Today we heard from Kofi Annan’s Chief of Staff (RealAudio) discussing the ‘search for a UN definition of terrorism’. March 17th, 2004. BBC Today programme, 8.35. “In the aftermath of the Madrid bombings, we discuss the difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist.””We” being Leila Khaled, Palestinian hijacker and hostage-taker, and Danny Morrison, Sinn Fein/IRA publicity head (and the man who has the last word on what happens to … Continue reading →

has a good example of BBC think: Abroad Again in Britain BBC2 7:00pm – 8:00pm Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral boasts the highest spire in Britain. Jonathan Meades, who was raised in its shadow, returns to one of the country’s finest medieval buildings. He wonders how an atheist can love a building dedicated to the propagation of medieval superstitions and fears. Can you imagine that last sentence being used to refer … Continue reading →

for exposing a Guardian journalist, Dilpazier Aslam, as a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, and the Guardian’s failure to either notice or disclose this fact in relation to articles Aslam wrote on, for instance, the case of Shabina Begum (which appears to have been a Hizb ut-Tahrir put up job from the off) and the recent terrorist attacks in London, on which Aslam opined that: Second- and third-generation Muslims are without … Continue reading →

The third story on BBC News Online’s home page just now (immediately below the story about today’s terrorist, sorry BBC, insurgent attacks in London) is headlined UK boy wrongly labelled bomber, complete with a picture and paragraph reading: Evidence that London bomber Hasib Hussain visited Pakistan is called into question by a teenager sharing his name. The story itself begins: Evidence showing that all three of the London bombers of … Continue reading →

Public split over new hate laws reports a BBC survey purporting to show public support for the government’s proposed ‘incitement to religious hatred’ laws. Rottweiler Puppy has given the story, and the underlying survey, a thorough mauling in his post Religious Hate Bill Stalls: BBC Get Out And Push. Given the BBC’s enthusiasm for helping the democratic process along with such polls I look forward to BBC News Online carrying … Continue reading →

has seen Biased BBC readership up considerably, quoted on and linked to from many sites, including Glenn Reynold’s Instapundit and the Week on the Web in The Times. Welcome all! Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Splashed on the front page of The Independent yesterday, was the figure 24,865. “Revealed: Iraq’s Civilian Death Toll”, read the headline. It was not alone. The BBC’s bulletins ran with the same figure, as did the Daily Mirror and The Guardian — derived, said the latter, from “a detailed study of the human cost of the conflict”. There is only one problem with the figure — not that you would … Continue reading →

UK multi-culturism under spotlight, by Roger Hardy, BBC “Islamic Affairs Analyst”, but didn’t have the energy to get stuck into it at the time. Thankfully, Dumbjon has been on the case, and has done a remarkably good demolition job, Beeb Bandwagon Hits Clue Tree, Reverses, Steers Round It, in his own inimitable style. The post below it is rather funny as well. Click through to read and contribute comments on … Continue reading →

Spot the difference between yesterday’s reports: BBC News: “Sir Edward, who took us into the Common Market…”; Sky News: “Sir Edward, who took us into the then Common Market…”; A hint, for those too young to remember the Common Market: it was another name for the EEC, the European Economic Community, which Britain voted to join in 1973. It ceased to exist when, without any further referendum, the EEC became … Continue reading →

in which he is quoted – Stop castrating the language, by Nick Cohen, continuing the theme that: A misguided obsession with objective reporting is undermining the BBC’s credibility as a news organisation. Cohen makes a number of excellent points, for example: “the relativist wisdom that ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’ is not as secure as the saloon-bar sages and BBC managers maintain” and “At the BBC and … Continue reading →