You would need a heart of stone not to laugh at the collective mindmelt the BBC finds itself in as its former hero, Obama, is accused by Merkel and Hollande of outrageous invasion of privacy via telephone spying. Can you imagine the BBC anger had this revelation came out has Bush been President? But it’s President Narcissus in the White House so the BBC has to be nuanced and so … Continue reading →

Folks, I am reminded that the Common’s Select Committee on CMS announced on 22 October that it is to hold an enquiry into the future of the BBC. The deadline for written submission is 6 December. Anyone seeking to make a submission should note that they have until the 6th December to address the future of the BBC.

Here we go with a new and on-time Open Thread. Off you go…!

In his first tweet in over a year BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott seems to think that a parody article about Sarah Palin at the Daily Currant is real: Sarah Palin is reported as claiming that Jesus Celebrated Easter, telling his apostles how to "convert homosexuals". http://t.co/5UmjiePasB — Robert Pigott (@PigottRobert) October 24, 2013 He’s in good moronic company – Piers Morgan fell for it too (and then pretended … Continue reading →

Sorry this is a tad later but off you go…

Will in the comments notes this from the Telegraph: Lord Hall told MPs that he wants to see more regional accents on the corporation’s programmes and have more programming on life outside London. Asked if the BBC has a “snobbery” against regional accents, Lord Hall said: “I think it doesn’t matter what people sound like in terms of their accents. I happen to think Merseyside accents are great, I would … Continue reading →

  Anyone heard of ‘Ovo Energy’? Probably not. Which raises the question why would the BBC give them a nice little spot on its UK News page and ‘report’ their comments without challenge?   In this post I noted that energy minister, Ed Davey, had said: ‘Rising gas prices have been the cause of rising energy bills at the moment.’   Thoughtful in the comments linked to a BBC ‘report’ … Continue reading →

    Bit of a sea change at the BBC…at least in parts. There must have been an official memo come down from on high that demanded a more honest and open exploration of the issues surrounding immigration. The BBC has had a few looks at David Goodhart’s book ‘The British Dream’, we have had a programme from Victoria Derbyshire that didn’t seek to hide the true reasons for many … Continue reading →

    Couple of interesting comments that went completely unremarked…and considering the huge political fuss about energy companies raising prices you might have thought they were somewhat noteworthy.   Ed Davey, energy minister, on Today (08:16) stated that: ‘Rising gas prices have been the cause of rising energy bills at the moment.’   Cameron when talking about the nuclear power station deal and pricing said that it was cheaper than … Continue reading →

    Yet another religious wind bag (apologies to anyone who actually likes religious windbaggery).   Even a Labour man looks askance at the new Archbishop of Canterbury as he does a bit of pious grandstanding on behalf of the Labour Party (and is always given a headline or two on the Beeb)….without any solutions to the problems he raises it might be added. Dan Hodges cocks a snook: The … Continue reading →