Amongst the comprehensive coverage afforded the publication of the Dilnot report by the BBC this morning was the throwaway comment by Evan Davies on Today that in Scotland, the issue of social care costs for the elderly is sorted, as “the taxpayer pays”. Really? Which taxpayer, Evan? The suggestion made by Davies is that Scotland covers all of its costs in this area which is fundamentally untrue. I know the … Continue reading
There was a nice piece by Damian Thompson in the Telegraph yesterday about the Johann Hari dilemma. Is the means okay – even cheating – if it justifies the end? Hari’s views are unpalatable and immature. They would be; it seems he’s only thirty two years old, if a tad chunky for a young fella. But the principle is not unlike the line postulated by defenders of Charles Enderlin’s decision … Continue reading
The winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Peace is currently involved in military attacks on six different countries. Where is the BBC on this? Now the US President has even sent troops to invade yet another Muslim country: Somalia. Where are the BBC’s war correspondents? Where is the BBC North America editor to give expert analysis on why The Obamessiah isn’t a cowboy warmonger? Fortunately, Matt Frei is no … Continue reading
Just watched Chris Patten on the Marr Show extolling the qualities of BBC output. Quite. So then I endure a few minutes of pouting Suzanne Reid’s “Sunday Morning” programme to discover that the panel of “expert” commentators includes Terry Christian and a former burglar. That’s the sort of quality that so distinguishes the BBC and which Chris Patten (David Cameron’s man) thinks is worth £3bn a year. Click through to … Continue reading
We’re not the only ones to have noticed the BBC’s problem with impartiality. Andrew Griffiths MP has written a piece about it in The Commentator. “Is the BBC incapable of impartiality?”He is particularly concerned with the politically unbalanced panels on Question Time.Andrew, where have you been all this time? Maybe you should start reading this blog. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.
This is a guest post by Chuffer. Now, if you found Life of Brian funny, particularly the scene about ‘Weleasing Woderick’, you’ll love the new newsreader at BBC Radio Solent. Not only is she unable to read aloud (words like ‘legislature’ prove awkward, and ‘sister ship’ somehow becomes ‘ship sister’) but she has a speech impediment that means ‘Cameron’ becomes ”Camewon’, and ‘aggressive’ becomes agwessive’. And, of course, ‘radio’ becomes … Continue reading
People accuse me of cherry picking when I present my arguments against the BBC’s one-sided reporting of matters related to Israel.It’s my job to put my case. I’m not going to put theirs too. I’m acting for the prosecution so to speak. Do defence lawyers put the case for the prosecution and the prosecutors likewise argue on behalf of the defence? No they don’t, because they’re on opposite sides.The BBC … Continue reading
While they’re eager to tell you the latest updates from the White House spokesman, celebrity gossip, irrelevant death tattle, a human interest story about a US Communist who moved to the paradise of China, every new detail on a celebrity rape case, and a non-story about how a manufacturing increase really isn’t one (but it made for a good opportunity for a headline to mislead the lazy reader into thinking … Continue reading
Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.
The Today programme is now producing its own anti-government protest songs. It was only a matter of time, I suppose. Business presenter Adam Shaw sat down with Robbie Williams’ songwriter Guy Chambers to come up with a tune about government pension proposals. Listen to the result here. Lyrics: We make two big journeys in our story it’s often said,One when we are married, one when we are dead.I thought we … Continue reading
