Bearing in mind that the job was as Director General of the BBC, one of the world’s biggest and most powerful broadcasters, you might think that the job would be hard to just walk into.  In fact it seems it would be harder to get a job in the BBC canteen than to get your feet under the DG’s desk. Here is is a statement by Chris Patten which … Continue reading →

Aasmah Mir ?@AasmahMir RT this if you still love the BBC..   These tweets come from a stream provided by this site which brings together most of the BBC crew in Israel/Gaza. They are mostly from Gaza and as such present a certain narrative to the world that is pretty much concentrated on Gaza…and as decided by the BBC, on the victims of Israeli strikes. That by its very nature … Continue reading →

  Jeremy Bowen is doing his bit for the war effort….we’re just not sure whose. Here he is pushing the sentimental narrative on behalf of the Palestinians…. Jeremy Bowen ?@BowenBBC Piece I wrote for the BBC website about the #Gaza ceasefire — and the girl with the wish list http://bbc.in/Y62IVi  #Israel Jeremy Bowen ?@BowenBBC Wishes for the future handed to a #BBC colleague from a child whose family fled from … Continue reading →

  The BBC are pretty insistent that rockets from Gaza are a reaction to Israel’s blockade on Gaza…..you could choose to believe that except that the rocket fire started a long time before the blockade and evidence shows that the mindset of the  rocketeers is not effected by anything the Israelis actually do…it is their very presence in ‘Palestine’, ALL of Palestine, that is the cause of the rockets.   … Continue reading →

There’s nothing like kicking a man when he’s down and Steve Hewlett is giving George Entwistle, and Mark Thompson, a bit of a thumping in this interview with Sheila Fogarty about the new DG, Tony Hall. (From 55 mins) He also vividly demonstrates the visceral hatred and antipathy for Thatcher (PBUH) that still runs through the blood of any veteran BBCer. What is notable about this interview is that Thompson … Continue reading →

    I read these tweets and then read a report on BBC Watch which relates what the BBC’s Kevin Connolly has been saying on the Jeremy Vine show…..that it is not insignificant that the Israeli elections are nearing…..but there is a distinct mismatch between the outlook from the Israeli tweets and Connolly…..reading the tweets would indicate that if this was a war launched as part of an election campaign … Continue reading →

A fresh Open Thread for Wednesday  

  ‘Perception of bias can be as damaging as the reality’ Met. Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan Howe This is from a document from the BBC (via Guido) which is making the case for them not revealing their spending but it also reveals their level of management reduction which you might bear in mind as you read the interview by Victoria Derbyshire with the Met. Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan Howe…..   … Continue reading →

  Paul Mason has set up a Tumblr account.   You may like to have a look….either to try and dig some ‘dirt’ or just out of interest…..it does in fact look, from a spectator’s point of view, quite a diverting and absorbing site…just remember the Devil has the best tunes…don’t be fooled and sucked in. One thing Mason does admit is that Orwell  “…would have ripped the **** mercilessly … Continue reading →

A little light relief from Gaza etc …..     Newsnight editor Paul Mason up for Bad Sex book award BBC Newsnight’s economics editor Paul Mason has been shortlisted for the Literary Review’s Bad Sex Awards 2012 for his debut novel.   The Guardian enjoyed it: Reading the passages rich in masochistic sex, you easily imagine Mason joyfully kicking free of BBC fact-checkers.   but…. The BBC are a bit … Continue reading →