Roundup

Cunningtitle wonders if an article about David Cameron has been deliberately buried. My experience of the BBC search system suggests chaos rather than conspiracy, but you be the judge. A lot of media outlets, the BBC pre-eminent among them, siezed on Tony Blair’s “It has, but…” as an admission that Iraq had been a disaster. Powerline calls it “wishful thinking” in the link. I’d call it gaffe-mining. My impression was … Continue reading

Stone walls do not a prison make / Nor iron bars a cage

– so Richard Lovelace wrote to his love Althea while imprisoned by the Roundheads during the Civil War. Apparently the BBC thinks that Lovelace’s philosophy is also an appropriate attitude for fallen women imprisoned in an Iranian House of Compassion. Although the story does make clear that the inmates are imprisoned, it is referred to as a “shelter”. Commenter “pounce” examines the BBC story: They include runaways, drug addicts and … Continue reading

Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:

Please use this thread for off-topic, but preferably BBC related, comments. Please keep comments on other threads to the topic at hand. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments – our aim is to maintain order and clarity on the topic-specific threads. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog. Please scroll down to find new topic-specific posts. Click through to read and … Continue reading

Democracy in action at the BBC, or should that be democracy inaction at the BBC?

According to the The Register, an irreverent but generally respected technology news site, there’s been a bit of a punch up on the BBC Radio 4 message boards. Apparently: “Only messageboard hosts will start new threads”. Oh dear. Cue indignation, to which the Beeb replied: “We believe these changes will allow the Today programme to better reflect the thoughts and opinions of its listeners, making it more relevant to its … Continue reading

Websites face four-second cut-off

Putting on my hat marked Lazy BBC (since there isn’t such a blog), here’s a great example of BBC Views Online lazily re-publishing corporate puff dressed up as news: Websites face four-second cut-off Shoppers are likely to abandon a website if it takes longer than four seconds to load, a survey suggests. The research by Akamai revealed users’ dwindling patience with websites that take time to show up. It found … Continue reading

Several times today I’ve heard and seen BBC News reports

about the trial over the awful murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford. Today’s proceedings have centered on Yusuf Jamma, described by the BBC in each instance as being ‘from Birmingham’. Er, no. Birmingham might be where he was arrested, but he’s from Somalia, the same Somalia that was his apparent reason for being given refuge in our country, and the same Somalia to which his brother, Mustaf Jama, is … Continue reading

BBC radio phone-in silences the elderly

, according to a startling article by Stewart Payne in today’s Daily Telegraph: …a leaked memo revealed that phone-in presenters on a local radio station have been barred from allowing callers who sound old on air. Mia Costello, managing editor of BBC Radio Solent, told her broadcasters: “I don’t want to hear really elderly voices.” She instructed presenters to appeal to an imaginary couple she called “Dave and Sue”, who … Continue reading

Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:

Please use this thread for off-topic, but preferably BBC related, comments. Please keep comments on other threads to the topic at hand. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments – our aim is to maintain order and clarity on the topic-specific threads. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog. Please scroll down to find new topic-specific posts. UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers. Come … Continue reading