The recent escalation of rocket attacks from Gaza is of little interest to the BBC. Scanty reporting treats Israelis impersonally, while Palestinian individuals are likely to be given names and ages.Reporters know that subtly empathetic wording will have one effect, just as distancing, dehumanising phrasing will have another. Why should the BBC use these tactics at all, let alone apply them to one side and not the other?Because they think … Continue reading
As the last Open Thread is disappearing towards the South Pole, here is a new one. Please have your say! Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.
The BBC’s former European Affairs correspondent William Horsley ceased being a BBC correspondent in 2007 but still continues to write for BBC Online as an analyst. (He was on ‘Broadcasting House’ this morning, reading his own essay denouncing the Japanese political class. I’m not exaggerating!) Here he is, writing (at the BBC’s invitation) on their College of Journalism blog last month: UK media blind with indignation at Strasbourg courtSome extracts … Continue reading
Compare this report from Fox News: U.S. Launches Cruise Missiles Against Qaddafi’s Air Defenses The U.S. Navy fires the first U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles against Libyan leader’s Muammar al-Qaddafi’s air defenses Saturday, a military source tells Fox News. The U.S. military strikes clear the way for European and other planes to enforce a no-fly zone designed to ground Qaddafi’s air force and cripple his ability to inflict further violence on … Continue reading
Compare these reports. The BBC website is upbeat about the Palestinians’ latest measures to heal the feud between Hamas and Fatah. Mahmoud Abbas is ready to go to Gaza, and Hamas has welcomed the move. Hoorah! The second paragraph reads: “Both parties seem to be responding to the recent demonstrations that were inspired by the uprisings elsewhere in the Middle East, reports the BBC’s Jon Donnison from Ramallah.” Then why … Continue reading
Hillary Clinton told CNN the other day that she won’t be working for the President if there is a second term in 2012. Not just that she doesn’t want to be Sec. of State again, but wants no position at all in His Administration. She told Wolf Blitzer that she doesn’t want to be Sec. of State again because she has the best job in the world right now. Because … Continue reading
This is an update to earlier blogposts by David Preiser about BBC coverage of the troubled passage of deficit reduction legislation in Wisconsin (see here, here, here). Media double-standards over Wisconsin have become so blatant that even a left-leaning blogger on Huffington Post, Lee Stranahan, has expressed his distaste: Why isn’t the mainstream media talking about the death threats against Republican politicians in Wisconsin? …Ignoring the story of these threats … Continue reading
The weekend beckons so here is a new Open Thread to lead us into it…. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.
I chuckled at this interview on the BBC this morning. You can feel BBC outrage at the fact that more and more Brits are living longer than ever despite our obesity/unhealthy eating/incorrect drinking/you name it. It’s so unfair that people thrive despite the Nanny State the BBC would impose on us all! Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.
The BBC’s ability to wilfully miss the parts of news stories that do not fit in with “the narrative” is always amusing. A Biased BBC reader notes; “We have headline stories of government cuts damaging Britain’s education by limiting foreign students …Mark Easton labelling it a ‘scathing critique’ and another story about the ‘doubling’ of student debt….and another about teenagers getting lessons in how to get a good night’s sleep…and … Continue reading
