Slight spring clean at the blog, look-wise, in early mid-winter. I believe it's what's known as a 'whiteout'. But everything else remains the same. And thank you, as ever, for sticking with us and continuing to comment.
Nihal Arthanayake is probably the most biased presenter on the BBC, radio and television combined, broadcasting today. I switched on 5 Live by chance this afternoon, 30th January, at 2.45 pm and was both shocked and appalled by segment discussing the plight of convicted MP Fiona Onasanya. Arthanayake invited barrister Theo Barclay, author of Fighters and Quitters - Great Political Resignations, to discuss Miss Onasanya's case. The first line of questioning was 'why would the Police visit Miss Onasanya's home for merely breaking the speed limit at 41mph. Can we all expect a Police visit for minor speeding charges now? The impression given was that Miss Onasanya was targeted as a person of colour. Theo Barclay quickly kicked this into touch but Arthanayake persisted probing the injustice of the Labour Party throwing her overboard when her appeal was not yet heard. I was astonished when his line of questioning continued in this manner for some minutes. Barclay seemed uncomfortable, thinking Arthanayake had invited him on air to discuss other famous cases Huhne, Aitken etc. The interview concluded with Arthanayake asking why Onasanya should not have been given a second chance as she was only being jailed for 3 months and may only serve 6-8 weeks! As a minor offender, she should be given the benefit of a second chance surely? Theo Barclay again gave this notion short shift, pointing out that Miss Onasanya had been convicted of a major crime, perverting the course of justice. Arthanayake continued up to the news at 3pm, pleading leniency for Onasanya.
I was flabbergasted! I suspect Theo Barclay was also. My surprise was that Mr Arthanayake should have been probing why Miss Onasanya was still an MP, still allowed to draw her salary and why she did not get longer than 3 months jail ( her brother who pleaded guilty got 10 months and Chris Huhne and Vicky Price got 8 months).
This is a small 15 minute episode in the daily grind that is afternoons on 5 Live nowadays. Arthanayake beats all others for bias on the BBC hands down in my opinion. To think that this programme used to be fronted by the excellent Simon Mayo(what happened to him?) for many years and you can see how far we have fallen. Listen back and see if you agree?
Radio 5Live was always my choice at the time when Simon Mayo broadcast the afternoon show. It was his first leg-up into news and current affairs after leaving Radio 1.
He was in the hot-seat when the 911 Twin Towers news broke. I can remember his composure now, having to paint a picture over radio as the horrific events unfolded. I think Mayo had advance warning about the move to Salford. He jumped ship, along with many other experienced presenters, as he switched back to music programmes on Radio 2.
I agree with you Anon. I can't listen to the PC ideological outpourings from daytime Radio 5Live any more.
It's still good for sports commentary, and the Saturday afternoon coverage of football is very good.
You would have had much the same on Jeremy Vine on Radio 2. It was all 'Fiona' this, 'Fiona' that, not criminal Onasanya. Then we had the 'race activist' on to tell us that it was all 'because she is black'. At least we got to hear from a (self-declared) constituent who thought a solicitor should have known better.
Vine seems to be doing a lot of 'case for the appellant' at the moment, 'hammer lady', 'speedboat man' and know 'perjury politician'.
I referenced on the previous Open Thread that Idiot Nihal was in trouble for slandering Ben Fogel on the basis of no evidence at all except on what his wife told him about overhearing a comment in a park.
I don't think you can have an idiot like Nihal getting the "Most Biased" award - that requires some cunning, intelligence and intention. So please - choose from Evan Davis, Nick Robinson, Jon Sopel, Nick Bryant, Emily Maitlis or Kirsty Wark. I exclude John Simpson on account of his senility.
I think there is absolutely no chance this Onasanya woman will resign as an MP. Labour has been careful to be seen to do the right thing in expelling her, but as an independent taking the Labour whip she is essential for them at the moment and they'd loose a by-election. A recall even if successful would probably not be before another general election anyway. She's got away with it.
Sorry but why do I think the text is smaller? I thought I'd inadvertently changed the zoom or text size settings but I hadn't, yet it looked smaller and more distant.
I agree about the greyness too, though I tried tilting the screen and fancied I got it a bit more black looking. Was wondering if it the problem was with me and there'd been a sudden deterioration in my eyesight. But I've since been on another site where I didn't notice a similar effect.
Today R4 news main headline was all about a report from the IFG being very worried that the Government preparations for Brexit aren’t in place. Yet this report was commissioned by the BBC! So the BBC makes its own news to fit its agenda.
That's outrageous. The IFG is not an "independent think tank" as the BBC likes to pretend. It is chaired by Lord Sainsbury, one of the biggest and most powerful Remainiacs in the land - I think he likely bankrolls it. Its staff are uniformly pro-Remain and also very weak analysts whose predictions are usually found wanting in the real world.
It was all about that report, yes, but the way it treats that report is as if it is the authority on what the government is doing. Where is there any reference to what it is based on or any information about this institution and an explanation that it is not actually the government? The BBC does a good job of masking that, as it does with many things.Has the BBC asked the government? I think we should be told.
Also on the IFG board are Baroness Amos and Liam Byrne (former Labour ministers), and Richard Lambert, former editor of the FT. Its director is Bronwen Maddox, also a strong Remainer and currently visiting professor at the Policy Institute at King's College which is engaged in so-called research aimed at showing how ignorant leavers are about the EU. A further point is that IFG reports for the BBC are being commissioned by Chris Morris's 'reality check' unit - in other words, it is spending vast sums of licence fee money on reinforcing its own biased echo chamber. You could not make it up.
Anon (1) - I have been unsurprised if remain unimpressed how quickly a BBC staff member using the platform he enjoys to make unsubstantiated accusations over a personal spat has passed into the memory hole.
I am making sure his colleagues are reminded of it when using 'views my own' for such purposes themselves on twitter. I suspect my blockage tally on the transparent, accountable national broadcaster's special media platforms will increase as a consequence.
The BBC are quick to jump on any report that shows Brexit is bad but never headline anything good.
So I don't suppose they will report this plea for EU common sense from the influential Ifo Institute and Centre for Economic Studies. (Courtesy the Daily Telegraph)
Fair play to Simon McCoy. He interviewed Gerard Batten, UKIP leader, in a civilised and courteous manner, without interrupting all this replies. A stark contrast with the "telegraph-your-disapproval" style beloved of Maitlis, Davis and Mardell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKYaXbvS5RE
If the BBC deployed this approach across the board and gave UKIP access which reflected their votes and polling figures, I would not have an issue with their coverage. I wonder if UKIP had threatened legal action and that was why the BBC lifted the ban on Batten's appearance.
Good contribution to the debate by Nigel Farage, delivered into the heart of the European Parliament, telling MEPs what the implications are of a no-deal. It's all about the £39bn - which allows the EU to kick their own can down the road for a while until the remaining 27 are called upon to cover the shortfall in the future. I can't find reference to this on the BBC News website.
I heard a trailer for a Radio 4 prog on the Salman Rushdie fatwa. I think this is going to be a finessed version that shows a lot of empathy towards our poor beleagured Muslim community. The I Player blurb refers to the programme representing "overlooked communities" - I think we all know what that means.
Will be interested to hear any reviews of the prog here.
The thing about creeping Sharia, is you don't really notice it creeping up on you.
It's just incremental.
We now have a de facto Islamic blasphemy law in the UK, which means no MSM outlet will feature any direct criticism of Islam, Mohammed or Allah as depicted in the Koran. This extends to politics programmes, history programmes, philosophical issues, education and all other programme areas.
Even Sharia law has almost become a criticism-free zone. The de facto blasphemy law has definitely crept up on us through a combination of aggressive protest, craven appeasement and fear of terrorism.
It was noticeable how the Charlie Hebdo massacre was a turning point - after that any strong criticism of Islam in the UK stopped. Of course appeasers like the contemptible Ian Hislop of Private Eye, who you might think would be sympathetic to ideas of free speech, have connived in this process.
I am just seeing signs all over the place that we are being subjected more and more to Sharia policing of our public discourse. Rod Liddle hasn't been on QT for a while has he? And there are no Rod Liddle replacements lined up. No one is inviting Tom Holland to make new history programmes. No one is setting up discussion programmes where people like Christopher Hitchens are allowed to speak truthfully about Islam.
The idea that any publisher now would put out a book like "The Satanic Verses" is fanciful. They wouldn't - because there is now in place an informal Islamic blasphemy law that affects us all.
Question Time: Good grief - I found myself agreeing with Gina Miller; can I get counselling? Her view that the backstop is a red herring to distract our attention from the fact that the rest of May's deal is worse than staying in the EU was well received by both Brexiteers and Remaineers.
Yes I happened upon that Gina Miller intervention on QT and it's about the only time I've ever agreed with her about anything. Just shows how desperate the Remainers really are now - they are having to resort to the truth!!!
:-) Interesting report in Business section of today's Telegraph: "Economists angry at 'dangerous handling' of Brexit by EU." Apparently, " a group of leading German economists has told the EU to tear up the Irish backstop and ditch its ideological demands in Brexit talks." Looks as though there's panic on the other side of the Channel, so it's all a question of who blinks first...on past showing, we know it'll be May. (Apologies if this turns out to be a rehash of the Telegraph report Arne mentioned yesterday.)
EUREKA! - A few months ago, I was bemoaning the fact that, on my Android tablet, some peoples' links were black and inert (Peter!). If anyone else is using an Android tab, here's the solution, just discovered by accident!
1. Place a finger on the first group of characters and keep it there until the letters are highlighted in blue.
2. Now withdraw finger; you will see two blue 'tear drops.'
3. Place your finger on the second tear drop and drag it along to the end of the link. The link will now be highlighted in blue.
