writes David Elstein, a respected broadcasting executive and commentator: If fake quizzes are venial sins, loss of impartiality is – for the BBC – a mortal one. This summer, the BBC published a laudably honest independent report on impartiality, which exposed the prevalence of political correctness and “groupthink”. It revealed how despite all the BBC’s efforts, its editorial processes were captured two years ago by the Make Poverty History lobby … Continue reading →

writes Chris Hastings in the Sunday Telegraph: …BBC employees are furious that the corporation has spared Mr Yentob from disciplinary action after it forced a wave of resignations last week from junior members of staff who committed similar breaches. Staff contacted by The Sunday Telegraph, including some of the BBC’s best known names, said Mr Yentob’s “extraordinary” behaviour should be the subject of disciplinary action. “The Alan Yentob business is … Continue reading →

: As BBC executives fall on their swords for rigging such world historical events as the naming of the Blue Peter cat, I am reminded of a story told me by an ex-minister concerning this programme. It held a competition of a creative nature of which the minister was a judge. He chose an entry that turned out to have been from a child at a fee-paying prep school as … Continue reading →

I see that in his latest Gaza sob-fest on today’s BBC News website, Jeremy Bowen says that: “Israel, like most of its Western allies, regards Hamas as an unreconstructed terrorist organisation bent on the destruction of the Jewish state.” That’s absolutely right Jeremy. Just as we regard a large, grey, four-legged mammal with a long trunk and big ears as an elephant. Ouch! Spot on. Click through to read and … Continue reading →

is The Times report on last night’s latest developments in the BBC fakery scandal. BBC Director General, (Bite-) Mark Thompson, writing on the BBC Editors Blog, Trust and values (worth a read just for the vitriol of the comments!), says: The trawl did find four more cases of serious audience deception to go with the six we disclosed in July. …which of course avoids the question of cases of deception … Continue reading →

reports the Daily Mail: Natasha Kaplinsky has already been chosen to present the oneminute national news, aimed at younger viewers with a short attention span… Horses for courses I suppose in the case of Ms. Kaplinsky. An insider said: “Meetings are taking place at all the regional centres, We were told that some market research had been done and that the audience likes pretty young women reading the news – … Continue reading →

Biased BBC reader David Preiser has written the following for us: On September 17th BBC News Online featured a video report on the front page showing University of Florida student Andrew Meyer being tasered by campus security at a public event. Meyer, was shown asking failed presidential candidate Senator John Kerry a question, then engaged in a scuffle with campus police, who at one point tasered him. The BBC video … Continue reading →

Dan Sabbagh and Adam Sherwin, writing in The Times, Socks the Blue Peter cat who could cost BBC staff their jobs, reveal that the real name, or at least the name that topped the viewer poll, of Socks the Blue Peter cat is… a variant of Puss Cookie (see update below). No wonder it was deemed inappropriate – even Mrs. Slocombe would have spotted such an obvious opportunity for double-entendre! … Continue reading →

Robert Peston’s reporting for the BBC of the whole Northern Rock saga has had a “blame Mervyn” undertone to it. Today he basically peddles one of the two Treasury favoured spin lines; The Treasury’s primary spin-line is that it is all because of the sub-prime crisis in America and that no one could predict it coming.  The second line of spin is that it is the Bank of England’s fault … Continue reading →