I see that the BBC have flown the intrepid John Humphrys over to Basra (Never mind those pesky carbon emissions, eh?) to report on the current situation there. I caught his first report this morning interviewing a senior army officer who in true blue military form showed a tenacity to finish the job by getting the Iraqi army up to speed. Humphrys zeroed in on those British soldiers who had … Continue reading
Interesting to read the BBC report on the G8 pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2050. It lasts for two sentences before the USA gets a rhetorical slap from the State Broadcaster, with the word “pathetic” inserted for maximum effect! As with much of the BBC’s coverage on this issue, it is presented as cuts for the sake of cuts. There is little if any discussion on the … Continue reading
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
Can you imagine the BBC using such a perjorative headline in a story about any other group ? Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.
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
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
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
: 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
. 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
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