4. At the top of the page you'll see, among other things, 'Web search' - click on that. Simples!
Why choose two of the least dysfunctional countries on the planet, for all their faults, to hold a dysfunctionality contest? Just indicative of the BBC's national self-hatred, Americocentrism and Americophobia.
I guess the irony is lost on the BBC when it gloats over a story about the Daily Mail being flagged up by the Microsoft browser and warns that Mail Online: - fails to gather and present information responsibly - fails to handle the difference between news and opinion - fails to provide the names of writers
NewsGuard refused to change one of the ratings because Mail Online did not disclose "its conservative orientation".
Stating the obvious, all of those charges apply to the BBC with orientation reversed. You couldn’t make it up. The liberal left are completely blinded by their righteousness.
Quite. If it was just a matter of hypocrisy it wouldn't matter. But they have their hands on the levers, their hands on the scales and their hands on our money.
What is the point of BBC's impartiality guidelines when a BBC regular like the egregious Jonathan Freedland can get round them by the simple expedient of not working directly for the BBC?
It's fascinating to consider what drives the BBC's nostalgia over the mining industry. Everyone from mining towns and villages say good riddance to 't'pit' and thanks Mrs T for our generous payouts.
The BBC however, see the Scargill era as a time when there were clearly drawn battle lines - where Labour voters were socialists. Now, the BBC think by playing the nostalgia card, old memories of a golden age of socialism will be reawakened. How mistaken they are.
The traditional Miner/Labour vote will in the main have been Leave, and their views upon immigration etc are unlikely to chime with those of the BBC. In my experience, many Miners took their sons underground once and only once - just to make sure that they aspired to a life away from mining.
There is something seriously wrong with the way the BBC newsroom revels in bad news about Brexit.
I always spot the triumphant ‘told you so’ way in which they present any bad news story and shoehorn in as many Brexit references as they can.
The BBC has always had an unhealthy fascination in doom, gloom and misery. Celebrating good news and success never cuts the mustard unless it has a tick box PC angle.
‘The BBC understands’....story about Nissan investment is a case in point. They will get their teeth into this story and feed from it until it is stripped to the bone.
Interesting idea MB, although as Arne says above, they often adopt a triumphant tone when announcing bad Brexit News - presumably this would complicate matters. It would be better still if AI could also detect negative facial expressions.
I only caught the 11pm bulletin on the News Channel last night. Hearing the outline of the Nissan X-Trail item, I braced myself for the usual anti-Brexit onslaught but it didn't come: the expert from, I think, Aston University placed the bulk of the blame on the fact that the model is mainly diesel-powered, which is not what the customer wants. The News presenter asked him if Brexit had been a factor, he conceded that it hadn't helped but repeated that the problem was having the wrong fuel. She did not badger him about the Brexit connection, which made a refreshing change. However, when the same presenter was doing The Papers at about 00.30 today, she was insisting heavily on the Brexit angle - perhaps someone had had a word with her...
The fact that wrong fuel/bad planning is to blame is, I think, clearly demonstrated by the case of the equivalent Mitsubishi model, the Outlander. The plug-in hybrid version of this wiped the floor with the opposition last year & it's clearly the way to go for big SUV's.
A possibility that I find altogether believable, is that the French exerted influence in order to persuade Nissan to move production to France. See Wikipedia: Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi Alliance which makes fascinating reading!
I see the BBC are trotting out more Resolution Foundation guff on the news this morning. It is now their go to think-tank ( as Craig has mentioned on here before).
Like minded and like thinking, they are perfect propaganda bedfellows.
I have had similar conversations with salespeople trying to sell me extended warranties, "So you are saying this TV/fridge/microwave is unrelieable then?"
Nissan: Abracadabra! By 10a.m. today, yesterday's objective 'dirty diesels which nobody wants' angle had been ditched in favour of 'it's all the fault of Brexit'. Nissan itself is now blaming Brexit uncertainty - could this be a repeat of the Airbus story: Government asks them if they'd mind pointing finger at Brexit?
Update: 10.15 BBC1 News - the dirty diesels are back...along with Brexit uncertainty. Have now lost track of how many versions they've got through since yesterday!
BBC One news was positively schizophrenic last night with Nissan, first the report which was all about Brexit uncertainty with appropriate concerned sound bites from the local MP and workers.
Then the analysis from Simon Jack in the studio which blamed dirty diesels and production consolidation in Japan where nearly all X-Ttrails are made. He then went on to say Sunderland investment continues with the new Juke which will be made there.
Didn't see the BBC report but saw the ITV news which was reminder of just how Remainiac that organisation is. They turned the company's reasoning right round, leading with the suggestion the decision was Brexit-related, then admitting it was a case of "Brexit uncertainty hasn't helped" and finally but only briefly mentioning the real reasons (emissions standards and drop in demand). I don't think they mentioned the new Juke at all - so at least that is a rare BBC point for objectivity.
Dead right Arne! I think the truth is dirty diesels plus an equally dirty power struggle between Nissan & Renault, the two main members of the Triple Alliance, which includes Mitsubishi. Do have a look on Wikipedia at Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and scroll down to 'conflict over control' or how the French Government made a short-term purchase of 1.23 billion Renault shares which effectively gave it control of Nissan. ( no, I don't totally understand that either!) Nissan was clearly unhappy about this which seems to have scuppered the French aim of moving X-trail production to France.
MB - "turning the company's reasoning right round" - Yes, today's Guardian has done the same thing! I think the BBC's schizophrenia that Arne mentions is borne of a confused atempt to spin while appearing balanced!
It sounds to me as if Nissan's plans for X-trail production are altogether half-baked, whether in Sunderland or elsewhere. Diesel and the name X-trail both sound outdated. Diesel hybrids are rare - Mercedes do one I think - but the idea of developing a new ground-breaking model that might have market appeal away from their design and engineering base in Japan seems to have been fanciful from the outset.
That's exactly it Arthur - diesel IS outdated, but the petrol-electric hybrid produced by the third member of the Alliance: Mitsubishi, is not. And in UK it qualifies for £0 road tax! My guess is that the X-trail will re-appear with the Mitsu. power plant.
I think the answer is due to Sunderland being a leave voting area. There is more than a touch of "they're getting what they deserve" about the Nissan plans, this applies to Sky News too.
I don't suppose the BBC will report this bit of good news.
Jaguar Land Rover today reported record January 2019 US sales: Land Rover had its best ever January sales month with 7,385 units, an increase of 15 percent from 6,446 in January 2018; Jaguar sales were 3,078 units, an 18 percent increase from 2,604 units in January 2018. Jaguar Land Rover total January US sales reached 10,463 units, a 16 percent increase from 9,050 units in January 2018.
We all know that the House of Commons voted for the Graham Brady amendment. That amendment, which the Government have said they will now endeavour to put in to operation calls for the Backstop to be replaced - I repeat, replaced.
OK...so that message seems not to have reached the BBC. This is their take:
"Prime Minister Theresa May says she intends to return to Brussels with new ideas on the Irish backstop."
I'd like to see where she said that, because I can only think it would have caused a riot within Conservative ranks.
So this is really just Fake News.
The Fake News is compounded by the "analysis". This simply trots out all the failed EU ideas to keep the Backstop. It also accepts as fact that the Backstop is a necessary guarantee of no hard border, when it is nothing of the kind.
Nowhere does the article examine the real solutions to the border question, namely technological and adminsitrative - the ones that the Brady Amendment was clearly intended to promote.
Agreed MB. Here is more surrender talk from Katya Adler, this entire article is seen from the EU point of view, no balance, no analysis of alternatives. It’s just negative, defeatist and anti-British. Katya went native some time ago and needs to stay in Brussels post Brexit.
Stay in the place you love and keep out of the country you so clearly despise Katya.
What to make of the following?: "If Theresa May comes to Brussels later this week, she will be received politely and listened to attentively."
How can she write that when May has previously had the childish cold shoulder treatment and been ridiculed by drunkard Juncker and Tusk. There is no guarantee either will hold. She has simply been told that. An honest journalist would not have written that up as pre-ordained fact.
There's also no reference to the EU dynamic - the enthusiasm with which the EU top dogs are pursuing an EU Army, fiscal union, political censorship and continued mass immigration.
Also, the BBC have well and truly suppressed Farage's speech to the EU Assembly, where he laid into the Eurocrats in dramatic and effective style.
Panorama. Brexit - who's in charge? Watching this right now with Adrian Chiles reporting. I'm posting because the very first image was Boris and the £350m NHS red bus.
Very BBC, very biased and very unimaginative. Lets see if the rest of the programme follows the message of the first few seconds.
BBC MIDLANDS NEWS: Viewers will have been startled to hear newsreader Mary Rhodes announce that Birmingham City council is to make X million £s of "savings." Surely she must have meant to say "cuts"! - no, you don't understand: it's a Labour-controlled council so it's "savings."
It would be interesting to hear how contributors rank the bias of their local BBC TV news, compared with national BBC TV. I get to see a fair bit of TV via Freesat & sometimes surf the different regions. I think BBC Midlands is second only to London for its lack of appeal to those who do not belong to one of the Beeb's favoured minorities - the inhabitants of rural Worcestersire, Gloucestershire & Herefordshire must wonder why on earth they are paying their license fee. Full marks, though, to Channel Islands News - you can't get much less controversial than, "There's a traffic jam in the High Street"!
When BBC London TV News is not minoritising it's trying to play with the grown ups...with reports on Brexit that differ little from the national news (including in having a very pro-Remain bias).
When the evening's BBC Regional shows come on at 6.30pm it's always interesting to watch say....BBC London News and then watch BBC Spotlight which covers the West Country (used to be just Cornwall and Devon) but due to ridiculous cutbacks they have merged ALL Westcountry Counties as one BBC tv region. Well it's like London and The Westcountry region are two completely different planets. Every night on BBC London we get nothing but stories about Race, Gender and Diversity and that every nightly edition MUST include stories that cover those three subjects. And so through the BBC I don't recognize my City anymore. Why can't they just give us NEWS happening in London instead of daily profiling people from those three groups and ramming their pc and diversity agenda down our throats.
