(on the supposedly ad-free BBC) for Andrew Marr’s new Sunday morning programme have him saying what sounds like “What we’re trying to achieve is the television equivalent of a crappy little newspaper”? I presume he’s trying to say ‘cracking’, but if he does mean crappy then he need look no further than the BBC’s Six O’Clock news crew for inspiration – telly-taxpayers haven’t forgotten the depths of dumbing-down exposed a … Continue reading →

, according to Brian Rowan, BBC Northern Ireland security editor. A surprising part of Rowan’s conclusion is his assertion that “Even the loyalists accept that there is no threat from the IRA”. Really? Well, I suppose you might concur if, like Brian, you omit events such as the IRA’s grand larceny at the Northern Bank in December (see The Adams-McGuinness technique: rob banks to buy your way to power in … Continue reading →

in Blackpool, BBC News Online featured a few pre-conference puff-pieces, including one with millionaire* Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone, Liberal gets tough on pub hours, by Justin Parkinson, BBC News political** reporter, focusing on Ms. Featherstone’s “biggest hit so far”, her “querying of the impending liberalisation of pub licensing laws in England and Wales”. Curiously, amongst all of Featherstone’s ‘tough’ words, Justin omits to mention the Lib Dems policy to … Continue reading →

Harold Evans’ most recent opinion column at BBC News Online was described as: “Evans on words – Don’t say ‘precipitation situation’ if you mean ‘it’s raining’” – this from the corporation that goes out of its way (re-writing history as necessary, even) to say militant/insurgent/bomber/etc. whenever it means terrorist! Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

, re. your story this evening about the clothes horse known as Kate Moss: her boyfriend, Pete Doherty, is not “a well known drug user”. He is, in fact, a well known drug abuser. Next time you take the trouble to broadcast to the nation’s watching families please try to remember this important distinction, and perhaps even point out to the children watching your coverage the typical outcome of abusing … Continue reading →

That is the maxim followed by whoever wrote this article. It prompted this post from Squander Two, who says: The level of duty on diesel is a fact, not an opinion. It is published every year in the Budget, and the BBC report on it then. All they need do to get the facts of the matter is to check their own archives. But they don’t. Instead, they report the … Continue reading →

of BBC programme makers, revealing that: COMPANIES are paying fees of up to £40,000 to advertise their products covertly on BBC programmes, often in breach of the corporation’s rules. At least 50 cases have been identified where top brands have bought favourable exposure on BBC television by paying specialist agents. The article goes on to point out that: The licence fee payer is the loser from the multi-million-pound trade. By … Continue reading →

we learn that Lance Price, a former BBC reporter who, surprise, surprise, went to work for the Blair government as a spin doctor from 1998 to 2001, says: The media was bullied, browbeaten and bribed with favours to report Labour favourably. and worse, that: The BBC reveals its questions in advance to Blair at press conferences in return for their reporters being chosen to ask their questions first. A fuller … Continue reading →

, Tony Blair said the BBC’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina was “full of hatred of America.” Tony Blair wasn’t the only critic. This article from the Financial Times says: Bill Clinton, the former US president, and Sir Howard Stringer, chief executive of Sony Corporation, also criticised the tone of the BBC’s coverage during a seminar on the media at the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York. Sir Howard Stringer … Continue reading →

obsession with Bush to new extremes. Yes, the BBC has reported that the president once needed to pee. (Hat tip: Susan) Stop the presses! In another blow for media credibility, “Susan” a reader of “bloggs”, has thrown a googly to demonstrate that his handwriting’s not like that. I await the retraction from the BBC. (“Correction: Bush Did Not Need To Urinate After All.”) Some may suspect that the whole thing … Continue reading →