A Couple of Items

First, Rottweiler Puppy has taken up the story of the Beeb’s failings over Iran, and produced a very good post on the subject on his new site. It’s ironic in the light of this that the BBC is reporting experiencing Persian censorship. Why, when they’re doing such a good job (for the Mullahs)? Maybe it’s a case of treat ’em mean, keep ’em keen (just like the women). The second … Continue reading

“The Badly in Need of a Humorous Re-Write, Department”

If the American expat can be sarcy, so can I. Or am I just being mean in seeing this as both prurient and irrelevant? Against Islam, indeed. Like, duh! Surely they’re just trawling for Google hits with titles like ‘Malaysian Naked Squats Condemned’. Ooh er missus. Now we know the secret of those millions of daily hits… Or, er, maybe I am… Oh well, at least they’re not guilty of … Continue reading

Israel Alone or The Grand Coalition?

I make no apologies for comparing a Fox News report with a BBC one. The success of Fox speaks for itself, and as Peter C. Glover argues, it’s about time we saw something similar in the UK. But one of the biggest slanders going today is that Israel is an aggressor, a source of trouble, an arrogant ungrateful unilateral go-it-alone bully. So I think that a responsible media outlet would … Continue reading

Obsessing on Death Row

Scott Callahan has put together a detailed post that’s right up this blog’s street. He compares the BBC’s approach to the death penalty in the US and China- and finds a stark contrast. Just over a week ago I did a similar thing in relation to the BBC’s coverage of the Iranian death penalty- though not as well – on my own blog. The point is that whichever way you … Continue reading

I’m not quite sure …

whether this piece, on the withdrawal from the party leadership contest of Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten, says more about the BBC or the Liberal Democrats. In Parliament since 1997, Mr Oaten is seen as being to the right of many in the party, having promoted a law and order policy of “tough liberalism”. Mr Oaten has campaigned for prisoners to be given the vote, a policy which his then … Continue reading

Expanding on Ed’s post re Jeff Randall,

I’ve always said that the BBC are neutral betwen Tories and Labour – they’re happy to attack the Tories (from the left) or Labour (from the left). Good to hear this from ex-BBC business editor, Jeff Randall. But surely the BBC’s journalists give the government a hard time? ‘They attack Labour ministers, but usually for not being sufficiently left-wing.’ On the BBC and immigration : ‘Whenever we had an anti-immigration … Continue reading

Aunty Learns Nothing; Reports Little

Aunty was very anti- the Iraq war. We all know that. Yet, in the wake of Hutton and in the light of numerous gaffes that astounded even their own, she seemed to be learning something. Yet, like a misshapen dingy filled with gas, the BBC keeps righting itself idiot side up. Today you can find the BBC reporting how Gen Musharraf has come under pressure over the US air strike. … Continue reading