I dread to think what they're dishing out in places like Luton and Bradford on the local BBC News.
Oh and I see that the tv licence is going up by £4.00 come Spring. Now wouldn't that be digital utopia if the BBC went out by subscription only....So you wouldn't get any of their rubbish output and be able to watch everything else for free. Not sure that many would want to take out a subscription. And I wasn't surprised to hear that the BBC HAVE been accepting money from The E.U.
The classic BBC London News story will feature a black female boxer working out at an inner city boxing club... she will be "aiming for the 2020 Olympics" and the club we are told performs a vital service in a "deprived" neighbourhood keeping yoofs off the street and off drugs but the club is now threatened by "government cuts" we will be informed in grave tones.
In BBC Land no boxing club is ever a centre for distribution of illegal steroids or other illegal substances. So that's all good! :)
As not reported on the BBC? Lord Trimble to take government to court over Irish Backstop - apparently violates the principle of consent in the Good Friday Agreement. Will Gina approve?
I see that last evening (Mon 4th Feb) that Fiona Bruce emerged once more to present The Six O 'Clock Evening News. And I thought that little job avenue had shut down now that she had taken over Question Time. So is the QT job an extra salary on top of the news reading and Antique and fake art tv jobs?
Her arrival on Question Time has brought in yet more dumbing down to a show that I used to take more interest in. I do wish she wouldn't constantly smile through her teeth when presenting Q.T. It's supposed to be a serious talking platform between the public and politicians.
I got so irritated when twice she said in a certain way "Oh we're all having a jolly ol' time here. Why wouldn't you want to be here with us joining in. Can't imagine Dimbleby or Robin Day saying anything like that. It's so patronising. If people want that then why don't they go and watch that awful daily rot, The One Show.
Yes I accept that a lot of older housebound BBC tv viewers like to have their jolly little friendly tv presenters come in to their living rooms for company. But please Fiona, not on Question Time.
Oh and her excuse for an apology over last weeks blooper was at times inaudible and very quickly brushed over. Please Fiona stop dumbing down Question Time. Save that annoying grin for when you sign off on the tv News.
Agreed John! And a further point - while us Londoners can just about follow her mumbling, face-in-my-script, talking-through-my-teeth, sucking-on-the-vowels southern-posh delivery, I should imagine people in other parts of the country can hardly follow what she's saying! In fact I think some of them expressed that point on social media. Dimbo had many faults but at least his diction was clear.
This is a perfect example of how the BBC manipulate a story and exercise bias by omission, done here to protect their own.
The BBC version of events leading to Simon Mayo’s departure from Raduo 2 says that he found out about the decision to introduce a female co-presenter in a phone call with his agent. Which is true but in typical BBC style, it fails to tell the real story.
What was actually said in his interview:
The broadcaster admits to being deeply hurt when Lewis Carnie, boss of Radio 2, didn’t have the decency to tell him face-to-face about the new arrangement.
Mayo recalls: ‘He goes to my agent, then my agent rings up and says, “Lewis says you’ve got to have a co-presenter.” And I said, “Oh, really? That’s interesting.” ’
This goes on all the time with the BBC and those who rely on the BBC as their main source of news are often seriously misled.
True, but the Mayos of this world never complain until affects them personally.
In fact Mayo was at the forefront of the Blairite mind-manipulation programme back in 1999 (I was going to say the noughties but it must have been before the new Millennium!).
He fronted a programme about the Fake Millennium Bug thing, I recall, which treated the population like they were medieval peasants easily gripped by irrational fears and ready to reach for the pitchforks at a moment's notice.
It was a classic BBC approach to an alleged "problem" (planes will fall out of the sky - as believable as planes won't fly after Brexit) that in reality had been created by gullible politicians and hucksters on the make. Thinking back it was one of the first times that I was conscious just how far things had gone at the BBC, that they were willing to attempt mass manipulation of opinion in this very obvious way, no doubt in concert with government.
This issue came up on another thread - the impact of single parenting and divorce on educational attainment. This is not so much "bias" (though it's there)as "walking on egg shells" syndrome...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-47057787
Branwen is careful to preface the results of the survey showing the negative impact of lone parenting and divorce with a classic BBC line: "Family life is more richly varied than ever before." Or, if you prefer "Family life is more effed up than ever before."
And of course the obvious conclusion from the study as far as the BBC is concerned is not that "lone parenting and divorce involving older children should be discouraged by various means" but that "more resources" are needed to support lone parents.
BBC Icons - a travesty of a programme which I think has already been covered here. The big joke is now on the BBC. They cover every other PC tick box but not the biggest current BBC requirement and hot issue. The 7 finalists are all male.
Sky News have "opened up their newsroom" so we can see what goes on behind the scenes.
Fair enough, quite interesting...
But there was something I noticed...whereas the Sky presenters and guest commentators have a nicely diverse range (unless you're Chinese, East European or Latin American) "behind the scenes" it could be South African TV circa 1960 it was so "hideously white" - to use Greg's quote.
The UK MSM is just the biggest edifice of hypcorisy ever built.
MB mentioned, yesterday, that Lord Trimble is to take court action against the Government because he believes May's deal over the backstop violates the principle of consent in the Good Friday Agreement. How does May feel about this? We nearly found out in her press conference, broadcast live this afternoon, but then a mysterious loss of sound & vision blotted out the whole of her reply. How convenient!
Liam Neeson said a stupid thing that he must have known that it would get him in trouble. Nowadays just just can’t say that.
He’s done for I think because the BBC and MSM are after him big time. Rather than just reporting the facts they are now into escalating it as their main story across TV, radio and internet.
I don’t think they will let it drop until they’ve got their man.
I think my point here it that when it comes to the moral issues they hold dear, the BBC are always a little too eager to be a witness for the prosecution.
Hmmm...Liam seems to come from a Republican background (he claims hunger strikers who died among this friends). The BBC used to be forgiving to the racism displayed by ignorant IRA supporters to black British soldiers. Maybe they will make allowance in this case. Plus Liam has cleverly thrown in religion: claiming he confessed it all to a Priest.
I was appalled by the smug, hypocritical moralising of the BBC on display on the Today programme.
They were going on about the raised suicide rate among young people since 2016, shedding crocodile tears, and - as is their wont - connecting it to their social media rivals (Facebook etc).
This is vile stuff. Since the 2016 EU Referendum result, the BBC has deliberately sought to raise anxiety levels in the populace - especially the yougn - with a succession of programmes seeking to make people feel alone, isolated, confused, fearful of the future, convinced that society was much more divisive than a year before, unable to tell truth from fake etc etc. Is it any surprise that given that media "reality" projected by the BBC, many vulnerable young adults are becoming depressed, scared, and disorientated and in some cases resorting to suicide to end it all? [As I write this I just heard Katie Razzall refer to "our divided nation"...not something they kept repeating ad nauseam.]
Imagine a parallel world where the BBC celebrated the Referendum vote as a legitimate exercise in democracy and got behind all those seeking to see the result implemented. Imagine if they had stressed what unites us all. Imagine if rather than broadcasting a succession of demoralising programmes they had broadcast programmes celebrating our can do attitude, our innovation, our resilience...
Would the suicide rate have been as high? I don't think so.
I was driving and had the misfortune of hearing the whole of the first episode of Fatwa on the car radio.
I think this is one of the most disturbing programmes ever broadcast by the BBC. Why? Because it was explicitly legitimising the idea that there was nothing wrong in supporting the Fatwa. That this was a case of "which side are you on", of "picking sides".
Added to that of course was a completely biased account of the Ray Honeyford case trying to make him sound like a racist bigot (whereas in fact he wanted people of all races to internalise British core values).
In fact it is clear that while the programme is ostensibly about an ideologically-motivated plot to murder a writer (and anyone anywhere on the planet who was helping him publish his work - ie tens of thousands of people), they are dragging in race to ensure listeners are cowed into accepting the narrative.
It was interesting that the programme was a bit down on the Ayatollah - but never forget the mutual hatred between Sunnis and Shias. In part (though this programme will never admit it) - the Rushdie Affair was also about an ideological purity contest between Shias and Sunnis.
So far the programme has been notable for ignoring the corruption and/or violence of Pakistani politics both in Pakistan and here. But of course we were treated to numerous mentions about the abusive messages sent to supporters of the Fatwa (so far nothing about the same sent to opponents of the Fatwa).
This was an appalling programme and underlines just how far our country and our culture have been undermined by this alien idea of "the Fatwa".
One last point - in previous times in a trailer for such a programme "Fatwa" would have been intoned in sombre or doom-laden fashion. Not now, not in 2019. Nope, the co-presenter with the poor grasp of English pronunciation for the rest of the script is happy to give it the full on Arabic pronunciation and use a tone suggestive of joy, power, righteousness and celebration.
It's interesting how Brexit is such a big phenomenon that it is breaking some journos while others ride the wave. I think LK's schtick just doesn't work in this phase of the super-crisis of Brexit.
This article from Kuennesberg is pathetic...confused, low grade and irrelevant:
Remember how Katya Adler was telling us a couple of days ago that May would be received politely by Tusk and listened to attentively... I queried that on the basis of previous experience.
If Adler thinks the polite reception includes rubbishing of May's Brexit supporting colleagues in Cabinet and Parliament as having a "special place in hell" then that shows just how much of an EU Apparatchik she is.
Also, please note Tusk, Cameron's government told the British people he would stay in office and his government would implement a Brexit vote. Brexiters can't be blamed for Cameron being a liar, and not having any intention of implementing the vote. Also Brexiters cannot be blamed for Remainers like May, Hammond and Robins effing it up. The vast majority of Brexiter MPs support conclusion of a Canada Plus deal, which the EU has offered - it was just that May didn't want it.
