly indicate that the “Palestinian man” was a terrorist, rather than some hapless Palestinian civilian who accidentally wandered too close to the fence.  This omission by the BBC (by neglect or design?) would have their readership conclude wrongly that again those evil Israelis killed another innocent Palestinian civilian…

It doesn’t end there. If you read the BBC report again, you have to get NINE PARAGRAPHS in before it is made clear that Israel that facilitated the fuel for Hamastan. Yes, I know the second para has the curious formulation “tankers of Israeli diesel” but why not just plainly state upfront that ISRAEL has sent fuel to keep the lights on in Gaza? Might that deflect from the endless narrative about those bad Jews and the poor Palestinians? Just for laughs, here’s the sort of video you will NEVER see on the BBC.

HEALTH ATTACK…

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It’s been a busy morning attacking the Conservative led Coalition on the BBC Today programme. The focus of attack, of course, is always on the Conservative element of that Coalition.

We were treated to Ed Balls whingeing about changes to welfare which come into effect with the new tax year today. Balls was allowed to bluster and he stuck to his script paying little regard to the gentle questions asked of him. In fairness, Lib-Dem Danny Alexander was permitted to make some replies although James Naughtie seemed determined to leave the impression that the tax and welfare changes can be made without affecting anyone. This is from the Balls school of economics and it is one that the BBC seem at ease with.

However this was merely the warm up act for the main attack of the day. In essence, how dare the Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley order spot checks on Abortion clinics? The BBC brought on a Lib Dem (Can’t remember his name) just before 7am to have a ritual sneer at Lansley and this was promptly followed by Andy Burnham joining in the feeding frenzy. The argument pursued was based on the claim by the chair of the Quality Care Commission, Dame Jo Williams, that the request to audit these abortion clinics has cost “one million” pounds (Is that an extra £1m and if so, why?) and may impact of the QCC hitting annual targets. Do you think that Dame Jo might herself be carrying a little political baggage? The reason I ask is that I note the Guardian raises a few concerns about her…

The inference is that Lansley ordered a comprehensive check on mis-practice by Doctors in these abortion clinics to deflect bad headlines he was getting on the NHS Health bill. Burnham agreed that it was suspicious. The fact that 50 out of 300 clinics were found to be breaking procedures was deemed neither here nor there. To other eyes this would be seen as an utter scandal. Not to the BBC.

Then we moved on to a THIRD and prime time interview with some manager from the NHS I think (running order has not been put up at time of me writing, despite the world class technical resources they have at the BBC). This time, Detective Sarah Montague remorselessly pursued the line that the TIMING of the Abortion Clinic inspections was…interesting. She was an echo chamber for what Burnham had said earlier.

Today had one aim this morning – to spear the Conservative Andrew Lansley because he ordered a thorough audit of Abortion Clinics. To my mind, this was the BBC using the guise of the Dame’s report to smear the integrity of Lansley and by extension, the Conservatives. Plus ca change?

BRITAIN OR THE THIRD WORLD?

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This BBC item has been brought to my attention.

Sessions to encourage men to help stop female genital mutilation (FGM) will be held in Bristol, it is hoped. Campaign group Daughters of Eve has started hosting workshops for men in London after gaining funding from the Staples Trust in December.

Wonder who these “men” might be? Any thoughts? The world class BBC journalists don’t seem to know….