. There is a difference of opinion between BBC journalists John Simpson and Nick Gowing over the deaths of journalists in Iraq- and it’s worth noting. When Simpson says that any journalists not ’embedded’ with troops became ‘potential targets’, he does not mean that they were deliberately targeted. Nick Gowing does- he believes in an Orwellian kind of conspiracy to ‘take out’ journalistic opponents. No steps are taken to separate … Continue reading →

In this post left wing pro-Iraq-war blogger Harry Hatchet writes about John Pilger’s recent comments on the BBC. Harry writes: But the idea that the Radio Four’s Today programme was pro-war or even comparible to the flag-wrapped cheerleading of Fox News, is hard to take seriously. But then Pilger is capable of believing anything to convince himself of the rightness of his postures – he is, after all, the man … Continue reading →

…BBC doesn’t let the facts of its own story get in the way of a headline bemoaning American police racism… The headline: Cincinnati death blamed on police The exerpt: [The coroner, whose report is the focus of the story] added that the ruling should not be interpreted as implying inappropriate behaviour or the use of excessive force by police”. Note the photo of a crying relative at the bottom, next … Continue reading →

The BBC recently reported a “Google Bomb” which linked the words “miserable failure” to a biography of Bush. Fair enough, it’s a story. However the BBC refer back to the famous “These weapons of mass destruction cannot be displayed” web page as an example of something similar. In this post the author of that page, who also happens to write the “Black Triangle” blog, says that the BBC misrepresented him. … Continue reading →

. According to a recent Guardian article about the Beeb’s plans to pay their journalists to keep their peace instead of blabbing in newspapers, Greg Dyke (aka Boss Hogg) believes that managing journalists is like ‘herding cats’. Spare a thought then for the military trying to look after, or look out for, journalists in a battle zone, or an ‘intifada’, especially when some decide that ’embedding’ is just not real … Continue reading →

, a number of people can see the implications of the Telegraph’s story yesterday. Of those, Tim Blair has gone to town on it very pleasingly- and on the journalistic standards which have brought us to this situation. Even if that Iraqi Colonel was wrong in the intelligence he gave, the fact remains that the ‘sexed up’ 45 minutes claim that was all there was left of Andrew Gilligan’s story … Continue reading →

. Here is an example of how the BBC’s thought processes continue to work. What would the news pages look like if they reported every university based ‘think tank’s’ report? Could they perhaps be trying to vindicate their own well known position on the justifications for war in Iraq? No mention is made of the political affiliations of this ‘think tank’. Glancing across the BBC’s Iraq ‘In depth’ page, I … Continue reading →

‘Bad’ news like this and this and this and this. Or even awkward news like this and this. [Update.To sum up- news on WMD’s, growing reason to believe in links between Iraq and Al Quaeda, the reality of Saddam’s genocidal brutality and Iraqi support for the US against the old regime- more or less in that order] Today may be Sunday, but it’s a very news rich day. Time to … Continue reading →

What’s THIS? (thanks etc to Healing Iraq) Update. I’ve realised that this Turkey, unlike the Presidential one, has a real political message- though not one that has been adequately reflected by BBC coverage of Iraq. Reading Healing Iraq and other sites, and looking at this pastiche, I’d say that Iraqis’ biggest fear is being delivered back into a Baathist quagmire. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

It’s nice to know one is not alone in one’s views. At about 5.50pm today Radio Four had on one of those “listeners’ feedback” programmes. It said that “few of those who wrote in supported the Plain English Campaign.” Then it replayed the Rumsfeld clip, followed by audio clips from three members of the public saying nice things about how Mr Rumsfeld was clear and concise. I was left feeling … Continue reading →