When he died, the BBC paid fulsome tribute to him. Why even living saint Tony Benn declared him “one of the finest men I have ever met.” I refer to Trades Union baron Jack Jones. Then, a week ago, the BBC informed us that “he was briefly considered by the Soviet KGB as one of their agents, according to an official history of MI5.” Panic not, dear reader, because ” … Continue reading
I was delighted to hear two items on radio 4 this morning in which neither Israel nor Jews were shown in a bad light. 1. Israel has the moral high ground in this unusual report by Christian Fraser, and on Today R4 0.42.23 (too early for Listen Again.) The antisemitism of Egyptian intellectuals who are virulently opposed to any normalisation of cultural relations with Israel has prevented little if any … Continue reading
Well, Question Time is back this evening and there is an interesting panel of pundits in the form of Yvette Cooper, George Osborne, Sarah Teather, Sir Stuart Rose and Ian Hislop for us to discuss. I imagine the boot will be put into Osborne so I trust he is well prepared. Hope you can join the liveblog at 10.35pm!QUESTION TIME LIVE Click through to read and contribute comments on this … Continue reading
Stephen Fry is never off the BBC, much favoured luvvie and yet he has come out with some comments that if made by others would see them labelled as hate-mongers and banned from the BBC. However it all depends on who the targets of such offensive comments are, of course; Stephen Fry has delivered an insulting attack on Catholics and Poles which grotesquely misrepresents historical fact and which, if levelled … Continue reading
I can tell you’re all itching to know the latest on F-Bombgate, so here it is: The Five Live sports news sabotage case, in which a Saturday morning pre-recorded interview with Wigan manager Roberto Martinez had an obscene blooper out-take inserted, has reached the level of the BBC Director General Mark Thompson.Thompson has ordered all unused studios at Television Centre to be locked as part of his investigation and the … Continue reading
…I too had a go on Paxman’s blog. Similar result: (Click on image for larger version) Related: Stuffing Paxo Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.
Those who yearn for impartiality in BBC reporting can never close our minds to any side of a debate in our quest for fairness. For many years the bias has been pretty much one-way traffic – because it is inbred, it has become woven like fine silk through the cloth of reporting. So let us consider a contrary view. Enter Stage Left Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary and soon to be ex-MP. On Twitter this … Continue reading
Jeremy Paxman famously asked the then Tory Home Secretary Michael Howard the same question 12 times on Newsnight. Former Newsnight editor Peter Horrocks chose it as his favourite moment when the programme celebrated its 25 anniversary, and the clip is available on the Newsnight website (unlike many other people’s favourite – the outing of Peter Mandelson by Matthew Parris, which the BBC refuses to rebroadcast). On Monday Boris Johnson asked … Continue reading
Has anyone been watching the BBC1 drama Criminal Justice (running every night this week)? Critics are mostly raving about it, because the cast – led by the marvellous Maxine Peake – are first rate. There’s no doubt, too, that ex-barrister Peter Moffat, the writer, has considerable story-telling skills. But one aspect of it stinks to high heaven. As in almost every BBC drama that I can think of (apart, perhaps, … Continue reading
So, Evan Davies trots along to the first Conservative Gay Pride bash in Manchester last night where blogger Iain Dale was compere. (There was also a Conservative Muslim Forum apparently but no report on it.) What gets me is that the context of the debate the BBC sets is always about how progressive one is about advancing the status of Gay Rights. Why should private individuals sexual preferences get ANY … Continue reading
