According to this report: “Global warming could cut the world’s annual economic output by as much as 20%, an influential report by Sir Nicholas Stern is expected to say.” Call it debasement of the English language, call it wishfulfillment journalism, but surely the “influence” of a report can only be estimated after the effects of its publication are known? Still, it makes for a nice consistency: a hypothetically gloomy report … Continue reading →

The bandwagon is gathering momentum. Yesterday it emerged that a BBC executive, Ann Davies, has questioned whether the corporation should “help break the constraints of the PC police” after audience research found it was out of step with much of mainstream public opinion. Another BBC boss, Richard Klein, commissioning editor for documentaries, told staff it was “pathetic” for the BBC to pride itself on being “of the people”. They’re all … Continue reading →

The Evening Standard reports on the views of BBC commissioning editor for documentaries, Richard Klein. (Hat tip to Jonathan Boyd Hunt. Read his comment here.) Klein said: “By and large, people who work at the BBC think the same and it’s not the way the audience thinks. That’s not long term sustainable.” “We pride ourselves on being ‘of the people’, and it’s pathetic…..Channel 4 tends to laugh at people, the … Continue reading →

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 →

Little Bulldogs looks at the response in the BBC Editors’ blog to the impartiality seminar. Breakfast with Nanny: Johnathan Pearce on some of the assumptions behind the stories featured one morning on BBC breakfast television. Tim Worstall shared Ed’s low opinion of the piece about the EU accounts criticised below. House of Dumb. We at this blog are too modest to summarise this post. Oh, and I expect it is … Continue reading →

(12 in a row) According to the BBC’s Stephen Mulvey, “reports saying that the auditors “refused to sign off the accounts” are misleading.” Meanwhile, The Financial Times reports from Brussels “Auditors refuse to sign off Brussels accounts” (The relevant EU Commissioner says “I can assure the EU’s citizens that the money is well under control.” That’s what I’m afraid about.) The BBC reports: “the European Commission has made unprecedented efforts … Continue reading →

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 →

Further to Natalie’s post below, it could be added that the long-time BBC journalist, Robin Aitken, has been speaking out trenchantly in recent months. The Croydonian was there at a recent debate entitled “Can We Trust the BBC?”, did some notetaking, and followed it with a written up version. It accords both with what this blog has been saying and what recently senior BBC journalists have confirmed in note-perfect fashion. … Continue reading →

Thanks to Henry and Richy in comments here, to Little Bulldogs, and to several anonymous commenters for the tip. Both the Daily Mail and the Evening Standard carry stories about how “a host of BBC executives and star presenters admitted what critics have been telling them for years: the BBC is dominated by trendy, Left-leaning liberals who are biased against Christianity and in favour of multiculturalism. The quote from Andrew … Continue reading →

This looks interesting. I had an email from a chap called John (not sure if he is the proprietor or not) pointing out a new … truth to tell I don’t know what to call it. Blog? Computer programme? RSS-feed type thingy? Whatever it is, it’s called News Sniffer. John writes: It has 2 main projects.: ‘Watch your mouth’ detects censored comments on the BBC ‘Have your say’ section, and … Continue reading →