Tusk does such a good impression of a German gestapo officer with his playful tormenting of the suspect, that I thought I'd check him out...yep, not a real Pole. His Grandmother was German.
Agreed - I'm surprised the Beeb didn't water it down or even 'lose' it. As you say, it can only help the cause - they really don't understand what makes the average Brit tick, do they?
Nothing yet from Katya Adler on the BBC website. Odd, given how she's supposed to be the EU expert. As I observed about LK's increasingly pathetic pieces, this Brexit Crisis is breaking lots of journalistic reputations. I reckon you can add Adler to the list. It's like a war...others have benefited, like Tim Shipman.
The very poor quality of the BBC's reporting has been exposed.
The BBC are doing their best to keep a lid on this tale of "FU from the EU" diplomacy. Their story has no follow up on the offensive card Varadkar passed to Juncker or Juncker's offensive tweet.
I wonder what the Macron-Blair plan is? Perhaps they are counting on May never authorising no deal...hoping Corbyn agrees her deal subject to a Second Referendum - at which (when it's May's deal v Remain) Remain will no doubt win.
It's a high risk strategy for them. Of course May's problem is that the DUP will likely unseat her as PM in those circumstances.
The first 10 minutes of the BBC news tonight was outrageous in the way they presented Tusk’s comments. First Tusk’s press conference where a sympathetic Kuenssberg said he was clearly angry and then a we had a shot of Varadkar laughing.
Two quick sound bites condemning it from Francois and Leadsom. Then Ben Bradshaw using a soft and sincere tone getting a final long say to agree wholeheartedly with Tusk. Followed by Sinn Fein condemning the British government.
Finally Katya Adler giving analysis that bypassed Tusk’s comments where she pitched in being conciliatory and supportive of the EU positIon.
That’s certainly not how I saw the intervention as it developed today. The BBC version of events seem to be coming from a parallel world. ‘Nothing to see here, move on’ appeared to be their intent.
I saw it as well...they completely ignored the other two examples of gratuitous offence (the Birthday Card insult and Juncker's follow up tweet). Why? Surely it's highly relevant given they were leading on Tusk.
Adler offered no apology for her earlier misleading prediction of a polite reception for Mrs May.
It's great if you are a Remainer Labourite, or an EU functionary spreading lies or a failed Cameronite negotiator and you are interviewed by Mark Urban on Newnsight. None of that pesky Maitlis-style interruption. He'll just let you go on and on and on and won't question any of your cosy assumptions or hold you to account on anything.
Today, today...I recall last night Michael Portillo on This Week mentioning once again (he did so last week) the BBC's active campaigning for a second referendum, its tenacious advocacy of the cause. Then this morning I hear Lord Kerslake advocating the second referendum on Today. This is something that has little support in Parliament or in the country but the BBC is forever promoting it. But look at the other side - no deal or WTO terms exit. That is also something that has limited support in Parliament and the country (probably about 15% and 25% respectively) but hardly ever gets an airing on the BBC. Why not? It is just as valid as the second referendum - I would say more valid because it clearly implements the decision of the 2016 Referendum. But the BBC know featuring it is - for them and their favoured outcome (Remain) - a risk and a danger...the more people would come to understand no deal and the preparations for it being made by both the EU and the UK, the less they would fear it and the more they would support it.
Remainer Robinson was at least obliged to present an item and discussion on the current war of words between France and Italy, not that he approached the task with much relish. H never asked the obvious question: why would the UK want to remain in such a dysfunctional entity as the EU, given its inability to do anything even as simply as manage its borders and its migration policy.
Quite a heartwarming puff-piece on the Beeb today about Safiyah Khan, the 20 year old lady from Birmingham who smiled calming in the face of a protester. She comes across as very pleasant.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-47147069
As explained in the article; "That photograph of her coolly going toe-to-toe with a protester was seen by thousands and described in The Guardian as a symbol of the city "standing up to the far-right group".
Good for her, though I can't help but notice the jarring contrast with the BBC's coverage of last young person who calmly stood their ground against a confrontational protester.
What a difference between a MAGA hat and a Specials T-shirt.
It's amazing how, if you step outside the magic PC circle, the BBC will come after you...
Just being watching Mary Beard engaged in girlish flirting with Philip "Boring" Pullman on Front Row Late...not a pretty sight.
For no particular reason the both of them went after Richard Dawkins who they agreed was an extreme zealot. Oh yeah, that would be the same Richard Dawkins who shocked the BBC by criticising the Islamic belief system. Ever since he's been on their target list. Dawkins for all his faults is worth 100 of Beard and 100 of Pullman - because he's standing up for the truth.
As a passing thought, having checked him out on Wikipedia, Pullman again confirms my theory that Imperial Guilt is a strong factor in current PC ideology in the UK. He is yet another PCer whose family were deeply involved in the colonial project in places like Southern Rhodesia and Kenya. They feel guilty because they know they personally benefitted from the racist British Empire (although I don't think anywhere in the interview Pullman admitted to having been educated in private schools - the talk was all of being "first in my family to go to university", making it sound like he narrowly escaped going down the mines! What a BSer).
FRONT ROW LATE REVIEW – 40 MINUTES OF MARY BEARD AND PHILIP PULLMAN AGREEING
It went on: "Warm and slightly soporific, the historian and fantasy author’s extended chat featured next to no moments of debate or contention".
"I know Front Row Late on Friday nights on BBC Two is not going to be the time or place for a ruck, but two issues still present themselves. First, Beard too often asked longwinded, anecdote-riddled but ultimately inconsequential questions. This left her interviewee with little to do but pause and rack his brain for something to add, or restate the question politely in more fertile terms and answer that instead. Second: if the pair aren’t going to clash, and the interviewer isn’t even going to play devil’s advocate, then they need to dig deeper into what they do cover than they did here."
I've noticed since the Brady Amendment and the failure of the Rigged Rerun Referendum brigade to get parliamentary support for their Remain project the UK MSM generally (but the BBC in particular) have turned down the dial on Brexit coverage. I think it's because they know they have to now give May space to perform her bit of magic, bringing the EU "concession" (supposedly a rabbit but actually a vicious little ferret)out of the negotiation hat.
There's no real reason to dial down on coverage, since this is actually a key stage in the story.
It was No. 1 in the Festive Fifty Bias Techniques - deciding what's news and what isn't. It is their most powerful weapon.
Nihal Arthanayake is probably the most biased presenter on the BBC, radio and television combined, broadcasting today.
ReplyDeleteI switched on 5 Live by chance this afternoon, 30th January, at 2.45 pm and was both shocked and appalled by segment discussing the plight of convicted MP Fiona Onasanya.
Arthanayake invited barrister Theo Barclay, author of Fighters and Quitters - Great Political Resignations, to discuss Miss Onasanya's case. The first line of questioning was 'why would the Police visit Miss Onasanya's home for merely breaking the speed limit at 41mph. Can we all expect a Police visit for minor speeding charges now? The impression given was that Miss Onasanya was targeted as a person of colour. Theo Barclay quickly kicked this into touch but Arthanayake persisted probing the injustice of the Labour Party throwing her overboard when her appeal was not yet heard. I was astonished when his line of questioning continued in this manner for some minutes. Barclay seemed uncomfortable, thinking Arthanayake had invited him on air to discuss other famous cases Huhne, Aitken etc. The interview concluded with Arthanayake asking why Onasanya should not have been given a second chance as she was only being jailed for 3 months and may only serve 6-8 weeks! As a minor offender, she should be given the benefit of a second chance surely? Theo Barclay again gave this notion short shift, pointing out that Miss Onasanya had been convicted of a major crime, perverting the course of justice. Arthanayake continued up to the news at 3pm, pleading leniency for Onasanya.
I was flabbergasted! I suspect Theo Barclay was also. My surprise was that Mr Arthanayake should have been probing why Miss Onasanya was still an MP, still allowed to draw her salary and why she did not get longer than 3 months jail ( her brother who pleaded guilty got 10 months and Chris Huhne and Vicky Price got 8 months).
This is a small 15 minute episode in the daily grind that is afternoons on 5 Live nowadays. Arthanayake beats all others for bias on the BBC hands down in my opinion. To think that this programme used to be fronted by the excellent Simon Mayo(what happened to him?) for many years and you can see how far we have fallen. Listen back and see if you agree?
Radio 5Live was always my choice at the time when Simon Mayo broadcast the afternoon show. It was his first leg-up into news and current affairs after leaving Radio 1.
DeleteHe was in the hot-seat when the 911 Twin Towers news broke. I can remember his composure now, having to paint a picture over radio as the horrific events unfolded. I think Mayo had advance warning about the move to Salford. He jumped ship, along with many other experienced presenters, as he switched back to music programmes on Radio 2.
I agree with you Anon. I can't listen to the PC ideological outpourings from daytime Radio 5Live any more.
It's still good for sports commentary, and the Saturday afternoon coverage of football is very good.
You would have had much the same on Jeremy Vine on Radio 2. It was all 'Fiona' this, 'Fiona' that, not criminal Onasanya. Then we had the 'race activist' on to tell us that it was all 'because she is black'. At least we got to hear from a (self-declared) constituent who thought a solicitor should have known better.
DeleteVine seems to be doing a lot of 'case for the appellant' at the moment, 'hammer lady', 'speedboat man' and know 'perjury politician'.
I referenced on the previous Open Thread that Idiot Nihal was in trouble for slandering Ben Fogel on the basis of no evidence at all except on what his wife told him about overhearing a comment in a park.
DeleteI don't think you can have an idiot like Nihal getting the "Most Biased" award - that requires some cunning, intelligence and intention. So please - choose from Evan Davis, Nick Robinson, Jon Sopel, Nick Bryant, Emily Maitlis or Kirsty Wark. I exclude John Simpson on account of his senility.
