Two thirds of Earth’s resources already used, claims the BBC.

I just heard a BBC reporter say this, without much qualification, and giving the impression that this was a very credible claim. This claim was apparently based on a report by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment team (who were funded by – who else? the UN), although the BBC simply reported this as “a team of hundreds of scientists”, without even saying who they were (had to go to the BBC … Continue reading

There was a fascinating letter

in yesterday’s Scotsman. It concludes: Further evidence of Beeb blinkers was the fact that story of its own 176 job cuts was the lead on Reporting Scotland last Monday. On the same day, Babcock at Rosyth announced 320 job losses and this didn’t merit a mention. Is this the kind of quality journalism that Mr Low seeks to maintain? Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

The demonstration against the Iraq War.

Who was the typical attendee? Here are some pictures of the crowd and their banners. Note the preponderance of “Free Palestine” signs. (And the ones saying, “Victory to the Iraqi Resistance!”) However the BBC quotes an ex-soldier and a lady from CND. (Via Rottweiler Puppy – read his comments – and House of Dumb) UPDATE: Following Rottweiler Puppy’s links, I see that the BBC ran not one but two picture-series … Continue reading

Do you want to see a full length film or an irrelevant full length advert obscuring the film all the way through?

Viewers of BBC3 were recently treated to a showing of Castaway – complete with “an on-screen message promoting Casanova… for the duration of the film”, which, apart from being annoying, presumably obscured some of the more, shall we say, revealing aspects of the film. According to BBC Complaints, people were unhappy, and “some viewers found this ‘programme pointer’ distracting”. What a surprise! They continue “We do not usually put such … Continue reading

Would you just listen to what he says

The Beeb journalist is reporting about Iraqi kidnappings. It’s bad news. Naturally he gets over-excited while interviewing people: ‘On the wall behind him the faces of the handful of kidnappers they’ve captured stare out. Black and white images of the men who terrorise their fellow citizens. “What I want is for the government to apply the law that deals with kidnapping. They should hang criminals to keep the peace.” Most … Continue reading

BBC Newspeak: Four legs good, two legs bad*, public good, private bad.

This evening BBC News Online’s news ticker flashed up: “Prisoner found hanged in his cell at a privately-run Warwickshire jail”, which linked to Prisoner found hanged in his cell, which reads: A prisoner has been found hanged in his cell at a Warwickshire jail. Michael Bailey, 23, was serving a four-year sentence at the privately-run HMP Rye Hill for supplying drugs. He arrived at the prison in December after being … Continue reading

Watching and waiting, but not holding my breath.

On Wednesday March 16th BBC News Online featured a story Italy ‘hopes’ for Iraq withdrawal, that begins: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has confirmed that he “hopes” to begin pulling out Italian troops from Iraq as soon as possible. Mr Berlusconi told the US president of his plans to begin withdrawing troops this September in a telephone call. Mr Berlusconi said the decision to remove his troops would depend on … Continue reading

Mark Thompson, BBC Chief: a Director General with bite!

According to The Grauniad: “Mark Thompson, the BBC’s director general, is gaining a reputation as something of a rottweiler as he slashes into the corporation’s staffing structure. Yesterday this image took on a physical manifestation when allegations emerged that, when he was editor of the Nine O’Clock News, Mr Thompson sank his teeth into the arm of a colleague…” Sounds like more of a gnasher than a slasher then. We … Continue reading

Searching through the haystack

of this article by Paul Reynolds at BBConline I couldn’t find a needle of criticism or even meaningful analysis of the UN. Maybe you’ll be luckier. All I found was Reynolds regurgitating Mr Annan’s lofty sayings and emphasising how important they were at a time when there is a lot of ‘hostility’ in the US: ‘In the United States, there is still hostility to the UN and Mr Annan’s own … Continue reading