Author Archives: Ed Thomas

True Colours

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Andrew McCann has written of his attempts to put his views across to the Beeb over Sweenygate. I am referring, of course, to the bullying, hectoring behaviour (caution, highly entertaining stuff) of the BBC’s fearless sleuth, John Sweeney, as he ventured into the deep hidden danger facing us all from Tom Cruise’s religion, Scientology. McCann’s words are well worth reading. Summary account of the incident here.

He points out the BBC’s complacent reliance on the freedoms accorded them in the US and UK. He demonstrates what true objectivity might mean- the fearlessly equal treatment of all on an equal basis. His analogy was the most obvious one going- between the BBC’s treatment of Scientology and its treatment of Islam- but the point is a deep one.

Talking of his approach to the BBC’s phone-in minders he says:


“I posed a rhetorical question as to whether Sweeney would have lost his temper if treated in the same way by Muslims outside the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. In other words, would Sweeney have behaved that way had it not been for his own prejudices and the environment in which he found himself?”

Indeed. PS. I notice that Sweeney has done investigations in Saudi Arabia, but one does indeed wonder if he treated the Saudis as imbeciles as he did so, or whether it was their religion he was interested in targeting.

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Two hand grenades; big news on the veils

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The BBC seem to have hit a new low in Somalia with this report.

The two grenades going off which I mentioned in the heading seem to offer a figleaf of an excuse for reporting this incident, but the real focus of the article seems to be the outrageof Government troops opposing sharia apparel, namely the veil or niqab.

The real focus is here:

“The BBC’s Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says women were fearful of leaving their homes wearing veils on Wednesday morning.”

I think that to non-totalitarian understanding of the world, not tolerating the niqab in all circumstances may be a sign of many things- security concerns or concerns about social cohesion. Whereas the enforcement of the niqab (common in much of radical Islam) indicates one thing only: totalitarianism.

In this new world of BBC “balance”, however, an overtly political and intimidatory symbol should be allowed supposed equality in the news, along with the extremism and male supremacism which goes with it.

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Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:

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“UK poll results hope for Labour”

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Say I just want the news. Just say. What do I get from this headline that’s been sitting on BBC world news website all night, and remains at the time of this posting?

I’m not going to regale you with the various forms that the BBC article on the local elections has taken through the night. After a long period of doing Labour’s damage limitation exercise for them (…not as bad as expected, holding up against the “Toriess” and the “Plaid”…) it’s taken a shape of more realism. But honestly, at no point was there not the situation that both Labour and the Lib Dems were losing numerically, while the Conservative Party were winning consistently. How we read the results is one thing. To turn them back to front a negation of the news.

Update 5.45 GMT

There’s a remarkable slant now to the BBC’s coverage. The main report now has as its first paragraph this:


“Tony Blair has insisted Labour has a “good springboard” to win the next general election, despite suffering big losses in Scotland, England and Wales.”

When the results show this:

“CON 839 4843 37 155

LAB -460 1736 -8 31

LD -246 1973 -5 22

OTH -129 1039 0 5

NOC – – -24 80″

Something amiss in the BBC’s intro (and headline, still)? Well, how about a wee mention for the only party listed in positive figures, whose figures are very positive? Why the focus on lame duck Blair? (clearing the decks for Gordon, perhaps, using the available scapegoat).

The first mention of the Conservatives is also unbelievably offhand and almost oblique:

“Mr Blair said the predicted “rout” had not happened, but Tory David Cameron called their results “stunning”.”

So, not even dignified by the term “leader”.

This has all the hallmarks of a mourning newsroom.

And that’s not bias, is it now?

Meanwhile, Iain Dale (and friends) reacts to the Beeb’s bias.

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What they cover, and why

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When the US lower House votes on a military funding deadline (a long acknowledged and anticipated event), the BBC has no need, and I would argue, no right, to make that its headline. Yet it does.

It is internal US politicking, and given the primacy of both President and Congress, of little moment.

Meanwhile, to the right on the BBC front page is a totally pointless video entitled “Dubya Dances”. Notwithstanding the inappropriateness of using Bush’s ill-intentioned nickname, it’s simply a clip of Bush dancing at an African anti-malarial meeting. Not only does this have no purpose save to make Bush look ridiculous excerpted from context, it also demeans the seriousness of his program to help Africa with malaria (which, I should add, they do cover, in routine fashion), and would no doubt irritate many US conservatives at a time when the lefty politicians are rooting for US defeat in Iraq.

