John Simpson makes understanding the BBC’s position (which has been mixed enough to create confusion) nice and clear. The BBC’s World Affairs editor says ‘Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, now seems to be playing politics with the situation by appealing to the most basic and resentful attitudes of conservative France.’ Simpson also blames the French system for its neglect of the immigrant ‘burbs, yet- correct me if I’m wrong, but- … Continue reading →

This “personal view” by historian David Cannadine is a strange mishmash of an article. To start with, I’ve never heard of this “Guy Fawkes Day”. Bonfire Night is presumably what he means. It is explicitly stated to be the personal view of the author, so it can be held to a somewhat less stringent standard of impartiality than the BBC’s main output. Somewhat. (Although see this comment by PaulC, who … Continue reading →

. Here, shorn of the odd rude word, is commenter Ritter’s view on this BBC story by Hugh Schofield: Sarkozy’s tough talk misses mark His analysis is summarized thus: Sarkozy is a right winger. Therefore he is wrong or in Hugh’s words “out of kilter” with public opinion. Chirac & de Villepin are to the left of Sarkozy. Therefore they have got it right. Hugh’s analysis is contradictory. He asserts … Continue reading →

is posting away merrily. Like it says on the can, this blog is by an American expatriate, and he is particularly strong on American affairs. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back is not the pamphlet of that name written by Lenin but a careful critique of an amended piece by the BBC’s Paul Reynolds on the Wilson / Plame / Libby affair. Scott Callahan argues that the amendments were not … Continue reading →

, so little time- to chronicle it that is. Take this article about Sharon. Well, no, it’s not about Sharon actually as it’s about his first name, ‘Ariel’, and how it’s been discouraged as a child’s name by a group of online Rabbis. Excuse me- is that news? It’s anti-Sharon (though mainly from the Beeb’s pov, not necessarily the Rabbis), for sure, but it seems so ridiculous to try to … Continue reading →

. Before I start, I’ve changed the text at the sidebar dealing with telling this blog about examples of bias from “aagh, don’t email me, I can’t cope” which is basically what it’s said for the last few months to the slightly more optimistic: You can send it to the Letters Editor at nataliesolent AT aol DOT COM, and it is at least possible that I will not lose it … Continue reading →

My parents gave me a watch for my twenty-first birthday and it’s still in use all these years later. Now and then it gains a few minutes so when I got up this morning I thought that I’d do a time check with the BBC’s teletext service before changing the watch and all of our clocks to wintertime. Imagine my shock when I eventually worked out that the Beeb was … Continue reading →

Wednesday, 14:25BST: The Guardian (or is it ‘theguardian’ these days?): Tories offer qualified terror bill support BBC Views Online: Tories delaying terror laws fight The Views Online article did at least start by explaining: The Tories say they will back proposed new anti-terrorism laws as MPs debate them for the first time, but will oppose some aspects at later stages. The party is particularly against plans to allow terrorism suspects … Continue reading →

Last November, “The Tories” (as the BBC almost always calls Conservatives – one ‘T’ word that’s not a problem for the Beeboids) complained officially, along with many viewers, about a particularly dodgy item on Newsnight. Peter Barron, Editor of Newsnight, wrote a rebuttal article on NewsWatch, headlined: Howard special ‘not staged’ Moving forward to August 2005, having investigated itself (no conflict of interest there then), the BBC decided that it … Continue reading →

how about a spot of BBC ignorance, of the ‘why are we forced to pay for this tosh?‘ variety? In Genette police file for charges our sharp-minded, ever astute BBC journos report: Prosecutors are to consider whether to charge a man with the abduction and murder of a Devon schoolgirl in 1978. Genette Tate, 13, vanished while cycling on her newspaper round in Aylesbeare, where she lived. Devon and Cornwall … Continue reading →