On Today’s BBC One O’Clock News bulletin Anna Ford reported the following: “The three Italian hostages kidnapped in Iraq have returned home to a hero’s welcome. They were met by their families and friends at Rome Airport and will now be questioned by government and military officials about their two month ordeal”. And that was it – cue jaw dropping in our household. What about the fourth hostage who was … Continue reading →

I said earlier the BBC’s coverage of Reagan’s death was OK. The same cannot be said for Greg Palast, who describes himself as a “BBC investigative reporter”. As USS Neverdock reports Mr Palast exults in Reagan’s death. I think this guy is a freelance rather than a regular employee. He obviously writes to shock, and is probably rather looked down upon by the urbane types at Broadcasting House. But ask … Continue reading →

“Monica” in the comments to a post below directed me to this link to LGF and the post below it. The value of LGF, the thing that keeps me coming back there, is that it tells you stuff you don’t hear on the mainstream media. The worst part of it is that some (certainly not all) of the commenters lack human sympathy and are undiscriminatingly hostile to Islam. The facts … Continue reading →

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of BBC cameraman Simon Cumbers who was murdered by terrorists in Riyadh as he and correspondent Frank Gardner filmed a report. Many questions remain as to whether Saudi Arabia will descend into further instability, but there is no question that anyone can become a target in this war on terror. I recently posted on Frank Gardner (and the BBC’s) questioning stance … Continue reading →

of the D-Day commemorations yesterday was good and the news coverage of the death of Ronald Reagan, if not affectionate, at least respectful. There. I’ve said it. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

John Hensley comments: I would appreciate it if this could be mentioned in the blog. Junichiro Koizumi made a trip to N. Korea recently to negotiate permission for the children of Japanese kidnap victims to join their parents in Japan. A side story, written by Sarah Buckley, was about US soldier Charles Jenkins, who married a kidnap victim and is still in N. Korea: link. In the article is this … Continue reading →

Nigel writes: ‘Shooting D-Day through a lens’ is an interesting story about US photographer Marty Lederhandler and how some of his photos ended up being published by the Germans. (It’s to do with knackered carrier pigeons. No, this is not part of an ‘Allo ‘Allo script.) Anyhow, the interview wanders onto the subject of Iraq. Wouldn’t you know it, the BBC even create one of their little highlight boxes for … Continue reading →

Nick Cohen writing in the New Statesman reports that the BBC editors would not publish stories about the takeover of the leadership of the anti-war movement by the Socialist Workers Party, nor about the at first sight rather suprising alliance between the SWP and the Muslim Association of Britain. Two interesting points: – the story was leaked to Nick Cohen by disgruntled BBC reporters. – Harry’s Place, a left-wing pro-Iraq-liberation … Continue reading →

Hugh Hewitt, LA-based blogger, professor of law and former NPR broadcaster, has just ‘endured’ two weeks of the Beeb. I am just returned from two weeks in Europe, which meant having to watch CNN International, with its wall-to-wall anti-Bush anchoring, reading the International Herald Tribune –a New York Times lite– and of course enduring the BBC. I don’t know if the world hates us, but American and British media reporting … Continue reading →

Normblog points to an article in Ha’aretz about Malcolm Balen, the man the BBC has appointed to oversee its coverage of Israel. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.