It tallies quite well with the BBC’s general desire to caricature Bush though, after the fashion of the BushHitler posterthey gave such pride of place to.

Ps. I wonder where they get their “Dubya dancing” fancies from? Not things like this, I hope?

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Weather to notice or not

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Yes, it’s Easter. Happy Easter to those in the “Christian world”!

It’s been a great weekend for climate change at the Beeb. Good Friday saw headline after headline drawn from the pre-release of one of the IPCC’s four reports expected this year. Now the main pre-report report is lurking both under Science and Nature and also under the Americas section, for some reason, although the IPCC met in, guess where? Brussels.

April 4th saw them see fit to report Scotland basking in warmth ahead of this Easter weekend; as if to show that weather stories arestories, even if they can’t boast any records.

Then we have, currently, a report from Mexicodetailing the drying up of a lake there. This begins with citing that well-known source of water disappearance, God, as one possible explanation, and then posits the alternative – man-made global warming. Yeah, that’s balance. The same source who cited God as the main culprit, a Ms Ortega Torres, also claims a dramatic reduction in rainfall and blames this on anthropomorphic global warming:

“Ms Ortega Torres has no doubts why the lake has shrunk so much.

“It’s because of climate change,” she says. “This area used to get around 300 days of rain a year. Now we are lucky to see 100 to 150 days. So the lake cannot be replenished.”

 
Faith abounding, apparently.

Because lost in the rest of the text, concealed as a contributing factor, is the massive increase in Mexico’s population and the demand that has placed on agricultural production and water consumption.

Worth investigating, I’d have thought- especially the source and specifics of the rainfall claim. I’d have thought that’s what editorial meetings are for.

But no, probably they’re for deciding not to cover record-breaking cold weather across much of the United States. And when I say record-breaking, I mean, RECORD BREAKING. That is to say, daytime historic lows in cities like Atlanta (1886), Augusta (1981), and Charlotte (1961). And it’s also pretty chilly in Nashville (hat-tip, Insta).

Bad timing, Auntie. High time to manage the news. I notice that the unwisely opened Have Your Say is dominated by MMGW sceptics, like this chap from Lithuania who comments:

“I dont like BBC as it provides us information about global warming. It provides us all arguments for, however, almost all arguments against are kept quiet.”

Indeed, Mr Kinselis, indeed.

[nb. all the above is not an argument against global warming per se, but against the dramatic claims made for MMGW. Evidence that record low temperatures are possible in this carbon benighted world needs to be carefully recorded and studied, and noted by both public and politicians worldwide. How are the BBC helping that along, I wonder?]

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Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:

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The Whole Story?

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Just another report from the Beeb.

“Globorix will only be used in Africa to prevent meningitis at prices that may never cover its research costs.

Experts say it is a sign big companies are changing their business practices, but some critics say it is not enough.”

Ah, those “experts” again. And how “business practises” are a’changing.

Later in the article we find how “Teaming up with people like Bill Gates means vaccines for malaria, TB and eventually Aids may follow.”

Right, Auntie, so is it “changing business practises” , or is it actually CHARITY by another name?

And, whatever the case, it wouldn’t only be business which needed to up the morals- read through this Guardian article about drugs being resold on the black market and you will find that, after all the Guardian’s attempts to pin the problem on Europe, AFRICAN corruption plays a major role in the lack of requisite drugs for Africa’s peoples.

The BBC’s simplistic assumptions massively limit the informational value of its journalism.

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I saw no purpose in carrying on

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“when it became clear that the presenter was interested only in the opinion of his two Euro-phile guests, and had brought me along as a sort of pantomime Euro-phobe, I saw no purpose in carrying on.”

Indeed the BBC can sap the will to carry on. Daniel Hannan persevered, and got results. Read all about it.

The conclusion he draws is that the BBC is unwittingly biased, and amenable when challenged. I’m not convinced this is more than partly true, but certainly one can get results from standing up and being counted.

(hat tip to Iain Dale)

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Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:

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