I don’t approve of taxpayers having to fund big sporting events but I am glad that Glasgow has won the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Better that our money be spent on infrastructure than most other state boondoggles. And one of those beneficiaries of the state is the BBC. Isn’t it astounding that the Beeb managed to screw up Glasgow’s big moment? BBC Scotland last night apologised after missing the moment of … Continue reading →

According to the Daily Mail, Blue Peter admit ‘competition winners’ were child actors: In the latest deception, children were asked to apply to the Blue Peter website for an opportunity to go to the show’s studios and interview Dead Ringers impersonator John Culshaw. Six children were chosen, but after the show it emerged two had been picked from a local drama group to liven up the slot. Each child was … Continue reading →

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 be moderated. 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 be moderated. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

In the US, at least, the media swings left as well, according to a new academic survey on coverage of the current presidential contest. Investor’s Business Daily reports that: a joint survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy — hardly a bastion of conservative orthodoxy — found that in covering the current presidential race, the media are … Continue reading →

, the BBC’s compulsory tellytax on every television owning household in the UK – sometimes to mock all the wonderful things that are possible because of, as the BBC boasts, “the unique way the BBC is funded”, at others to note, for instance, the unique way the BBC’s tellytax is collected by BBC bootboys. This often leads to interesting discussions about both the theory and the practice of the BBC’s … Continue reading →

, “a joint initiative from LSE and the London College of Communication aimed at working journalists, people in public life and students in the UK and around the world”, invites everyone to a public debate tomorrow evening: The Future of Impartiality: Is the Public Service Ethos Doomed? Thursday November 8th, 2007, 6.30-8pm New Theatre, East Building, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE The speakers will be Emily Bell … Continue reading →

Prime Minister Tony Blair has had a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. President George W Bush has discussed the sex scandal which has rocked the Catholic Church in the United States during a private audience with Pope John Paul II on Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin has voiced hope for improved understanding between the Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches, following an audience with Pope John Paul … Continue reading →

, so much so that at 1am London time, fifteen hours after the story went live, it remained the most popular story worldwide, according to BBC Views Online’s on Most Popular Now stats. As is their way with anti-US stories, BBC Views Online enthusiastically reported: The world’s richest model has reportedly reacted in her own way to the sliding value of the US dollar – by refusing to be paid … Continue reading →