is a typically incisive posting by Laban Tall, concerning a namby-pamby Radio 4 Today programme report on (failures in) youth justice. Well worth a read, especially for the ‘happy’ ending. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

– Martin Stanford was interviewing today’s guest, dear Polly Toynbee. Referring to Polly’s switch from print journalism to the seven years she spent reporting ‘social affairs’ for the BBC and her subsequent return to print journalism at The Guardian, Polly said that she enjoyed the extra space afforded in the newspaper and the freedom to express opinions therein. Polly then added: “And of course, on television, we never express opinions.” … Continue reading →

On Friday Ed Thomas observed in this post that the BBC had reported Dan Rather’s very much disputed allegations as undisputed fact. In one of the comments to that post Laban Tall says: Stealth edits have arrived as of Monday morning. Save your old copies before viewing again. Half way down we have “Some experts have questioned the authenticity of the latest documents, released after they were obtained by CBS … Continue reading →

, entitled The School Siege – Survivors’ Stories, was a film about the tragic events at Beslan in the week before last, with contributions from survivors and participants. I recorded the programme to observe the BBC’s language – particularly their apparent trouble in recognising that those who murder and terrorise unarmed civilians in the name of politics/religion/ideology are terrorists rather than merely militants. The following are chronological excerpts: 00’00” Presenter: … Continue reading →

– a BBC continuity announcer (in the London area) this evening, announced that tonight’s Panorama will be about the Beslan atrocity, and that it will, get this, “look at what the terrorists did and why they did it”. I hope that this terminological rectitude reflects a change of BBC policy rather than an inadvertant blip, although I expect that even once the broadcast wing of the BBC finally ‘gets it’ … Continue reading →

? Kevin Myers has written a sterling article on the BBC’s coverage of Northern Ireland. Some might say that the BBC’s coverage of terrorism in that country is the prototype for their muddled and misguided coverage of terrorism worldwide. Myers has some harsh logic for those who see BBC bias as insignificant, who preach that it’s not worth getting uppity over Aunty and her wee antics: ‘We really shouldn’t be … Continue reading →

Why was our national broadcaster so keen to get taken in by a likely fraud (likely to be exposed as such despite the protestations of a Rather biased fellow)? When and how will they begin to retract their unambiguous presentation of the story as hard news? Why did they imply at the beginning of their smearticle that the documents came from the Whitehouse (‘The documents released by the White House … Continue reading →

This is what the BBC says Cheney said about Kerry the other day. US Vice-President Dick Cheney has said a vote for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry could make a terror attack on the US more likely. Julian Sanchez, though not fond of Cheney, corrects the record for the sloppy (or deliberately misleading) Beeb. First, the full quote by Cheney: Because if we make the wrong choice, then the danger … Continue reading →

Further to Andrew Bowman’s post below, take a look at this: UK on Terror Alert. I think the starkness of the atrocity at Beslan may have prompted a change of policy. If so, better late than never. But was there ever a policy of avoiding the world terrorist? Readers here may not be in much doubt. We’ve been tracking this very issue for months, and when we do find a … Continue reading →

– over the last few days David Chater of Sky News has been using the word ‘terrorist’ to describe the terrorists involved in the Beslan massacre. This evening another Sky News journalist, Juliet Errington, also used the word terrorist in a Beslan report. It’s good to see Sky News moving away from the dishonesty, deception and moral equivalence of describing anyone with quasi-political grievances, guns and bombs as ‘militants’. I … Continue reading →