TRICKY VICKY GOES MANUFACTURING….

…on the BBC at least. A B-BBC reader writes… On 5Live on Wednesday Victoria Derbyshire gave us a fine example of the BBC manufacturing a news story. Riven Vincent. the mother of a disabled child who caught the headlines in January for her criticism of provision for respite care, was dragged into the studio by Derbyshire for an interview….she wasn’t a ‘current’ story in the news so…. Why? This is … Continue reading

COMPARE AND CONTRAST – PART ONE.

Here’s one view on US unemployment; The U.S. unemployment rate hit 10.3 percent in February, up from 9.8 percent at the end of January, according to the Gallup polling agency. The rate of those considered to be underemployed, meanwhile, reached 19.9 percent last month, up from 18.9 percent at the end of January, Gallup says. Results are based on a 30-day rolling average. Here’s another; The US unemployment rate fell … Continue reading

No Bite in the Bark

Sir Howard Davies was given an easy time this morning by rottweiler Humph.Sir Howard’s resignation may have been a noble selfless thing for the sake of that fandabbydozy institution the LSE, but I felt we never got to the nitty gritty.What about the influence this dosh from despots might have on the teaching? Humph did ask, but he let Sir Howard get away with a distinctly cavalier denial. Where was … Continue reading

Question Time LiveBlog 3rd March 2011

Question Time tonight, on the day of the Barnsley by-election, comes from Derby. On the panel we have Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith MP. Fresh from her recent victory over Cathy Ashton in the regional heats of International Face Like A Horse, there is the local Labour MP and former foreign secretary (really) Margaret Beckett. Also former Labour minister ‘Lord’ Malloch Brown, historian David Starkey and economist and journalist Liam … Continue reading

PEOPLE’S ENEMY

I have reported before that the PR outfit Futerra is a BBC-linked organisation that trains BBC people on how to spread climate change propaganda. Here, Richard Black, bemoaning the scrapping of the useless quango the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), fantasises that it might wash its hands of dirty government funding and transmute instead into a body that becomes “a people’s watchdog” on green government. He spouts with enthusiastic glee: The … Continue reading

The Day Today

I was listening, on and off, to Today this morning. Somewhere in a news bulletin I thought I heard:“US President Barack Obama has condemned the shooting of two American airmen. He described it as an “outrageous act”, and pledged to “ensure that all the perpetrators are brought to justice”I’m sure they will leave no turn unstoned to discover the motive.Then I heard Evan Davis discussing the Pope’s extraordinary decision to … Continue reading

USEFUL IDIOTS

I’ve been away for a few days and am busy catching up on recent blogposts and comments (and excellent stuff it is too). I see that the BBC has devoted some attention to links between the Gaddafi family and various British institutions and politicians. However, I can’t seem to find any mention of the useful idiots who, in the name of climate change, supported this particular PR exercise/vanity project back … Continue reading