Author Archives: David Vance

BIAS IN LINKS

By | |
4 Comments

A Biased BBC reader draws this to our attention;

“I’ve noticed something for a long-time that is clear evidence of bias – and that really gets on my nerves, but easily slips one’s mind because it’s so incomparably insignificant compared to TV News output or Question Time (which I’m really quite looking forward to!)… 

Whenever one links a BBC Story (and this most often occurs on Facebook), then the head-line changes from what’s actually on the news-page you’re linking to, to a more conspicuously supported position of the BBC. For example, I’m working at X and predicted that European Share Markets would collapse and the ECB would run-out of money. My predictions were largely correct. Thus I wished to post the BBC link to the fact that Shares had plummeted as I predicted.

The original headline was “European Share Markets reverse Earlier Gains”, which is still inaccurate but to be honest, the best we can expect from the Beeb. However, when I posted the link on Facebook, it transformed to a different headline altogether, “European Share Markets open higher”… Now these headlines give two completely different impressions. The first headline implies that European Markets are declining. The other, making no mention of this, implies everything is fine with the ECB/European Bond-Markets and that, at a quick-glance, nothing is worth worrying about. 

I’ve found that it does this whenever I post an article from the BBC regarding the Middle-East Conflicts, the European Crisis, Terrorism and quite a few other topics. I also wish to draw your attention to perpetual re-writing within the BBC. The problem is that the BBC will say something – and when it turns-out not to be true – they merely delete it or alter the sentence so that when you look back upon it, you think you’ve been mistaken. I know of numerous examples where this happened (such as the Breivik story, amongst others)… Surely, the BBC shouldn’t put-out material that it wont stand-by in perpetuity. Surely, they must fact-check before putting out news-content? 

These insidious, internet-based tactics – sometimes to hide biases that have turned out not to stand-up to facts – and sometimes, to promote their view of a story to people glancing at a headline… are yet more evidence of the BBC not behaving by those rigorous journalistic standards that it uniquely will hold against NewsCorp, but not the Trinity and Mirror Group or, evidently, itself.”

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

A LETTER TO THE BBC…

By | |
11 Comments


A B-BBC reader writes;

“Simon Kelner, editor
in chief of the Independent, is not in the BBC but is of the BBC, someone with
a mindest firmly in line with the BBC….and it seems quite happy to defend the BBC against accusations that it might be abit on the Liberal side…..(and the
BBC were still calling the rioters and looters ‘protesters’ on Wednesday’ he
should note)….

Letter from Simon Kelner
Thursday, 11 August 2011
 
‘So now we know it’s serious.

Not only has Parliament been recalled from its summer recess, but BBC1 will
tonight broadcast a special edition of Question Time on the riots, the first
time the programme has had its own holiday break interrupted. What a relief!
Just when you were worried that an insufficient number of people had offered an
opinion on the disturbances, along come David Dimbleby and co to tell us what
they think.
……And add to that the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph castigating the
BBC (didn’t you just know it would be its fault!) for their general liberalism
and, in particular – on the first night of disorder – referring to rioters as
protesters. Each to their view and we can but wonder at how opinion splits on
party lines! I will offer only this thought on an aspect that seems to have
been forgotten, amid the rush to judgement. If the police hadn’t gunned down
someone who, it is now believed, did not shoot at them, none of this would have
happened and we could have gone on in blissful ignorance of the social and
economic divisions that blight Britain.’

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

TAXI?

By | |
6 Comments


It must be the unique way they are funded….

Chief operating officer Caroline Thomson, one of the corporation’s biggest cab users, claimed £2,814 on cars in a three-month period – £100 up on the previous quarter. The claims, for quarter four of the past financial year, were disclosed as the BBC said expenses claims were down overall on the previous year. It also pointed out the number of senior managers and the amount they are paid has been reduced. Ms Thomson – who receives a salary of £307,000 – had claimed £2,715.59 for the previous quarter. For the full financial year she ran up a total taxi bill of £10,381, the newly-disclosed expense claims show.

