. I sometimes see a BBC report and remember that the BBC World Service is funded by the UK Government’s Foreign Office. I’ve remarked on muted, even vaguely admiring reports about Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and been jogged to remember all the wrangles that have gone on in the Commonwealth, with South Africa arguing Mugabe’s corner. Today is Mugabe’s 80th Birthday, and he’s enjoying a party with thousands of guests in … Continue reading →

: having now seen the second episode, I too would like to praise BBC2’s series on Dunkirk (‘Against All Odds’, screened yesterday, today and tomorrow). When so many today, in the BBC and elsewhere, like to tell the fashionable PC lie, these programmes seem to have been made by someone who prefers to tell the truth. ‘Faction’ documentaries – dramatised history – are too often a particularly happy hunting ground … Continue reading →

Bad Dairy Products and Faulty Electrics. Or Parmalat and Enron- not that there’s anything wrong with the actual substances they both deal/dealt in, especially Parmalat, whose dairy products are allegedly yum-yummy. No, the question I have is whether the Beeb really enjoys talking more about the Enron scandal than the Parmalat one. You see, 404 articles versus 48 might be said to tell a story. That story might be that … Continue reading →

Here is a cracker from DumbJon (there, that’s something I’ve been wanting to say for a while) about the Sean Gabb/free speech affair I referred to three posts ago. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Kudos to the BBC, again: BBC gets the historical drama of Dunkirk absolutely right By John Keegan Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

A Plague on Stealth Editors. Well, that’s what I could wish, given the number of times the BBC have squirmed out of an insupportable first version of a story. The trouble for the BBC is that more and more people are noticing. How can a so-called reliable News gatherer require so many reverse gears? This time it’s a story about the Kerry ‘whatsit’ by Paul Reynolds that’s caught the attention … Continue reading →

A tongue-in-cheek remark, from Peter, directed at the Beeb in the next post-but-one below, had me chuckling. He said ‘I guess that we’re simply not up the rarified air (waves) of Britain where they’ve got no need for data because they know better. In fact, why even file a report or visit these farms. Just tell us what is good and bad in the world and we’ll follow. ‘ Well, … Continue reading →

More Wagging Tonge– this time ‘at the invitation of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme’ . Please feel free to make observations. (Thanks to Eamonn for pointing to this). Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Back To The Old Assumptions. This anti-US story seems a much more natural expression of the BBC’s judgement on world affairs. In the ‘good news Guantanamo Bay’ story below, the reader was expected to be surprised to hear that a young detainee was not bitter over his treatment. The assumption was that the reader would naturally believe that the US is treating inmates badly, with just the odd ray of … Continue reading →

The Happiest Days of Your Life. Kudos to the BBC for reporting this tale of happy days at Guantanamo Bay. Perhaps they might consider rethinking the kneejerk headline slot that’s been given to groups of professional worriers like Human Rights Watch? Among other lovely ‘think again’ passages: ‘You might think he (detainee’s father) would be angry with the Americans. Actually he thinks they have done Naqibullah a favour. ‘ Click … Continue reading →