Author Archives: Ed Thomas

General BBC-related comment thread!

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Toa Kitu Kidogo + Icon Management ( BBC PrObamaganda roundup)

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For those non-Swahilli speakers who visit this site (there must be at least a few), the first part of the title above means “give a little something”- and is a common expression in Kenya, used in particular when a policeman wants a little bribe. Well, I should imagine the inhabitants of Kisumu, West Kenya, could be using the expression once the One has won as is clearly the wont of the BBC. We’re had the centenarian nun, voting messiah; now comes the airport request. Oh, and meanwhile, while the Obama-Kenya story is filed in Africa (as though the BBC normally concern themselves with regional African airport proposals), back in their “election coverage” we find out the effects a One victory would have on dancers in Harlem.

The incessant drip, drip, drip of PrObamaganda continues with the BBC showcasingthe One to illustrate his (purportedly) self-deprecating humour, as he refuted suggestions that he was born in a manger by saying he was actually born on Krypton. It was excerpted from a slightly stilted, acceptably witty speech Obama gave to a charity dinner audience on Thursday, which McCain also addressed- only McCain actually got the lion’s share of the laughs (he was frankly quite unleashed and hilarious- recommended viewing). Yet the BBC offered us a three minute segment of Obama’s speech which loads automatically when the frontpage-featured link is clicked. McCain’s very funny speech was freighted with uproarious stuff, yet is reduced by the BBC to two very short segments. In total, Obama gets 5 minutes plus direct frontpage access. McCain gets 2 minutes, split into two parts, hidden below the One’s contribution. The ratio 5:2 with frontpage versus fourth-page treatment seems about right as a summary of the BBC’s partiality for Obama over McCain.

You can see the whole McCain speech here. Obama’s is here.

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General BBC-related comment thread!

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102 Comments

Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. This is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely.

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I have an idea

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let’s play “guess the blanked out email addresses” (click image to enlarge). Guido has the details of how the BBC are planning a rerun of their 1997 celebrations, US-style. Don’t forget how the BBC enjoyed that occasion, as documented in our right-hand column: “ the corridors of Broadcasting House were strewn with empty champagne bottles.” Unforgettable- and just look at how well it’s all turned out. Can hardly wait for The One.


(thanks to those in the comments eg. G. Cooper and George R who have already highlighted this story)

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General BBC-related comment thread!

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298 Comments

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Memo to Justin Webb

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Point one: in your comment about the Right’s remarkable anger against Obama (highlighted by David here) you clearly show you are, as they say, “in the tank” for Obama. It’s easily demonstrable as your accusation precisely reflects what avowedly right-wing journalists like Michelle Malkin say is “another false narrative: The narrative of the McCain “mob” ” that is being developed by the liberal-left media. Your narrative now, Justin. If balance lies in being in the middle of the opposing poles- you aren’t there.

Point two: in case you think you can justify your claims of one-sided partisan anger, there is plentiful evidence available of Leftist hate- look at Malkin’s site here, and at the above thankfully blurred photo of disgraceful hateful activism. What’s spite and anger if that isn’t?

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General BBC-related comment thread!

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80 Comments

Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. This is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely

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MardyMarr’s casual smear

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It was so noticeable in his interview today with the Conservative leader how much less friendly Andy Marr is to David Cameron than he is with Gordon Brown.

At 19.30 in the Cameron interview here Marr starts from nowhere by asking DC if he agrees that mass immigration has done something terrible to Britain. If it were a Labour man Marr was interviewing, he would gently quote the source before accepting serenely the response that it was an attempt to make a wider point.

Well, what happens when he interviews a Conservative? A misquote, hauled from nowhere, planted in hostile fashion following another attack on Cameron’s “broken society” theme. The misquote was the standard one: immigration confused with multiculturalism. But what followed was more telling still. When Cameron leapt lightly up and quoted the source (Dominic Grieve, Shadow Home Secretary in the Observer) and explained it thoroughly, the sour Marr culminated in the bitter throwaway line that Grieve “talks about the long-term inhabitants of Britain, by which he presumably means white people”.

Cameron had no chance to reply to that particular smear and the conversation cross-examination moved on. Yet why did the BBC journalist feel free to put words in the mouth of the Opposition?

Standard BBC smear in what was evidently a premeditated atmosphere of hostility.

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Leaping to delusions

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The BBC did itself proud today heaping praise on Gordon Brown. Online Reeta Chakrabarti was leading the way with this incredible pile of Brown-boosting. Notwithstanding the fact that she highlights the cheesiness of the conference speech occasion and its artificiality (not that she adequately describes how set up the whole edifice was), she squarely falls into the trap of simply praising Gordon.

Look at the segue in the following:


“he pushed all the right buttons – personal about how the NHS had saved his sight – political with some crowd-pleasing Tory-bashing.


‘Pro-market’


Serious about the economy – and substantial when talking about the Labour agenda.”

We go from the standard language of “button-pushing” to the stupid cheerleading of Gordon’s supposed qualities.

What about the observation that this year there was no no more boom and bust? What about the absence of the usual crowing about his own long-term management of the economy?

Instead Gordon was boasting that he was the man for the crisis. There’s no downside to Gordon’s rhetoric, is there? Just what kind of dupes do the BBC have to be to fall for this so completely and without reserve? The only reserve they can muster is that this speech might not be enough for public opinion. But then the public are mad, aren’t they (when they oppose Labour)? It’s child’s play to score a hit against Gordon, but the BBC’s kid gloves were tailor-made for protecting such a moron.

One final point: it is true that other media also reported Gordon’s speech as a good one. But they (eg. Sky) made clear that it was good from the partisan point of view. And they (eg. Sky) do not habitually acquiece to the Government’s own notions of its competence. The BBC is uniquely funded and uniquely wedded to the delusions from which Gordon drinks so deeply.

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General BBC-related comment thread!

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65 Comments

Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. This is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely.

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