Because she is worth it?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

BBC BENT

By | |
27 Comments

(A guest contribution by Graeme Thompson, who posts as
‘hippiepooter’)

“Firstly, I’d like to say, that from what I have seen of BBC coverage of the riots (mainly BBC News24 and R5L) I would say that on the whole,
it has been good.  Especially ‘way to go’
to Sophie Raworth for describing this footage as “the
police up the ante”.
That said, when we go into prime time BBC Television News, BBC
News for mass public consumption, we see ‘BBC Bent’ –  BBC
News editorialising and ‘on message’ for the Labour Party.
I’m talking Allan Little and Nick Robinson here.  Robinson practising the black arts of media
bias with more subtlety, Little, a bare faced liar.
In Allan Little’s report for the main news 9.8.11 he claimed
that Mayor Johnson went walkabout and he was only met with angry residents. 
Bare faced lie.  I was watching BBC24
rolling coverage earlier in the day. 
Firstly, Mayor Johnson had addressed a group of residents, a number of
whom did subject him to hostile questioning, however, half an hour or so
afterwards, the BBC cut to him
approaching a large ‘broom squad’ while brandishing a broom himself.  He was greeted by them as a hero and cheered
to the rafters when making a speech.
Little’s voiceover of Johnson only being met by angry residents featured the footage of Boris
Johnson approaching the cheering, broom wielding residents (who were out of
view) but then cut to the footage of him facing the hostile questions that had
happened earlier.  BBC Bent.
Robinson was more insiduous. 
Watch his
report yesterday from 06:45mins (I don’t think it will be available on
iplayer tomorrow).  In my view he adopted
a sarcastic tone to the Prime Minister’s statements and contrasted how the
Prime Minister did not take to the streets of Birmingham (didn’t he?) but Ed
Miliband did to the streets of Manchester.  He featured a staged piece to BBC camera from the Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal
Opposition with a purple overalled ‘broom squad’ behind him (genuine citizen
inspired ‘sweep up’ initiatives did’nt see people issued with overalls).  Should the BBC
be collaborating with the Labour Party Leader to deliver stage managed pieces
to the British public as ‘News’ preceded by implicit sneering at his opponent?  Robinson is a party hack for Labour.
On Newsnight 09.08.11 (about 15mins in
or so) the appallingly sneering and, well, ‘completely up himself’ David
Grossman was in top BBC biased
form, with a suitable intro from the equally appalling Gavin Esler.  Amongst various Gramscian delights, Grossman managed
to refer sneeringly to Mayor Johnson being ‘the last to hit the tarmac’, and
featured clips of him and the Deputy Prime Minister getting a hard time from
members of the public.  Somehow, the
footage of Labour Leader Ed Miliband getting a hard time from members of the
public in Peckham that featured earlier on the BBC managed to elude him.
The response of the Metropolitan Police to the riots and to
a lesser extent other, ahem,‘Services’, has been so weak because they have been
emasculated by 30 years of Political Correctness.  The Gramscian BBC has played a pivotal role
in this emasculation.  We don’t need
another inquiry into the Police, what we need is an Inquiry into
Inquiries:  The Scarman Inquiry and most
especially the MacPherson Inquiry that came to the genuinely insane and
Communist conclusions that have led directly to the mayhem we have seen just
now.  A key part of any such inquiry
would be to examine the subversive propaganda war that led to the insanity of
the MacPherson Report and the key role that the BBC
played in that propaganda war.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

CUTS, CUTS, CUTS.

