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I enjoyed this from Today’s very own Evan Davies;

Evan Davis ‏ @EvanHD

I wonder if aspirin can help protect people against the effects of the Chancellor?

Thought I would put this up for you. Labour have managed to win 39% of the 31% who bothered to vote and the champagne is flowing in Broadcasting House. My observation of BBC coverage relates to the Conservatives. It has been busy all morning setting up the poor saps that follow Cameron into declaring they will definitely not swing to the right, but rather stick to those essential Tory values of….gay marriage, lords reform, punitive taxation. I heard Hague on Today, he was pretty appalling but jumped through the hoops placed there for him.

Had to laugh at this;

“Always suspected Stephanie Flanders doesn’t know what day it is…and here’s the proof from Guido on a Wednesday:

http://order-order.com/2012/05/03/flandering-about/?tw_p=twt

Stephanie Flanders ‏ @BBCStephanie

Just tried to vote. My polling station, in Hammersmith, had closed two hours early. Has anyone else had same problem?

Stephanie Flanders ‏ @BBCStephanie

My democratic outrage is now in abeyance. Apparently all stations closed because, er, today isn’t Thursday. Clearly I need an early night.

Tonight Question Time comes from Question Time from London for the second week in a row – presumably because the BBC chickened out of the promised Mayoral Special last week.

On the panel: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith MP,
Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Hatemen MP, former leader of the Liberal
Democrats Sir Walter “Ming” Campbell MP, leader of the PCS union and semi-detached nutter Mark Serwotka and the businessman and panelist on Dragons’ Den Theo Paphitis

Your Moderators line-up consists of David Vance, David Mosque, TheEye and John Ward.

At 11:35pm (UK time) the BBC’s election coverage will begin so we will probably keep the chat window open for a while longer to watch the early biased punditry.

Well then, hasn’t Louise Mensch gone and irritated the BBC? How very dare she suggest that the blessed Tom Watson has jumped the gun and compromised the very essence of the Parliamentary Committee system by insisting that Rupert Murdoch is “unfit to run a major news organisation”. Leaving aside the irony of a bunch of MP’S who have run little more than  a bath judging the incredibly commercially successful Murdoch, the BBC wasn’t going to take this lightly. There was a hilarious item on Today at 7.50am. They brought on Tony Wright, (Labour) Chair of the Public Administration Committee, and Paul Farrelly (Labour) member for the DCMS Committee. Farrelly was brought on to counter Mensch’s allegation that the issue of Murdoch’s competency to run a financial institution had NOT been discussed before Monday of this week. After some weaseling, he stated that she was indeed wrong and that the issue HAD been discussed. So, in essence he was calling her a liar. BBC mission accomplished. Wright was more measured but stated he shared the same view on Murdoch as Farrelly and Watson, so natch! Clearly this was a stitch up job and the only thing that gave me a laugh was after this little bit of character assassination on Mensch and Murdoch., the BBC had to report that BSky reported record profits. That said, it is clear the BBC is determined to decouple Murdoch from control of BskyB in order to ruthlessly reinforce it’s monopolistic position over broadcast media in the UK.

A reader rightly asks why is Anders Behring Breivik anything to do with the death of a Norwegian Swimming Champion?  It seems entirely irrelevant but there it is – 5 sentences into this sad story of the death of a young Norwegian swimmer. Could it be that the BBC wants to reinforce and remind us as regards its’ narrative of right-wing views being threatening and associated with this gunman? What do the actions of a clinically-insane, steroid-abusing mad-man have anything to do with this?

As you know, the BBC meme is that the economy can only recover if we bring back Labour, despite the fact it wrecked the economy in the first place; Biased BBC contributor Alan notes..

“Last Wednesday the latest GDP figures were released revealing we were in recession again.

During the morning before the figures were released the BBC had been telling us that all the experts and business organisations were expecting some minor good news….but the BBC hurriedly brushed that aside and went on in every report to then paint a doomsday scenario ‘what if’ the figures were negative?.

The figures were then released and the floodgates opened at the BBC. However not all went to plan when they opened the phone lines. Just about every caller suggested they were doing OK, some said business was booming….and most recognised that far from only ‘just’ going into recession we have actually been in recession since at least 2008.

The BBC then found to their delight a fellow doom monger by the name of Raymond Moan (really) a building supplies businessman from Northern Ireland. Mr Moan was used on every news broadcast from then on with the BBC ignoring all the ‘good news’ merchants.

