Question 1.  How do you spell ‘Labour got it wrong’? Answer: ‘The Tories did it’   What is the missing word in this report  on the failure of PFI hospitals? And the answer isn’t ‘Tory’. Hospitals are either going to close or be put into ‘administration’ because their costs have spiralled out of control as they try to make the PFI payments. What else is there? Oh yes this: ‘The capital simply … Continue reading →

  The BBC’s Black Ops co-conspirator has surfaced in the shape of the Guardian’s editor Alan Rusbridger going in for the kill whilst Murdoch is down…but still not out. It is of course beautifully written…articulate and erudite…however it’s beautifully written tripe with a huge side order of self interested drivel. The overwhelming case for plurality This is not just about Rupert Murdoch – allowing media power to be concentrated in … Continue reading →

  Here’s something that should get the hearts all aflutter in the corridors of the BBC:   Top banker warns PM of City’s fears over British exit from Europe Peter Sands, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, had a breakfast meeting with the Prime Minister on Monday during which he is understood to have raised concerns over a British breakaway. The warning was sounded amid growing calls from Conservative MPs … Continue reading →

   ….or shoots itself in the foot. The BBC has commissioned a report on the BBC’s coverage of the ‘Arab Spring’…its conclusions…. The BBC’s coverage of the Arab Spring was generally impartial but could have benefited from greater breadth and context, according to the BBC Trust. It said the BBC should have done more to authenticate user-generated content (UGC), such as mobile phone footage taken by activists or bystanders. The … Continue reading →

Ever wondered why the BBC seemed so keen to take down Rupert Murdoch and News International?    Just part of the License Fund bargaining ploy……. NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “The upshot of the Leveson revelations of the Murdoch influence and stranglehold on the UK’s political process is a desperate need for a re-evaluation of the BBC licence deal. This was made behind closed doors and under what we know … Continue reading →

  Nick Robinson happy to tweet about coughs and football but misses the funny one when Labour’s Shadow Education Minister Kevin Brennan gets his numbers wrong: ‘Only 3 in 10 pupils, that’s 60% as I know the Secretary for State’s not very good at maths, got a good GCSE in 1997.’   However the BBC ever comprehensive in their approach to reporting the full story buried that gem in this … Continue reading →

    @bbcnickrobinson via Twitter Bring back O levels, attack Jimmy Carr’s tax avoidance, defend the Falklands – attempt to reverse damage of omni shambles perchance? 　 O Levels….leaked by someone (libDem?) to Daily Mail. Carr’s tax….brought up by the Times. Falklands…Think that was the Argies making the running on that one. So all in all poor show and rubbish analysis. Bit of a ‘omnishambles’ of a tweet perchance?

Daphne Anson in the ‘Open Thread’ has brought this to our attention and reminds us of the highly selective narrative that the BBC adopts in relation to the Israeli struggle for survival….no doubt made all the harder with the election of a Muslim Brotherhood member as President of Egypt…who claims he will protect Christians and women (from whom?) but no mention of the Jewish neighbours. The BBC “got it wrong” by … Continue reading →

    Quite a few comments recently on the ‘Fast and Furious’ debacle in the US. I haven’t been following the BBC’s coverage of it too closely but having had a quick look here are some thoughts. The BBC as a whole has reported the story, the latest being on the 20th June, both unattributed as to the author: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18524414 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18528798 　 However as noted in the comments the BBC’s … Continue reading →

A new Open Thread for a new week….same old subject!