: that a dictator will be tried for vicious crimes seems to be causing little rejoicing on the BBC’s 10’o’clock news tonight, and much desire to make viewers aware that rejoicing was naïve and inappropriate. “President Bush has been under enormous pressure over the high U.S. casualties”, said the studio presenter, opening a typical leading question. “If these continue, is the bonus from Saddam’s capture likely to be short-lived?” Matt … Continue reading →

of Saddam’s capture put everyone in a spin- some media people even trying to ‘head off’ Christmas by sneering about ‘Christmas come early’ for GWB and TB. The difference is that for people who supported the war they can admit to being in a spin- a delightful spin- over the news. Andrew Sullivan is able to admit being in a spin more elegantly than most. Click through to read and … Continue reading →

what happened on Last Night’s BBC News at 10pm. No one who saw that should feel the BBC gave the US or the new Iraq a fair deal yesterday. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

A Telegraph reader responds to yesterday’s BBC coverage: .Re: A wonderful coup Date: 15 December 2003 Sir – Saddam’s trial will reveal the shocking truth about the Ba’athist regime in Iraq, just as the Nuremberg trials did about Nazi Germany. His capture is a wonderful coup for the allies that will place the justification for the war beyond doubt. Yet the treatment of this event on BBC News 24 can … Continue reading →

is delineating the BBC worldview. You can help the good work. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

kept a minute by minute watch on the breaking news of Saddam’s capture. He spotted some interesting editing: (Obliged to correct myself again – at 3.45 PM.) The BBC video I’ve linked to now no longer shows the beginning of the Bremer press conference, but goes straight to the pictures of Saddam undergoing medical examination. Now, why? It couldn’t be that ‘Ladies and gentlemen – we got him!’, followed by … Continue reading →

. Glenn Reynolds has captured some BBC reaction– reaction I also caught live on TV. At times like this there’s so much to take in, and nothing much can take the edge off things for me over the capture of Saddam. On a serious note though, I also heard Saddam’s capture described by the BBC as a ‘propaganda coup’. I often feel that, as when someone calls someone else a … Continue reading →

A GOOD NEWS story from Iraq by the BBC. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

Jonathan Marcus wants us believe everything Human Rights Watch has to say about the “avoidable” deaths of civilians in Iraq. He seems happy to photocopy everything the HRW report has to say about American and Coalition tactics. Mr Marcus should read Steven den Beste’s devastating critique of HRW here before touting them as worthy of our trust. The trouble with the BBC approach is that HRW is a highly partisan, … Continue reading →

Somehow I don’t think a critical template was applied to this recent article about a conference in Geneva where the correspondent saw ‘vintage’ Robert Mugabe, whose speech ‘stood out’. As Natalie said about Ethiopia, to be fair the BBC do have some critical coverage- in this case some angles on how bad Mugabe’s Zimbabwe is. But why don’t they hold him to account personally, instead of permitting an article to … Continue reading →