Saturday 12 November 2016

Smugness in a suit (and colourful tie)


Gavin Allen, looking (and being) smug

Gavin Allen, BBC Controller of Daily News Programmes, was on this week's Newswatch defending the BBC for viewer's charges that it was massively biased against Trump in its US election coverage. 

Did Gavin admit any failings in the BBC's coverage? Not a bit of it. He dismissed all criticism out of hand and insisted that the BBC had got everything right.   

Here's a tweet from DB which sums it all up in less than 140 characters:

8 comments:

  1. Question Time, Newsnight, BBC News Channel, Newswatch, etcetera etcetera….our cup runneth over. Peak bias.
    How can two poor little independent bloggers possibly keep up? ITBB’s head has exploded. Half of it has at least.

    Even Trump’s potentially conciliatory gestures are wrong. Matthew Price:
    Trump likes some aspects of Obamacare? He’s betraying his supporters!
    Trump praises Hillary’s gracious concession speech? His supporters won’t like that!

    He’s wrong even when he’s right.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We need to know what motives lie behind this smug BBC bias, and their total abandonment of balanced news coverage as has been evident from the corporate response to the UK EU Referendum and now, to the US Presidential Election.

    If Gavin Allen thinks that 'the BBC had got everything right', there must be a total breakdown in the measurement of public opinion and in the feedback of response from the viewing public.

    How can a publicly funded organisation have so little respect for its viewers and listeners (and website readers)?

    Probably, the only feedback Gavin receives is from his minions, who will only tell him would they think he will like to hear: comments filtered through layers of obedient BBC employees and outside programme makers, who, for fear of losing out on the shake of the money-tree, will always toe the line.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gavin Allen: not just smug but Teflon coated smug.

      When the Trump result became obvious why did BBC1 then simulcast BBC News Channel all day long at the expense of scheduled programmes and UK news?

      We had to wait a very long time to hear of people being killed in the Croydon tram crash.

      Mr Smug addressed none of this.

      Delete
  3. Post election Have Your Says, when permitted of course, display a noticeable indication that many are now "on to" the bias, but it is not individual complaints that nail them rather the analysis over time as in the recent counting of anti, pro and neutral Brexit speakers on the Today programme which provides the indisputable evidence of the underlying problem.

    ReplyDelete
  4. All I can think of looking at that picture is...

    http://i2.wp.com/kennethmorvant.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Matt-Frewer-as-Max-Headroom.jpg?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wondered what had happened to Max.

      Delete
    2. G,G,G,G, Got too close to the truth...

      Delete
  5. Mr Smug continues his patronising disregard of licence payers' views on Newswatch 25/5/2018 - blanket coverage of Royal Wedding on BBC1 & BBC Newschannel

    ReplyDelete

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