“Mystery over India freedom hero” says the BBCs Mike Thomson, reporting that “Indian independence fighter Subhash Chandra Bose did not die in a Taiwanese plane crash, an inquiry has found. The report into one of the great mysteries of India’s freedom struggle concluded that Mr Bose had died but not in the 1945 crash as widely thought.” Chandra Bose may be considered by some Indians as a hero and freedom … Continue reading →

a couple of interesting links: Media groups unite against BBC: “The government is handing the BBC an unfair advantage in the digital revolution that is changing the face of the media,” the submission says. “The government is handing the BBC a prime public policy task that should not be the preserve of any media organisation. At the same time, it will allow the corporation to indulge in wide cross-promotion of … Continue reading →

, writes Tom Mangold in Wednesday’s Independent. Formerly a senior BBC News correspondent and longstanding journalist on Panorama, I’ve always thought of Mangold as one of the better old-school guys at the BBC. Here are a couple of excerpts, laying in to the ratings chasing dolts that run the BBC nowadays: What you are not seeing on Panorama generally are reporters of reputation, chutzpah and experience telling you what the … Continue reading →

Martin Walker of United Press International had an interesting article in The Times a few days ago, beginning: Despite a catalogue of examples to the contrary, the governors insist there is bias against the Palestinians THE OFFICIAL REPORT for the governors of the BBC on its coverage of the Palestine-Israeli conflict found predictably that there was “was little to suggest systematic or deliberate bias” but then went on to list … Continue reading →

about an Old Bailey trial. So far there have been two reports, Men ‘stored 600kg bomb material’ covering Monday and ‘Terror cell bugged’ court hears covering Tuesday (there hasn’t been a report for Wednesday yet). Both of these reports concern what is described in one as “a British terror cell” and in the other as “an alleged British terror cell”. Leaving aside the issue of whether the accused are British … Continue reading →

Please use this thread, and this thread alone, for off-topic comments, preferably BBC related. Please keep comments on other threads on the topic of that particular post. N.B. this is not an invitation for off-topic comments – the idea is to maintain order and clarity. Thank you. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Natasha Kerplunksky, the BBC’s only newsreader named after a racehorse, came out with another example of BBC Weird Phenomena introducing last night’s Six O’Clock News (256Kbps, WMV): “WPC Murder: Police say WPC Nisha Patel Nasri may have been killed by her own kitchen knife” Watch out for those self activating knives. Everyone else who mentioned this tragic incident was savvy enough to say ‘with’ instead of ‘by’. Later in the … Continue reading →

: BBC Views Online have just revealed that the man they mistakenly interviewed live on BBC News 24 in place of Guy Kewney is, in fact, Guy Goma, an applicant for a “data support cleanser” job. According to the BBC: The mix-up occurred when a producer went to collect the expert from the wrong reception in BBC Television Centre in West London. That’s a BBC euphemism for “the wrong kind … Continue reading →

Please use this thread, and this thread alone, for off-topic comments, preferably BBC related. Please keep comments on other threads on the topic of that particular post. N.B. this is not an invitation for off-topic comments – the idea is to maintain order and clarity. Thank you. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

– from today’s Sunday Times: Commercial companies – from giant ITV, Emap and Yahoo down to minnows such as Island FM on Guernsey – complain that relentless BBC expansion is hurting private- sector enterprise in areas from parish-pump television to magazines, the internet and classical-music publishing. Lobby groups representing the radio and local-newspaper industries have sent letters to Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, in the past few days, setting out … Continue reading →