I think there is absolutely no chance this Onasanya woman will resign as an MP. Labour has been careful to be seen to do the right thing in expelling her, but as an independent taking the Labour whip she is essential for them at the moment and they'd loose a by-election. A recall even if successful would probably not be before another general election anyway.
DeleteShe's got away with it.
Sorry but why do I think the text is smaller? I thought I'd inadvertently changed the zoom or text size settings but I hadn't, yet it looked smaller and more distant.
ReplyDeleteLooks a bit down on the grey scale as well. Are they trying to drive away the oldies? lol I'm having to squint here.
DeleteI agree about the greyness too, though I tried tilting the screen and fancied I got it a bit more black looking. Was wondering if it the problem was with me and there'd been a sudden deterioration in my eyesight. But I've since been on another site where I didn't notice a similar effect.
DeleteYep - "If it ain't broke..." Sorry, I'm sure it must have taken ages to do & I wouldn't have the first idea of how to do it, myself.
DeleteIn my own ham-fisted way I think I've applied the layout adjustments as requested. Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteIt is much blacker and all the better for that. Thanks. But it looks to be the same font and smaller font size that is a bit of a strain to read.
DeleteToday R4 news main headline was all about a report from the IFG being very worried that the Government preparations for Brexit aren’t in place. Yet this report was commissioned by the BBC! So the BBC makes its own news to fit its agenda.
ReplyDeleteThat's outrageous. The IFG is not an "independent think tank" as the BBC likes to pretend. It is chaired by Lord Sainsbury, one of the biggest and most powerful Remainiacs in the land - I think he likely bankrolls it. Its staff are uniformly pro-Remain and also very weak analysts whose predictions are usually found wanting in the real world.
DeleteIt was all about that report, yes, but the way it treats that report is as if it is the authority on what the government is doing. Where is there any reference to what it is based on or any information about this institution and an explanation that it is not actually the government? The BBC does a good job of masking that, as it does with many things.Has the BBC asked the government? I think we should be told.
ReplyDeleteAlso on the IFG board are Baroness Amos and Liam Byrne (former Labour ministers), and Richard Lambert, former editor of the FT. Its director is Bronwen Maddox, also a strong Remainer and currently visiting professor at the Policy Institute at King's College which is engaged in so-called research aimed at showing how ignorant leavers are about the EU. A further point is that IFG reports for the BBC are being commissioned by Chris Morris's 'reality check' unit - in other words, it is spending vast sums of licence fee money on reinforcing its own biased echo chamber. You could not make it up.
DeleteAnon (1) - I have been unsurprised if remain unimpressed how quickly a BBC staff member using the platform he enjoys to make unsubstantiated accusations over a personal spat has passed into the memory hole.
ReplyDeleteI am making sure his colleagues are reminded of it when using 'views my own' for such purposes themselves on twitter. I suspect my blockage tally on the transparent, accountable national broadcaster's special media platforms will increase as a consequence.
The BBC are quick to jump on any report that shows Brexit is bad but never headline anything good.
ReplyDeleteSo I don't suppose they will report this plea for EU common sense from the influential Ifo Institute and Centre for Economic Studies. (Courtesy the Daily Telegraph)
http://www.cesifo-group.de/w/4MdjerhFj
Fair play to Simon McCoy. He interviewed Gerard Batten, UKIP leader, in a civilised and courteous manner, without interrupting all this replies. A stark contrast with the "telegraph-your-disapproval" style beloved of Maitlis, Davis and Mardell.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKYaXbvS5RE
If the BBC deployed this approach across the board and gave UKIP access which reflected their votes and polling figures, I would not have an issue with their coverage. I wonder if UKIP had threatened legal action and that was why the BBC lifted the ban on Batten's appearance.
As not featured on BBC I imagine...
ReplyDeleteFarage has still got it! A brilliant speech. More than that a constructive speech. A sensible speech. A statesmanlike speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR2snMKWbUM
Spread it around because I suspect it's being suppressed by UK MSM.
Good contribution to the debate by Nigel Farage, delivered into the heart of the European Parliament, telling MEPs what the implications are of a no-deal. It's all about the £39bn - which allows the EU to kick their own can down the road for a while until the remaining 27 are called upon to cover the shortfall in the future. I can't find reference to this on the BBC News website.
DeleteNot entirely relevant, but I heard somebody on tv yesterday speak of "kicking the can into the long grass" and wondered if this was a trend.
DeleteI heard a trailer for a Radio 4 prog on the Salman Rushdie fatwa. I think this is going to be a finessed version that shows a lot of empathy towards our poor beleagured Muslim community. The I Player blurb refers to the programme representing "overlooked communities" - I think we all know what that means.
ReplyDeleteWill be interested to hear any reviews of the prog here.
The thing about creeping Sharia, is you don't really notice it creeping up on you.
It's just incremental.
We now have a de facto Islamic blasphemy law in the UK, which means no MSM outlet will feature any direct criticism of Islam, Mohammed or Allah as depicted in the Koran. This extends to politics programmes, history programmes, philosophical issues, education and all other programme areas.
Even Sharia law has almost become a criticism-free zone. The de facto blasphemy law has definitely crept up on us through a combination of aggressive protest, craven appeasement and fear of terrorism.
It was noticeable how the Charlie Hebdo massacre was a turning point - after that any strong criticism of Islam in the UK stopped. Of course appeasers like the contemptible Ian Hislop of Private Eye, who you might think would be sympathetic to ideas of free speech, have connived in this process.
I am just seeing signs all over the place that we are being subjected more and more to Sharia policing of our public discourse. Rod Liddle hasn't been on QT for a while has he? And there are no Rod Liddle replacements lined up. No one is inviting Tom Holland to make new history programmes. No one is setting up discussion programmes where people like Christopher Hitchens are allowed to speak truthfully about Islam.
The idea that any publisher now would put out a book like "The Satanic Verses" is fanciful. They wouldn't - because there is now in place an informal Islamic blasphemy law that affects us all.
Question Time: Good grief - I found myself agreeing with Gina Miller; can I get counselling? Her view that the backstop is a red herring to distract our attention from the fact that the rest of May's deal is worse than staying in the EU was well received by both Brexiteers and Remaineers.
ReplyDeleteYes I happened upon that Gina Miller intervention on QT and it's about the only time I've ever agreed with her about anything. Just shows how desperate the Remainers really are now - they are having to resort to the truth!!!
Delete:-)
DeleteInteresting report in Business section of today's Telegraph: "Economists angry at 'dangerous handling' of Brexit by EU." Apparently, " a group of leading German economists has told the EU to tear up the Irish backstop and ditch its ideological demands in Brexit talks." Looks as though there's panic on the other side of the Channel, so it's all a question of who blinks first...on past showing, we know it'll be May. (Apologies if this turns out to be a rehash of the Telegraph report Arne mentioned yesterday.)
Yes it is! : )
Delete:-( Sorry!
DeleteEUREKA! - A few months ago, I was bemoaning the fact that, on my Android tablet, some peoples' links were black and inert (Peter!). If anyone else is using an Android tab, here's the solution, just discovered by accident!
ReplyDelete1. Place a finger on the first group of characters and keep it there until the letters are highlighted in blue.
2. Now withdraw finger; you will see two blue 'tear drops.'
3. Place your finger on the second tear drop and drag it along to the end of the link. The link will now be highlighted in blue.
4. At the top of the page you'll see, among other things, 'Web search' - click on that. Simples!
My post timed at 10.10: I meant "people's"!
Delete'My country is more dysfunctional than yours'
ReplyDeleteTwo BBC journalists chatting breeze - Anthony Zurcher and Rob Watson.
The headline is clickbait but just about sums up the BBCs negative approach to this country.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-47060853/my-country-is-more-dysfunctional-than-yours
Why choose two of the least dysfunctional countries on the planet, for all their faults, to hold a dysfunctionality contest? Just indicative of the BBC's national self-hatred, Americocentrism and Americophobia.
DeleteI guess the irony is lost on the BBC when it gloats over a story about the Daily Mail being flagged up by the Microsoft browser and warns that Mail Online:
ReplyDelete- fails to gather and present information responsibly
- fails to handle the difference between news and opinion
- fails to provide the names of writers
NewsGuard refused to change one of the ratings because Mail Online did not disclose "its conservative orientation".
Stating the obvious, all of those charges apply to the BBC with orientation reversed. You couldn’t make it up. The liberal left are completely blinded by their righteousness.
Quite. If it was just a matter of hypocrisy it wouldn't matter. But they have their hands on the levers, their hands on the scales and their hands on our money.
DeleteThe BBC have announced a £4 increase in the licence fee.
ReplyDeleteThat’s an extra £120 million a year for their coffers.
Madness.
Sisyphus - "black and inert'? Does this I can now apply to be a newsreader?
ReplyDeleteOn matters tech, another score for trial and error. Sadly, Macs are less cooperative.
Peter - Knew I should have worded that more carefully! At the risk of ending up in the same prison cell
ReplyDelete:-) !
What is the point of BBC's impartiality guidelines when a BBC regular like the egregious Jonathan Freedland can get round them by the simple expedient of not working directly for the BBC?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/01/theresa-may-bribes-brexit-pain-mining-towns
It's fascinating to consider what drives the BBC's nostalgia over the mining industry. Everyone from mining towns and villages say good riddance to 't'pit' and thanks Mrs T for our generous payouts.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC however, see the Scargill era as a time when there were clearly drawn battle lines - where Labour voters were socialists. Now, the BBC think by playing the nostalgia card, old memories of a golden age of socialism will be reawakened. How mistaken they are.
The traditional Miner/Labour vote will in the main have been Leave, and their views upon immigration etc are unlikely to chime with those of the BBC. In my experience, many Miners took their sons underground once and only once - just to make sure that they aspired to a life away from mining.
Sorry - wrong post - see below on Mark Easton etc below.