Damien Lewis on HIGNFY ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01gxn3w/Have_I_Got_News_for_You_Series_43_Episode_3/ ) 14 mins in or so…. pointed out this…. ‘The BBC weren’t trying to influence our feelings at all either way when they interviewed a NI businessman Raymond Moan who said ‘If this goes on we will all be on our knees’.

What the BBC news didn’t bother to keep reporting was another construction company…Sporn Construction in Bicester, who said (on Vic Derbyshire    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01gjy6t    44 mins in) they were doing so well that they were expanding…and taking on 30% more staff….look on their website and there are some jobs there for builders now.

Incredible how the BBC just manipulate the news…they lie to us….in order to damage the present government and no doubt try to help Labour out in the coming local elections.”

The BBC’s Razia Iqbal visits Katar, the official cultural village of Doha, and talks to members of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, many of whom have been imported from Europe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01gng58
The BBC’s reverse cultural imperialism is slapped down in this programme about the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.

Razia Iqbal has been in the country two days but she has made up her mind about the evils of ‘Westernisation’ being imposed upon Qatar. She meets some young, educated Qataris and suggests ‘importing’ Western culture such as orchestras will dilute what it is to be Qatari……they tell her ‘no, we have opportunities now beyond our wildest dreams in education and business and in daily life.’

Iqbal gives up on them and asks the Emir of Qatar’s daughter, Sheikha Mayassa Al-Thani, if she is just buying a culture. Mayassa replies that Iqbal should back up her questions with some facts.

Iqbal again suggests that Qatar is importing Western values and there is a danger of diluting Qatari culture….and she has concerns about the future ‘informed by the potential for problems created by importing another culture….and does Qatar not need Democracy?’

Mayassa stamps on her hard saying ‘you are too negative, you are looking for problems, you are scared of change…..and isn’t it odd that you oppose the importing of culture but suggest the import of western political systems like democracy?’

Yes, odd all right. Clearly the Qataris should all be living in tents, herding camels or whatever their ancestral lives used to be before oil was discovered…by Western Imperial cultures.

Curious how the BBC thinks it is terrible for Qatari culture to be ‘polluted’ and diluted by Western culture…and indeed Iqbal admits to concerns about the problems of such change…. but in Britain we are force fed multiculturalism and are duty bound to celebrate diversity.

The BBC land in Qatar for two days and are horrified that the locals are celebrating Coca Cola, cars and consumerism.  I’m not sure but I think any Qatari would rather have a Coca Cola salesman riding into town than a miserable preacher  carrying a BBC microphone.

I know I shouldn’t but I DO watch Nicky Campbell’s “The Big Questions”. Do you? It’s a grim programme but bang on all BBC memes. This morning saw Peter Hitchens being howled down because he spoke up in favour of capital punishment, meanwhile Islamophobia was detected in those who object to Halal meat. It’s truly grotesque in the bias.

This is a serious blog but as a light-hearted interlude, some brilliant bits of the 1956 edition of ‘The BBC Field Producers’ Handbook’ and the chapter called ‘Getting the best from your correspondent‘

On arrival, you may shake a correspondent’s hand. But never address him by his Christian name. Over-familiarity makes for poor broadcasting

“If your correspondent stumbles or is hesitant on air, offer him some brandy from your ration. This is what it is for. It will aid fluency”.

“Field work may mean an overnight stay. Never use the correspondent’s hotel without his permission. There will be a boarding house nearby”

BBC correspondents are important figures. But sometimes forgetful. Always carry a spare shaving brush for his use. He will thank you for it.

“The Field Engineer will not have benefitted from your education. Use patience, but do not neglect a direct order to get the best from him.”

“On occasion you may be asked to work with a female correspondent. Only those who have completed the Advanced Field Certificate may do so.”

“Other than radio spares the Field Producer ought to carry: binoculars, shoelaces, a chocolate bar, a ball of string and a 10 Franc note”

Do not be afraid if your correspondent wishes to talk to you on a train journey. These topics may help. Literature, The Countryside, Cricket.

“Topics that your correspondent will NOT wish to hear of. Your Health, your Ambitions, your Family, Association Football.”

“In the Home Counties, ask permission before running broadcast cables across homeowners’ property. Elsewhere, this may not be necessary.”

Some of the specifics may have changed over the years but it seems the general attitude of presenters hasn’t…