Somebody Doesn’t Like the BBC

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Last month, B-BBC reader La Cumparista made the following comment on David Vance’s post about a BBC interview with a Man Booker Prize nominee: I would really like Howard Jacobson to win the Man Booker prize this year. Has he had much publicity on the BBC? Jacobson is listed with the others on BBC news briefs about the authors on the short list, but only Peter Carey got a special … Continue reading →

Protecting The BBC (Literally)

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So hands up who knew that the BBC still has a secret underground bunker, 10-floors deep into a mountain in the middle of nowhere, built during the Cold War in case there was a nuclear Armageddon? Buried 10 storeys into the hillside is a fully functioning nuclear bunker, built at great expense in 1966, at the height of the Cold War. So few people knew of its existence that, even when … Continue reading →

Sorry is the Hardest Word

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Whatever you make of the slur on Band Aid, the BBC’s apology to Sir Bob must have posed a dilemma.On the one hand, one of their favourite enterprises, fundraising for charities, fronted by one of their favourite personalities, Sir Bob Geldof.On the other hand, one of the BBC’s most intransigent internal organisations, the complaints department indoors which must be obeyed.So the complaints department eventually capitulated, and Sir Bob was sufficiently … Continue reading →

Licence Fee Freeze Is "Like Waterboarding".

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John Simpson, the BBC’s World Affairs Editor, has compared the licence fee freeze to “waterboarding”. In a letter written to Ariel, the BBC’s own in-house newsmagazine, the BBC’s own in-house newsmagazine Mr Simpson says that only “far-right idealogues” and the “Murdoch empire” think the BBC should share the pain being endured by the rest of the public sector. It’s not fair that B-BBC doesn’t get full recognition there too. “Our … Continue reading →

Hague’s Mysterious Visit.

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The BBC is reporting “Israel halts ‘dialogue’ with UK over war crimes law.”This looks like another of Israel’s deliberate snubs, this time aimed at the UK rather than the US (over the curious incident of the announcement about settlements coinciding with Joe Biden’s visit.) William Hague is being humiliated, so they say, but at least he doesn’t risk being arrested in Israel, as Israeli officials do if they are foolish … Continue reading →

OBAMA IS THE WINNER

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The morning after the night before. Feeling a bit shattered after our collective LIVEBLOG late last night, but it seemed to go well and betraying my OWN bias, I am of course happy to have seen the GOP/Tea Party deliver a stinging rebuke to BBC poster boy Obama. Thanks to all those hundreds who came along, I enjoyed your comments and company. However the BBC has not been prepared to take … Continue reading →

US Mid-Term Elections Live-Blog 2nd Nov

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Tonight we’ll be live-blogging the US mid-term elections. The BBC and the left-leaning media are already trotting out the excuses, the blame game is beginning and the spinning on all sides has been going for days. But the polls are only just closing and careers can still be won and lost in the next few hours. We’ll have the live-chat going at midnight UK time, which will be two hours … Continue reading →