DeleteThere is something seriously wrong with the way the BBC newsroom revels in bad news about Brexit.
ReplyDeleteI always spot the triumphant ‘told you so’ way in which they present any bad news story and shoehorn in as many Brexit references as they can.
The BBC has always had an unhealthy fascination in doom, gloom and misery. Celebrating good news and success never cuts the mustard unless it has a tick box PC angle.
‘The BBC understands’....story about Nissan investment is a case in point. They will get their teeth into this story and feed from it until it is stripped to the bone.
The interesting thing I reckon is that our suspicions about tonal delivery could probably now be confirmed by AI software.
DeleteBasically, enthusiasm is communicated through tone and I am sure that something like tone can be detected objectively by algorithms.
Algorithms have no interest in who's right or wrong but they can tell you who has an enthusiastic tone and who doesn't.
I have absolutely no doubt that pro-Remain items are read with much more enthusiasm by BBC Folk than their opposite.
Interesting idea MB, although as Arne says above, they often adopt a triumphant tone when announcing bad Brexit News - presumably this would complicate matters. It would be better still if AI could also detect negative facial expressions.
DeleteI only caught the 11pm bulletin on the News Channel last night. Hearing the outline of the Nissan X-Trail item, I braced myself for the usual anti-Brexit onslaught but it didn't come: the expert from, I think, Aston University placed the bulk of the blame on the fact that the model is mainly diesel-powered, which is not what the customer wants. The News presenter asked him if Brexit had been a factor, he conceded that it hadn't helped but repeated that the problem was having the wrong fuel. She did not badger him about the Brexit connection, which made a refreshing change. However, when the same presenter was doing The Papers at about 00.30 today, she was insisting heavily on the Brexit angle - perhaps someone had had a word with her...
The fact that wrong fuel/bad planning is to blame is, I think, clearly demonstrated by the case of the equivalent Mitsubishi model, the Outlander. The plug-in hybrid version of this wiped the floor with the opposition last year & it's clearly the way to go for big SUV's.
A possibility that I find altogether believable, is that the French exerted influence in order to persuade Nissan to move production to France. See Wikipedia: Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi Alliance which makes fascinating reading!
I don't think the 'tone software' will work with Radio 2's 'news reader' Clare Runacres, everything she says is so upbeat, anti-gravitas personified.
DeleteAnd then there's Clive Myrie, who sounds puzzled much of the time!
DeleteGood observation - yes he does!
DeleteOr Mishal who sounds smug about everything even when she's trying to sound angry on behalf of peace-loving Gazaan, er, "militants".
DeleteI see the BBC are trotting out more Resolution Foundation guff on the news this morning. It is now their go to think-tank ( as Craig has mentioned on here before).
ReplyDeleteLike minded and like thinking, they are perfect propaganda bedfellows.
Just heard that on the 'Broadcasting House' news bulletin. No labels, as usual.
DeleteJip linked to this over on BBBC - it's brilliant...watch the video through to where the woman phones up Sainsbury...
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/BrugesGroup/status/1090384528634531840
I have had similar conversations with salespeople trying to sell me extended warranties, "So you are saying this TV/fridge/microwave is unrelieable then?"
DeleteNissan: Abracadabra! By 10a.m. today, yesterday's objective 'dirty diesels which nobody wants' angle had been ditched in favour of 'it's all the fault of Brexit'. Nissan itself is now blaming Brexit uncertainty - could this be a repeat of the Airbus story: Government asks them if they'd mind pointing finger at Brexit?
ReplyDeleteUpdate: 10.15 BBC1 News - the dirty diesels are back...along with Brexit uncertainty. Have now lost track of how many versions they've got through since yesterday!
DeleteBBC One news was positively schizophrenic last night with Nissan, first the report which was all about Brexit uncertainty with appropriate concerned sound bites from the local MP and workers.
DeleteThen the analysis from Simon Jack in the studio which blamed dirty diesels and production consolidation in Japan where nearly all X-Ttrails are made. He then went on to say Sunderland investment continues with the new Juke which will be made there.
Didn't see the BBC report but saw the ITV news which was reminder of just how Remainiac that organisation is. They turned the company's reasoning right round, leading with the suggestion the decision was Brexit-related, then admitting it was a case of "Brexit uncertainty hasn't helped" and finally but only briefly mentioning the real reasons (emissions standards and drop in demand). I don't think they mentioned the new Juke at all - so at least that is a rare BBC point for objectivity.
DeleteDead right Arne! I think the truth is dirty diesels plus an equally dirty power struggle between Nissan & Renault, the two main members of the Triple Alliance, which includes Mitsubishi. Do have a look on Wikipedia at Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and scroll down to 'conflict over control' or how the French Government made a short-term purchase of 1.23 billion Renault shares which effectively gave it control of Nissan. ( no, I don't totally understand that either!) Nissan was clearly unhappy about this which seems to have scuppered the French aim of moving X-trail production to France.
DeleteMB - "turning the company's reasoning right round" - Yes, today's Guardian has done the same thing! I think the BBC's schizophrenia that Arne mentions is borne of a confused atempt to spin while appearing balanced!
Delete'attempt'!
DeleteIt sounds to me as if Nissan's plans for X-trail production are altogether half-baked, whether in Sunderland or elsewhere. Diesel and the name X-trail both sound outdated. Diesel hybrids are rare - Mercedes do one I think - but the idea of developing a new ground-breaking model that might have market appeal away from their design and engineering base in Japan seems to have been fanciful from the outset.
DeleteThat's exactly it Arthur - diesel IS outdated, but the petrol-electric hybrid produced by the third member of the Alliance: Mitsubishi, is not. And in UK it qualifies for £0 road tax! My guess is that the X-trail will re-appear with the Mitsu. power plant.
DeleteI think the answer is due to Sunderland being a leave voting area. There is more than a touch of "they're getting what they deserve" about the Nissan plans, this applies to Sky News too.
DeleteI don't suppose the BBC will report this bit of good news.
DeleteJaguar Land Rover today reported record January 2019 US sales: Land Rover had its best ever January sales month with 7,385 units, an increase of 15 percent from 6,446 in January 2018; Jaguar sales were 3,078 units, an 18 percent increase from 2,604 units in January 2018. Jaguar Land Rover total January US sales reached 10,463 units, a 16 percent increase from 9,050 units in January 2018.
Headlines you won't see on the BBC Website:
Delete"Thank you Donald for revitalising the American economy!" :)
More abject surrender bias on the BBC Website.
ReplyDeleteWe all know that the House of Commons voted for the Graham Brady amendment. That amendment, which the Government have said they will now endeavour to put in to operation calls for the Backstop to be replaced - I repeat, replaced.
OK...so that message seems not to have reached the BBC. This is their take:
"Prime Minister Theresa May says she intends to return to Brussels with new ideas on the Irish backstop."
I'd like to see where she said that, because I can only think it would have caused a riot within Conservative ranks.
So this is really just Fake News.
The Fake News is compounded by the "analysis". This simply trots out all the failed EU ideas to keep the Backstop. It also accepts as fact that the Backstop is a necessary guarantee of no hard border, when it is nothing of the kind.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47110707
Nowhere does the article examine the real solutions to the border question, namely technological and adminsitrative - the ones that the Brady Amendment was clearly intended to promote.
Agreed MB. Here is more surrender talk from Katya Adler, this entire article is seen from the EU point of view, no balance, no analysis of alternatives. It’s just negative, defeatist and anti-British. Katya went native some time ago and needs to stay in Brussels post Brexit.
DeleteStay in the place you love and keep out of the country you so clearly despise Katya.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47121851
Adler might as well be the EU Press Secretary.
DeleteWhat to make of the following?: "If Theresa May comes to Brussels later this week, she will be received politely and listened to attentively."
How can she write that when May has previously had the childish cold shoulder treatment and been ridiculed by drunkard Juncker and Tusk. There is no guarantee either will hold. She has simply been told that. An honest journalist would not have written that up as pre-ordained fact.
There's also no reference to the EU dynamic - the enthusiasm with which the EU top dogs are pursuing an EU Army, fiscal union, political censorship and continued mass immigration.
Also, the BBC have well and truly suppressed Farage's speech to the EU Assembly, where he laid into the Eurocrats in dramatic and effective style.
Panorama. Brexit - who's in charge?
DeleteWatching this right now with Adrian Chiles reporting. I'm posting because the very first image was Boris and the £350m NHS red bus.
Very BBC, very biased and very unimaginative. Lets see if the rest of the programme follows the message of the first few seconds.
BBC MIDLANDS NEWS: Viewers will have been startled to hear newsreader Mary Rhodes announce that Birmingham City council is to make X million £s of "savings." Surely she must have meant to say "cuts"! - no, you don't understand: it's a Labour-controlled council so it's "savings."
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to hear how contributors rank the bias of their local BBC TV news, compared with national BBC TV. I get to see a fair bit of TV via Freesat & sometimes surf the different regions. I think BBC Midlands is second only to London for its lack of appeal to those who do not belong to one of the Beeb's favoured minorities - the inhabitants of rural Worcestersire, Gloucestershire & Herefordshire must wonder why on earth they are paying their license fee. Full marks, though, to Channel Islands News - you can't get much less controversial than, "There's a traffic jam in the High Street"!
DeleteI agree, like you I live there. It is clear to see that BBC Midlands target audience is multicultural Birmingham.
DeleteWhen BBC London TV News is not minoritising it's trying to play with the grown ups...with reports on Brexit that differ little from the national news (including in having a very pro-Remain bias).
DeleteWhen the evening's BBC Regional shows come on at 6.30pm it's always interesting to watch say....BBC London News and then watch BBC Spotlight which covers the West Country (used to be just Cornwall and Devon) but due to ridiculous cutbacks they have merged ALL Westcountry Counties as one BBC tv region.
DeleteWell it's like London and The Westcountry region are two completely different planets.
