A warm welcome

to the USS Neverdock, a media scrutiny blog (can anyone think of a neater term for what is fast becoming a recognisable genre?) captained by Marc, a former US Navy man now living in Scotland. Here’s a quote: “…more garbage from The BBC by Tim Franks This guy is moaning about not being able to jog in Baghdad! That’s right, jog. Not a typo for blog.” Click through to read … Continue reading

“See me, not the disability”

The BBC has a ‘Disability Champion’ – none other than Mark Byford, arch lefty from the World Service. I’m sure he could give you a lecture about the importance of seeing through a person’s disability to their true capabilities. Alas, Newsweek Scotland (BBC Radio Scotland) hasn’t been to any of Byford’s seminars. The show today carried a long article about the killing of Sheikh Yassin, which commenced with This week … Continue reading

New kid on the block.

I’ve added Acharit HaYamim, Dash Riprock’s blog, to the list of “Blogs with an interest in BBC matters. ” His latest post here compares what Barbara Plett says Hamas was formed to do and what Hamas says Hamas was formed to do. There’s also a paragraph or two about Orla Guerin’s report on the Palestinian child suicide bomber who changed his mind. Ms Guerin has a point, I must say. … Continue reading

Since the BBC doesn’t think you need to know much

about ‘Bush slammer’ Richard Clarke’s implosion, you may as well go to more reliable sources. UPDATE: A few more links on Clarke. UPDATE 2: Ok, at risk of beating a dead horse (named Clarke) read James Lileks, Charles Krauthammer, Congressman Christopher Shays (PDF) and this, from the Washington Times: But Mr. Clarke’s enormous capacity for self-promotion and taking liberties with the facts may be catching up with him. Time magazine’s … Continue reading

Fair trade 4 kidz.

The treatment of the just-ended “Fair Trade Fortnight” on the Children’s BBC website could do with one or two words of dissent from the chorus of approval. The treatment of trade issues as a whole on the CBBC website is one long hymn of praise to the anti-globalisation movement. This piece, “What is Fair Trade?” presents the “fair trade” initiative as an unquestioned good. Children would never guess that there … Continue reading

BBC Reporting by numbers#2:

If saying anything remotely critical of Islam, criticise another religion first. As reported by 21st March World at One on BBC Radio 4, al-Qa’eda issued a statement after the Madrid bombing, part of which said You [the West] love life, we [al-Qa’eda] love death World at One decided this was worthy of discussion, which I though was surprising. The BBC tells us constantly how ‘peace-loving’ Islam is. So how does … Continue reading

A slight mistranslation.

The BBC reports A Moroccan trainee teacher has been denied a job in Italy because school authorities feared her headscarf might scare children, local media reported. Put like that, the decision of the authorities in Samone sounds an utterly pathetic example of Islamophobia. The arguments offered by an official trying to defend the decision do nothing to change that impression: “(Children) might have been scared and it was better not … Continue reading