By | |
79 Comments

I listened in to the Today programme today and, as usual, it lived down to expectations. We had the uberliberal Church of England prelate Richard Chartres on to tell us about the “minority without hope“. Presumably their lack of access to Iphones and Plasma TV forces their hand into looting. Then we had Mark Easton philosophising here, note the references to “cuts”. Next up; Nick Clegg. Again the line that BBC pursues is the awful “Cuts” and a reference or two to Thatcher. In the BBC lexicon, Thatcher stands for greed. By contrast, Labour stands for “social inclusivity.” Naughtie was daring Clegg to agree with Cameron that there is a sickness in our society knowing the Clegg’s liberalism prevents him from doing so. Hugh Orde’s comments were then wheeled out to imply that it is impossible to implement any cuts in the bloated ranks of UK Policing. (Axing all public funds to ACPO would be a good start to save money) It is perfectly obvious that the BBC has reverted to type, accepts the “lack of yoof club provision” analysis of the likes of Chartres, and is now doing what it does best – undermining the Government.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

DAVID CAMERON VS HUGH ORDE

By | |
5 Comments


Nice hatchet job on Cameron by Nick Robinson on the 10 News. In essence, they ran Cameron talking the possibility at least of water cannon and plastic bullets and then instantly used the comments of the BBC candidate for Met Commissioner Sir Hugh Orde who flatly contradicted him. Orde has been weaseling away for some time from his ACPO perch, beloved by the State Broadcaster. Robinson also trotted out the “Don’t cut our resources” line that Orde espouses, backed up by Miliband and the opportunist Boris Johnson.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

BBC APOLOGIES TO MARCUS HOWE

By | |
27 Comments

Wonder what you make of this?
 

The BBC today apologised for a live interview on its news channel in which the veteran campaigner Darcus Howe was accused of taking part in riots. 

The writer and presenter was a guest during a discussion about the unrest on the streets of London when he was challenged by presenter Fiona Armstrong. The corporation apologised for any offence caused following complaints from viewers. During the interview yesterday, studio-based Armstrong said: ”You are not a stranger to riots yourself I understand, are you? You have taken part in them yourself.” But Howe, speaking from the aftermath of the disturbances in Croydon, responded: ”I have never taken part in a single riot. I’ve been part of demonstrations that ended up in a conflict. ”Stop accusing me of being a rioter and have some respect for an old West Indian Negro, because you wanted for me to get abusive. You just sound idiotic – have some respect.”

Great to see Marcus using the N word, bet that got BBC hearts a beating. I enjoyed this.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"PROTESTERS"?

By | |
Comments Off on "PROTESTERS"?
The Telegraph highlights the behaviour of the BBC during the London rioting and focuses on the Corporation’s use of the term “protesters” to describe the feral scum infesting our streets. 

“Two days after a peaceful protest over the death of suspected gangster Mark Duggan in Tottenham ended, the corporation was still using the term to describe violent looters. That was despite the fact that hundreds of youths, with no connection to events in Tottenham, had since run riot across the capital. 

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, and police have all condemned the youths as “criminals” whose behaviour is “utterly appalling”. Yet senior BBC presenters and reporters on the ground yesterday continued to describe those behind the violence as “protesters”. The move sparked a wave of anger from members of the public on Twitter. Duncan Barkes wrote on the micro-blogging website: “Hello BBC. They are not protesters, are they? Rioters better description. I mean, what’s the cause for the protest?”

More linguistic support for violence, plus ca change? I mean, they call terrorists “militants” so can we be that shocked that they see mass thuggery as protest?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

TYSON KNOCKS OUT HUMPHRYS

By | |
4 Comments

It’s a tricky moment for the BBC as the US stock market drops even lower than Obama’s approval ratings, so what to do to try and bolster their hero? How about inviting one of his advisers, Laura Tyson, on to Today for an inspirational interview with a simpering John Humphyrs? What amused me was that Humphyrs came across as more upbeat about the prospects for the US economy than even the Obama apologist, which tells you all you need to know about how the BBC views things. I believe it just cannot understand why S&P downgraded the US, and may indeed give it a further downgrade. Through the prism of Obama-worship, the only explanation must be the reckless Tea Party folks who insist on cutting the Debt in the same way as..erm..S&P recommend!

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.