I found this interesting;
Helen “Impartiality” Boaden has beenawarded honorary doctorates by the University of East Anglia. Isn’t that where the CRU emails came from…isn’t that one of the BBCenvironmental journalist’s favourite source of information? Just why did the likes of Black and Harrabin and Fielding go to such lengths todefend Prof. Phil Jones at the UEA?
It must be true because scientists say so:
People with left wing views may have their political opinions controlled by a “liberal gene”
BBC US correspondent Katie Connolly is concerned:
Don’t worry Katie, we don’t need genetic tests to get to the essence of liberal bias at the BBC – we have Twitter.
In other news, the mythical BBC “impartiality gene” still eludes discovery.
DB’s post about the impartiality-busting tweets of left-wing BBC News Channel editor Rachel Kennedy, having first spread the message of BBC bias to Guido’s blog and to Melanie Phillips in the Spectator, now seems to have provoked a reaction from Helen Boaden.
Under the headline BBC Boss Tells Left-Wing News Staff “Stop Tweeting” Guido reports:
The Director of BBC News, Helen Boaden, has just sent out this chatty email
to all her staff today:Dear All,
We have had some occasions recently of BBC News staff using social networking sites to share with the world their somewhat controversial opinions on matters of public policy and the future of the BBC. Unsurprisingly, these have been picked up by the wider web and used to discredit the BBC and its impartiality. We have Editorial Guidelines which cover the personal use of the internet …which everyone should observe. We also have brains and judgement which I suggest people fully engage before rushing to communicate. Hx
(Guido , incidentally, has just tweeted Rachel:
Did you get Helen Boaden’s memo? @rachelkennedy84)
The Guardian speculates that an injudicious tweet from a BBC Breakfast reporter (Phil Lavelle) about the BBC’s funding of the Welsh-speaking channel S4C may well have provoked Ms Boaden’s action (probably “the future of the BBC” bit) though the the Guardian‘s Media Monkey seems to have missed the likeliest spark that lit the fuse – this website!
Helen Boaden is Director of BBC News and here she is telling us that “impartiality is in BBC genes.” In what universe is this lady living? She singles out the likes of Flanders and Easton, not forgetting Robinson, as models of professional impartiality. Is she mad or is she so removed from real feedback that she lives in her license-tax funded ivory tower? In a sense her bland arrogance confirms our suspicions,
