Q1   Chair: Good morning. This is the second session of the Committee’s inquiry into the future of the BBC. I would like to welcome the former chairman of the BBC board of governors, Gavyn Davies, and the former director-general, Greg Dyke.Let us start with a general question. Since you both left the BBC, which is nine years ago, coming up to 10, what do you think of how the … Continue reading →

    “I don’t like monopolies and we are facing a situation where the BBC has an increasing monopoly on creative matters.” John Birt     Michael Grade calls for smaller BBC Ex-Channel 4 chief says no one could be successful in role of director general and corporation must outsource business Michael Grade has said the BBC has become “unmanageable” and called on licence fee money to be used to … Continue reading →

Adding to David’s post on the BBC being too right wing….based on a report by a left wing academic funded by the BBC Trust….       From The Independent The BBC has been accused of yielding to political pressure since the last election and allowing a right-wing bias to emerge in its journalism. The serious criticism by a distinguished media professor suggests that the BBC has compromised its impartiality … Continue reading →

Whilst doing a little D-I-Y armed with my trusty drill, I decided to listen to The News Quiz on BBC Radio 4 earlier today. This programme was an extenuated sneer against the Conservatives and with “regular” Jeremy Hardy, Phil Jupitus and Sandi Toksvig herself, all we got was cheap political ad hominem dressed up as “satire” It’s hard to imagine that once upon a time this programme was funny. A … Continue reading →

The BBC has a long record of being hostile to religious spokesmen if they dare to speak up for what we can call “orthodox values” If a Bishop somewhere chirps up expressing disagreement with gay marriage, he can be assured a rough ride (whoops) however if a Cardinal attacks Welfare Reform, he can be certain that the BBC will smile upon him!

Did you read that the BBC has been accused of yielding to political pressure since the last election and allowing a right-wing bias to emerge in its journalism? Now WHO would say something like that? Yes, that’s right – an academic! The serious criticism by a distinguished media professor suggests that the BBC has compromised its impartiality by depending too heavily on sources from business, the media, law and order … Continue reading →

I see the BBC faithfully reports the foot stomping by Alex Salmond after he has been told that IF Scotland leaves the UK, it leaves the £ zone. It’s interesting to watch the BBC coverage on this. They seem to be sympathetic to the SNP delusions – Salmond and Sturgeon do get an easy ride in most BBC interviews – but on the other hand an Independent Scotland would be … Continue reading →

So, Labour has held on to one of its most safe seats. The BBC seem thrilled. UKIP came second with “only” 20% of the vote and the LibDems lost their deposit.

The BBC appears to have overlooked what the MET OFFICE told us the weather was going to be like but for your information here is what they said… SUMMARY – PRECIPITATION: Confidence in the forecast for precipitation across the UK over the next three months is relatively low. For the December-January-February period as a whole there is a slight signal for below-average precipitation. The probability that UK precipitation for December-January-February will … Continue reading →

Welcome to a sodden Friday. I see the BBC continues to do ALL it can to link the floods to man made climate change. If it rains it is AGW, if it doesn’t, it is AGW. An agenda is pursued at all costs and with scant regard to facts. Here is an Open Thread for the weekend!