Every night on BBC London we get nothing but stories about Race, Gender and Diversity and that every nightly edition MUST include stories that cover those three subjects. And so through the BBC I don't recognize my City anymore. Why can't they just give us NEWS happening in London instead of daily profiling people from those three groups and ramming their pc and diversity agenda down our throats.
I dread to think what they're dishing out in places like Luton and Bradford on the local BBC News.
Oh and I see that the tv licence is going up by £4.00 come Spring.
Now wouldn't that be digital utopia if the BBC went out by subscription only....So you wouldn't get any of their rubbish output and be able to watch everything else for free. Not sure that many would want to take out a subscription.
And I wasn't surprised to hear that the BBC HAVE been accepting money from The E.U.
Whoops! Above Anon comment from John North London.
DeleteJohn.... N.London.
Craig - How about BBC NW?
DeleteThe classic BBC London News story will feature a black female boxer working out at an inner city boxing club... she will be "aiming for the 2020 Olympics" and the club we are told performs a vital service in a "deprived" neighbourhood keeping yoofs off the street and off drugs but the club is now threatened by "government cuts" we will be informed in grave tones.
DeleteIn BBC Land no boxing club is ever a centre for distribution of illegal steroids or other illegal substances. So that's all good! :)
As not reported on the BBC? Lord Trimble to take government to court over Irish Backstop - apparently violates the principle of consent in the Good Friday Agreement. Will Gina approve?
ReplyDeletehttps://order-order.com/2019/02/04/trimble-taking-government-court-backstop-breaking-good-friday-agreement/
I see that last evening (Mon 4th Feb) that Fiona Bruce emerged once more to present The Six O 'Clock Evening News. And I thought that little job avenue had shut down now that she had taken over Question Time.
ReplyDeleteSo is the QT job an extra salary on top of the news reading and Antique and fake art tv jobs?
Her arrival on Question Time has brought in yet more dumbing down to a show that I used to take more interest in.
I do wish she wouldn't constantly smile through her teeth when presenting Q.T. It's supposed to be a serious talking platform between the public and politicians.
I got so irritated when twice she said in a certain way "Oh we're all having a jolly ol' time here. Why wouldn't you want to be here with us joining in. Can't imagine Dimbleby or Robin Day saying anything like that.
It's so patronising. If people want that then why don't they go and watch that awful daily rot, The One Show.
Yes I accept that a lot of older housebound BBC tv viewers like to have their jolly little friendly tv presenters come in to their living rooms for company. But please Fiona, not on Question Time.
Oh and her excuse for an apology over last weeks blooper was at times inaudible and very quickly brushed over.
Please Fiona stop dumbing down Question Time. Save that annoying grin for when you sign off on the tv News.
John..... N. London
Agreed John! And a further point - while us Londoners can just about follow her mumbling, face-in-my-script, talking-through-my-teeth, sucking-on-the-vowels southern-posh delivery, I should imagine people in other parts of the country can hardly follow what she's saying! In fact I think some of them expressed that point on social media. Dimbo had many faults but at least his diction was clear.
DeleteThanks M.B. I always enjoy your busy input to this blog.
DeleteYes you're right in that Dimbo had clear diction. And I almost forgot that Peter Sissons presented the show just before Dimbo.
John....N. London
This is a perfect example of how the BBC manipulate a story and exercise bias by omission, done here to protect their own.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC version of events leading to Simon Mayo’s departure from Raduo 2 says that he found out about the decision to introduce a female co-presenter in a phone call with his agent. Which is true but in typical BBC style, it fails to tell the real story.
What was actually said in his interview:
The broadcaster admits to being deeply hurt when Lewis Carnie, boss of Radio 2, didn’t have the decency to tell him face-to-face about the new arrangement.
Mayo recalls: ‘He goes to my agent, then my agent rings up and says, “Lewis says you’ve got to have a co-presenter.” And I said, “Oh, really? That’s interesting.” ’
This goes on all the time with the BBC and those who rely on the BBC as their main source of news are often seriously misled.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-47120959
True, but the Mayos of this world never complain until affects them personally.
DeleteIn fact Mayo was at the forefront of the Blairite mind-manipulation programme back in 1999 (I was going to say the noughties but it must have been before the new Millennium!).
He fronted a programme about the Fake Millennium Bug thing, I recall, which treated the population like they were medieval peasants easily gripped by irrational fears and ready to reach for the pitchforks at a moment's notice.
It was a classic BBC approach to an alleged "problem" (planes will fall out of the sky - as believable as planes won't fly after Brexit) that in reality had been created by gullible politicians and hucksters on the make. Thinking back it was one of the first times that I was conscious just how far things had gone at the BBC, that they were willing to
attempt mass manipulation of opinion in this very obvious way, no doubt in concert with government.
This issue came up on another thread - the impact of single parenting and divorce on educational attainment. This is not so much "bias" (though it's there)as "walking on egg shells" syndrome...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-47057787
Branwen is careful to preface the results of the survey showing the negative impact of lone parenting and divorce with a classic BBC line: "Family life is more richly varied than ever before." Or, if you prefer "Family life is more effed up than ever before."
And of course the obvious conclusion from the study as far as the BBC is concerned is not that "lone parenting and divorce involving older children should be discouraged by various means" but that "more resources" are needed to support lone parents.
BBC Icons - a travesty of a programme which I think has already been covered here. The big joke is now on the BBC. They cover every other PC tick box but not the biggest current BBC requirement and hot issue. The 7 finalists are all male.
ReplyDeleteNot what the BBC intended I’m sure.
Lol - skewered by their own PC skewer.
DeleteTalking about travesties...
DeleteSky News have "opened up their newsroom" so we can see what goes on behind the scenes.
Fair enough, quite interesting...
But there was something I noticed...whereas the Sky presenters and guest commentators have a nicely diverse range (unless you're Chinese, East European or Latin American) "behind the scenes" it could be South African TV circa 1960 it was so "hideously white" - to use Greg's quote.
The UK MSM is just the biggest edifice of hypcorisy ever built.
MB mentioned, yesterday, that Lord Trimble is to take court action against the Government because he believes May's deal over the backstop violates the principle of consent in the Good Friday Agreement. How does May feel about this? We nearly found out in her press conference, broadcast live this afternoon, but then a mysterious loss of sound & vision blotted out the whole of her reply. How convenient!
ReplyDeleteLiam Neeson said a stupid thing that he must have known that it would get him in trouble. Nowadays just just can’t say that.
ReplyDeleteHe’s done for I think because the BBC and MSM are after him big time. Rather than just reporting the facts they are now into escalating it as their main story across TV, radio and internet.
I don’t think they will let it drop until they’ve got their man.
I think my point here it that when it comes to the moral issues they hold dear, the BBC are always a little too eager to be a witness for the prosecution.
DeleteHmmm...Liam seems to come from a Republican background (he claims hunger strikers who died among this friends). The BBC used to be forgiving to the racism displayed by ignorant IRA supporters to black British soldiers. Maybe they will make allowance in this case. Plus Liam has cleverly thrown in religion: claiming he confessed it all to a Priest.
DeleteThis could be an interesting PC case study! :)
I was appalled by the smug, hypocritical moralising of the BBC on display on the Today programme.
ReplyDeleteThey were going on about the raised suicide rate among young people since 2016, shedding crocodile tears, and - as is their wont - connecting it to their social media rivals (Facebook etc).
This is vile stuff. Since the 2016 EU Referendum result, the BBC has deliberately sought to raise anxiety levels in the populace - especially the yougn - with a succession of programmes seeking to make people feel alone, isolated, confused, fearful of the future, convinced that society was much more divisive than a year before, unable to tell truth from fake etc etc. Is it any surprise that given that media "reality" projected by the BBC, many vulnerable young adults are becoming depressed, scared, and disorientated and in some cases resorting to suicide to end it all? [As I write this I just heard Katie Razzall refer to "our divided nation"...not something they kept repeating ad nauseam.]
Imagine a parallel world where the BBC celebrated the Referendum vote as a legitimate exercise in democracy and got behind all those seeking to see the result implemented. Imagine if they had stressed what unites us all. Imagine if rather than broadcasting a succession of demoralising programmes they had broadcast programmes celebrating our can do attitude, our innovation, our resilience...
Would the suicide rate have been as high? I don't think so.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002cxh
ReplyDeleteI was driving and had the misfortune of hearing the whole of the first episode of Fatwa on the car radio.
I think this is one of the most disturbing programmes ever broadcast by the BBC. Why? Because it was explicitly legitimising the idea that there was nothing wrong in supporting the Fatwa. That this was a case of "which side are you on", of "picking sides".
Added to that of course was a completely biased account of the Ray Honeyford case trying to make him sound like a racist bigot (whereas in fact he wanted people of all races to internalise British core values).
In fact it is clear that while the programme is ostensibly about an ideologically-motivated plot to murder a writer (and anyone anywhere on the planet who was helping him publish his work - ie tens of thousands of people), they are dragging in race to ensure listeners are cowed into accepting the narrative.
It was interesting that the programme was a bit down on the Ayatollah - but never forget the mutual hatred between Sunnis and Shias. In part (though this programme will never admit it) - the Rushdie Affair was also about an ideological purity contest between Shias and Sunnis.
So far the programme has been notable for ignoring the corruption and/or violence of Pakistani politics both in Pakistan and here. But of course we were treated to numerous mentions about the abusive messages sent to supporters of the Fatwa (so far nothing about the same sent to opponents of the Fatwa).
This was an appalling programme and underlines just how far our country and our culture have been undermined by this alien idea of "the Fatwa".
One last point - in previous times in a trailer for such a programme "Fatwa" would have been intoned in sombre or doom-laden fashion. Not now, not in 2019. Nope, the co-presenter with the poor grasp of English pronunciation for the rest of the script is happy to give it the full on Arabic pronunciation and use a tone suggestive of joy, power, righteousness and celebration.
