‘Journalism in the age of mobile and social media’ gives insight into the current culture of reporting by Nic Newman, a digital strategist and founding member of the BBC News website.   Newman tells us that there is a ‘dreadful state of affairs’ in news broadcasting now that social media has burst upon the scene and normal people can shape and share their own narratives. Amusingly he also says … Continue reading →

      John Sweeney spends 8 days undercover in North Korea. BBC News head of programmes Ceri Thomas said: “This is an important piece of public interest journalism.” Asked whether that justified putting student lives at risk, he replied: “We think it does.”   This is John Sweeney trying to defend his actions (and failing): North Korea is….‘A state that is more like Hitler’s Germany than any other state … Continue reading →

    All the usual suspects are coming out of the woodwork….     The BBC has certainly turned rightward since Mason left…..because he left.   Glenn Greenwald…flogging state secrets to a newspaper.  State secrets stolen by Snowden who was probably a Russian agent and is now safely back in the USSR. Nice work Glenn.       Yes Mehdi, you did write the same in 2009…hope you got some … Continue reading →

    We must understand the BBC as a pre-eminent state propagandist and censor by omission, says John Pilger.     Yet another comedian gets into politics (thanks to nofanofpoliticians for pointing this out) The ‘Firebrand’ Owen Jones says the BBC is biased to the right…no really….though I’m pretty certain this is a leaked script from the BBC’s right of centre ‘Now’ show…. It’s the BBC’s rightwing bias that is … Continue reading →

      It’s all about Jimmy Bowen…life that is: Jeremy Bowen: I know there’s trouble in the Middle East when I need my flak jacket, gas mask and Kevlar pants   When the journalist becomes the story….. we all get bored. Journalists in the Middle East need to be mobile. Visits to presidential palaces, foreign ministries and embassies all matter but being on the streets is the best way … Continue reading →

Here we go, a new week of BBC bias to capture, and right here is where you capture it!

    Today had on Sir David Higgins urging us to buy into the HS2 lunatic express scheme…the quicker the better….time, as he said, is money!   Jim Naughtie didn’t press Higgins hard at all….and seemed to accept the basic premise that HS2 is the best way of spending £80 billion that the nation doesn’t have….never mind flood defences, road maintenance, broadband, improving the existing rail network and so on…all … Continue reading →

  Just for interest here’s something from Al Jazeera…hosted by possibly the world’s most untrustworthy journalist, Mehdi Hasan….a devout Muslim, a Muslim preacher no less…but who tells us he is ‘secular and progressive‘. Whilst the subjects are of interest Hasan probably isn’t the best person to be adjudicating over them as he has a dog in the fight being essentially a hardline Muslim activist himself….though that is a judgment based … Continue reading →

  From Feedback……   Who decides the news agenda? Richard Clarke, the Editor of the BBC Radio newsroom, on the stories that make the news. Deciding the agenda…’We have our own ideas…but also use the Today programme, World at One, and PM, all of which influence us.‘ ‘We test each other’s judgement….I make a much better decision when editing if I test my judgement against the rest of my team.’ … Continue reading →

    Plenty of coverage for this BBC report: Sue Lloyd Roberts hears how a religious sect that believes in Aliens and the pursuit of pleasure is trying to help victims of female genital mutilation in Burkina Faso FGM, Clitoraid and The Pleasure Hospital       I heard the report on FOOC, it’s been on Newsnight and it’s in the Independent (as above) as well.   On FOOC we … Continue reading →