LET THEM EAT CAVIAR.

Well now, at this time of looming economic recession, when the Great Leader himself is forced to admonish us proles to consumer rather less and reduce our wastage of food (Before tucking into his 8 course banquet at the G8 Meeting, natch!) how do those guardians of public broadcasting at the BBC respond to these tough times? Well, by awarding themselves 17% pay increases, that’s how! Mark Thompson, the Director-General, … Continue reading

General BBC-related comment thread!

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 … Continue reading

GLASGOW EAST – THE MISSING FACTS.

The BBC’s coverage of the Glasgow East by-election is curiously mute on the reasons as to why Labour MP David Marshall suddenly decided to stand down from office. We are told it was for “health reasons”. So when we read in the press that the Labour MP used almost £500,000 of taxpayers’ money over six years to help run an office from his home which was staffed by his wife … Continue reading

NEVER SAY VICTORY.

It’s great to read that American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror. After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in … Continue reading

Quotes, ‘present’ and absent

: several posts on this blog have remarked the BBC use of what some of my colleagues call ‘scare’ quotes to distinguish between left-wing experts and right-wing ‘experts’, right-wing terrorists and islamic ‘terrorists’ and so on (see examples here and here). An amusing story on BBC Ceefax yesterday (it may in time be less amusing for the baby girl involved, of course :-/) gave a classic example of not using … Continue reading

TRUE CONFESSIONS

. I was listening to the news headlines on BBC Radio 5 live this morning and caught the surreal headline that “Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister and former IRA commander Martin McGuinness is visiting Iraq on a peace mission.” Three thoughts; Why does the BBC not enquire when Mr McGuinness LEFT the IRA? Why does the BBC not enquire what atrocities the IRA committed when McGuinness was directly involved in … Continue reading

TAKING THE AXE TO THE BBC.

I hope you all have read this excellent article by Antony Jay explaining why the BBC must be broken up. I particularly enjoyed this section…. “The BBC spends more than £4 billion-a-year – far more than we spend on prisons. Yet because of the lack of real commercial pressures, it squanders far too much on bureaucracy, inefficiencies, policy centres and endless tiers of self-serving management. Further signs of corporate arrogance … Continue reading

THE FROG AND THE SCORPION.

The delight with which the BBC have been trailing the acquired scalp of Boris Johnsons’ Deputy Mayor, Ray Lewis, following his resignation last night has been a wonder to behold. There has been a positive glee in the tone and depth of the coverage adopted which should make Cameron recall the fable of the frog and the scorpion. Destroying anything and anyone right of liberal is what the BBC does. … Continue reading

Just Asking…

Why is the article about accepting a role for Sharia in UK law given more prominence (with picture) on the BBC World News page than on the BBC UK page (where there is no picture, and it appears in the “other top stories” section. Oh, and the main story is something or other about a badger cull)? Update: Great link here from George R for those who wish to explore … Continue reading