It's interesting how Brexit is such a big phenomenon that it is breaking some journos while others ride the wave. I think LK's schtick just doesn't work in this phase of the super-crisis of Brexit.
ReplyDeleteThis article from Kuennesberg is pathetic...confused, low grade and irrelevant:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47123330
Not what we pay £4 billion for.
Pure BBC bias and TDS, mocking Trump throughout whilst hiding behind social media.
ReplyDeleteSurely our natonal broadcaster should rising above this. It’s partisan and carefully chosen to damage and influence opinions.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47139510
So it's official (well according to Fake News BBC): not a single Trump supporter uses social media to mock Pelosi.
DeleteNancy got coverage for the clap?
ReplyDeleteMust be quite high-cost in the US given the health insurance premiums. She was an intern under JFK wasn't she?...it's all beginning to make sense.
DeletePeter & MB - if only we could do upticks on this site! :)
DeleteRemember how Katya Adler was telling us a couple of days ago that May would be received politely by Tusk and listened to attentively... I queried that on the basis of previous experience.
ReplyDeleteIf Adler thinks the polite reception includes rubbishing of May's Brexit supporting colleagues in Cabinet and Parliament as having a "special place in hell" then that shows just how much of an EU Apparatchik she is.
Also, please note Tusk, Cameron's government told the British people he would stay in office and his government would implement a Brexit vote. Brexiters can't be blamed for Cameron being a liar, and not having any intention of implementing the vote. Also Brexiters cannot be blamed for Remainers like May, Hammond and Robins effing it up. The vast majority of Brexiter MPs support conclusion of a Canada Plus deal, which the EU has offered - it was just that May didn't want it.
Tusk does such a good impression of a German gestapo officer with his playful tormenting of the suspect, that I thought I'd check him out...yep, not a real Pole. His Grandmother was German.
What a POS. Perhaps we should be thanking him. His comments will help the Brexit cause, not hinder it.
DeleteThere won't be many, leave or remain, who will be impressed by his intervention. Adler will probably like it though.
Comments could be going better, BBC, Mail et al.
Agreed - I'm surprised the Beeb didn't water it down or even 'lose' it. As you say, it can only help the cause - they really don't understand what makes the average Brit tick, do they?
DeleteThen we heard Verhofstadt (spelling)had doubled down on the hell joke saying Brexiters would even divide hell, as they had divided Britain.
DeleteNow the icing on the cake:
https://twitter.com/BrunoBrussels/status/1093178959716671489
The card from Ireland that Juncker and Varadkar were smiling over alleges Britain doesn't care about peace in Northern Ireland. Nice eh?
Where's Katya when you need her to explain this is all normal polite diplomatic stuff that can be expected from well meaning people.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNothing yet from Katya Adler on the BBC website. Odd, given how she's supposed to be the EU expert. As I observed about LK's increasingly pathetic pieces, this Brexit Crisis is breaking lots of journalistic reputations. I reckon you can add Adler to the list. It's like a war...others have benefited, like Tim Shipman.
ReplyDeleteThe very poor quality of the BBC's reporting has been exposed.
When she is on, probably at 10pm news. Her cheeks will be redder than usual, flush with deep love for them all.
DeleteFace cheeks, I mean. Lol.
The BBC are doing their best to keep a lid on this tale of "FU from the EU" diplomacy. Their story has no follow up on the offensive card Varadkar passed to Juncker or Juncker's offensive tweet.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47143135#comp-comments-button
They know none of this will help their preferred outcome. And further negativity from Varadkar and Druncker gives a leg up for no-deal.
DeleteI wonder what the Macron-Blair plan is? Perhaps they are counting on May never authorising no deal...hoping Corbyn agrees her deal subject to a Second Referendum - at which (when it's May's deal v Remain) Remain will no doubt win.
DeleteIt's a high risk strategy for them. Of course May's problem is that the DUP will likely unseat her as PM in those circumstances.
The first 10 minutes of the BBC news tonight was outrageous in the way they presented Tusk’s comments. First Tusk’s press conference where a sympathetic Kuenssberg said he was clearly angry and then a we had a shot of Varadkar laughing.
ReplyDeleteTwo quick sound bites condemning it from Francois and Leadsom. Then Ben Bradshaw using a soft and sincere tone getting a final long say to agree wholeheartedly with Tusk. Followed by Sinn Fein condemning the British government.
Finally Katya Adler giving analysis that bypassed Tusk’s comments where she pitched in being conciliatory and supportive of the EU positIon.
That’s certainly not how I saw the intervention as it developed today. The BBC version of events seem to be coming from a parallel world. ‘Nothing to see here, move on’ appeared to be their intent.
I saw it as well...they completely ignored the other two examples of gratuitous offence (the Birthday Card insult and Juncker's follow up tweet). Why? Surely it's highly relevant given they were leading on Tusk.
DeleteAdler offered no apology for her earlier misleading prediction of a polite reception for Mrs May.
Sorry - Fake News on my part...I meant Guy Verhofstadt, not Juncker following up with another tweet.
DeleteIt's great if you are a Remainer Labourite, or an EU functionary spreading lies or a failed Cameronite negotiator and you are interviewed by Mark Urban on Newnsight. None of that pesky Maitlis-style interruption. He'll just let you go on and on and on and won't question any of your cosy assumptions or hold you to account on anything.
ReplyDeleteAs not seen on BBC: liar Guy Verhofstadt put on the rack by JRM.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4JPj4Vjm90
Today, today...I recall last night Michael Portillo on This Week mentioning once again (he did so last week) the BBC's active campaigning for a second referendum, its tenacious advocacy of the cause. Then this morning I hear Lord Kerslake advocating the second referendum on Today. This is something that has little support in Parliament or in the country but the BBC is forever promoting it. But look at the other side - no deal or WTO terms exit. That is also something that has limited support in Parliament and the country (probably about 15% and 25% respectively) but hardly ever gets an airing on the BBC. Why not? It is just as valid as the second referendum - I would say more valid because it clearly implements the decision of the 2016 Referendum. But the BBC know featuring it is - for them and their favoured outcome (Remain) - a risk and a danger...the more people would come to understand no deal and the preparations for it being made by both the EU and the UK, the less they would fear it and the more they would support it.
ReplyDeleteRemainer Robinson was at least obliged to present an item and discussion on the current war of words between France and Italy, not that he approached the task with much relish. H never asked the obvious question: why would the UK want to remain in such a dysfunctional entity as the EU, given its inability to do anything even as simply as manage its borders and its migration policy.
Quite a heartwarming puff-piece on the Beeb today about Safiyah Khan, the 20 year old lady from Birmingham who smiled calming in the face of a protester. She comes across as very pleasant.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-47147069
As explained in the article; "That photograph of her coolly going toe-to-toe with a protester was seen by thousands and described in The Guardian as a symbol of the city "standing up to the far-right group".
Good for her, though I can't help but notice the jarring contrast with the BBC's coverage of last young person who calmly stood their ground against a confrontational protester.
What a difference between a MAGA hat and a Specials T-shirt.
She ticked all the boxes, he ticked none. That’s the difference.
DeleteIt's amazing how, if you step outside the magic PC circle, the BBC will come after you...
ReplyDeleteJust being watching Mary Beard engaged in girlish flirting with Philip "Boring" Pullman on Front Row Late...not a pretty sight.
For no particular reason the both of them went after Richard Dawkins who they agreed was an extreme zealot. Oh yeah, that would be the same Richard Dawkins who shocked the BBC by criticising the Islamic belief system. Ever since he's been on their target list. Dawkins for all his faults is worth 100 of Beard and 100 of Pullman - because he's standing up for the truth.
As a passing thought, having checked him out on Wikipedia, Pullman again confirms my theory that Imperial Guilt is a strong factor in current PC ideology in the UK. He is yet another PCer whose family were deeply involved in the colonial project in places like Southern Rhodesia and Kenya. They feel guilty because they know they personally benefitted from the racist British Empire (although I don't think anywhere in the interview Pullman admitted to having been educated in private schools - the talk was all of being "first in my family to go to university", making it sound like he narrowly escaped going down the mines! What a BSer).
The Guardian has a good headline here:
DeleteFRONT ROW LATE REVIEW – 40 MINUTES OF MARY BEARD AND PHILIP PULLMAN AGREEING
It went on: "Warm and slightly soporific, the historian and fantasy author’s extended chat featured next to no moments of debate or contention".
"I know Front Row Late on Friday nights on BBC Two is not going to be the time or place for a ruck, but two issues still present themselves. First, Beard too often asked longwinded, anecdote-riddled but ultimately inconsequential questions. This left her interviewee with little to do but pause and rack his brain for something to add, or restate the question politely in more fertile terms and answer that instead. Second: if the pair aren’t going to clash, and the interviewer isn’t even going to play devil’s advocate, then they need to dig deeper into what they do cover than they did here."
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/09/front-row-late-review-bbc2-mary-beard-philip-pullman
I've noticed since the Brady Amendment and the failure of the Rigged Rerun Referendum brigade to get parliamentary support for their Remain project the UK MSM generally (but the BBC in particular) have turned down the dial on Brexit coverage. I think it's because they know they have to now give May space to perform her bit of magic, bringing the EU "concession" (supposedly a rabbit but actually a vicious little ferret)out of the negotiation hat.
ReplyDeleteThere's no real reason to dial down on coverage, since this is actually a key stage in the story.
It was No. 1 in the Festive Fifty Bias Techniques - deciding what's news and what isn't. It is their most powerful weapon.
As not seen on BBC - horrific terrorist attack in Israel...
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/JamesDelingpole/status/1094245475400777729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1094245475400777729&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbiasedbbc.org%2Fblog%2F2019%2F02%2F08%2Fweekend-open-thread-9-february-2019%2Fcomment-page-2%2F%23comments