As noted on the Open Thread, Julie Bindel has a fascinating article at The Critic which raises serious questions about BBC standards and BBC agenda-pushing.
Julie - as you'll probably know - is a feminist presently at war with transgender militants, and as far as trying to strike a balance in this bitter 'war' goes, she reckons that the BBC is far more one-sided even than The Guardian. "The BBC appears not to even try", she says.
Her immediate targets are (1) Megha Mohan, the corporation’s first “gender and identity correspondent” and (2) Ben Hunte, the BBC's first “LGBT correspondent”.
Both express strong opinions and sometimes act and sound more like activists than journalists.
(We have, of course, been following this here).
Both express strong opinions and sometimes act and sound more like activists than journalists.
(We have, of course, been following this here).
Julie Bindel says she's heard from BBC journalists that "there is some dissatisfaction in the coverage that Mohan and Hunte are responsible for", what with both of them being "young and junior journalists" and yet being appointed to cover "one of the most contentious issues of the day for one of the world's biggest media outlets".
She says they've also ignored attempts to broaden their range of issues.
So, it seems, the big BBC programmes like Today won't feature them. "They’re more likely to be found on the BBC website among articles about YouTube stars and Jeremy Corbyn", she says.
More broadly, she blames BBC executives "obsessed with generating 'content' that chimes with the mores of a younger audience".
Plus:
Privately, some BBC suits give an explanation closer to home. Internal staff surveys show that as many as 2 per cent of all BBC staff “identify” as transgender. The corporation’s LGBT staff forum is willing and able to flex its muscles over editorial decisions that displease members. “We have to tread very carefully to avoid complaints from them,” says one of the BBC’s most senior editors. Some say tensions are growing within the BBC between an older generation of journalists and the younger breed of activists with microphones.
Very interesting.
Julie Blindel is a "political lesbian feminist". As such she identifies with the ultrafeminist Woman's Hour bloc at the BBC. I think they still have a stranglehold on the BBC. I doubt they will capitulate to the trans lobby, who are tiny in comparison.
ReplyDeleteThe government department that I once worked for set up an LGBT committee. It broke the rules for the use of the departments logo and it had the PUS (most senior civil servant) as member of its board. When one considers that the PUS only sat on the most important of the departments functional committees one has to ask how this minority of minorities has such power, it is also pretty obvious why there is a perceived advantage in claiming to be of that group.
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