It's the perennial question facing bloggers about BBC bias: Do our own biases bias us against the BBC's reporting, or is the BBC biased? Well, please judge for yourselves here...
When I started listening to Broadcasting House on Radio 4 this morning, I was expecting the Muslim Brotherhood side of the Egyptian argument to be given the lead, given that it's been given the lead over recent days on almost every BBC programme I've seen or heard, and almost the opening thing I heard on the programme was the voice of an MB supporter screaming that Morsi was elected and 'where are human rights?' and 'where is democracy?'
My eyes raised to heaven [as I'm no fan of the Muslim Brotherhood]...and raised again when Hugh Sykes turned up to bemoan the plight of the "politically pragmatic" Brotherhood.
"Bugger off, Hugh!", I thought.
He didn't though, and pursued his familiar BBC narrative, stopping along the way (as Hugh is prone to do) to whinge about the wicked West and its wicked ways: "An Islamist who believed that the West believed in democracy, whatever the result. First Hamas in 2006. Now Egypt in 2013. Democracy dismissed. Twice. Dumped." [Cue the screaming MB supporter from the programme's introduction].
"Bugger off, Hugh!", I thought again.
"Bugger off, Hugh!", I thought.
He didn't though, and pursued his familiar BBC narrative, stopping along the way (as Hugh is prone to do) to whinge about the wicked West and its wicked ways: "An Islamist who believed that the West believed in democracy, whatever the result. First Hamas in 2006. Now Egypt in 2013. Democracy dismissed. Twice. Dumped." [Cue the screaming MB supporter from the programme's introduction].
"Bugger off, Hugh!", I thought again.
Paddy O'Connell was consequently struck by "the passion from the street" [ie. from the Muslim Brotherhood], as reported by Hugh Sykes.
An interesting report on the plight of pubs was followed by an interview with a Tory politician on the same subject. Paddy talked politics - "Mrs Thatcher", "bucking the markets", the Big Society hasn't been mentioned "for a thousand years", "breaking up big brewers", etc.
"Bugger off, Paddy!", I thought.
"Bugger off, Paddy!", I thought.
Something about Hemel Hempstead (Britain's ugliest place) followed from Radio 4's 'Ed Reardon'. It completely by-passed my humour gland - though Paddy had a good chortle at it. (Genuinely? Or merely out of professional courtesy?)
Then it was off to Gibraltar. A BBC reporter was on patriotic duty on board a Royal Navy ship...no, scrub that...the BBC's Tom Burridge was on board a Spanish fishing boat, sailing into Gibraltar's waters.
"Bugger off, Tom!", I thought.
Still, at least he also reported from the queues outside Gibraltar, where British people were not happy at being kept waiting for hours on end, thanks to the Spanish blockade.
After all that swearing I will now go and wash my mouth out with soap and water.
"Bugger off, Tom!", I thought.
Still, at least he also reported from the queues outside Gibraltar, where British people were not happy at being kept waiting for hours on end, thanks to the Spanish blockade.
After all that swearing I will now go and wash my mouth out with soap and water.
Yo Craig, glad to see you're still blogging!
ReplyDeleteDid Hugh Sykes happen to point out that since the first elections in both parts of the Palestinian Territory no scheduled elections have been held since?
The BBC love Islamists because they hate Christians and Jews.
All I can say is is that the daily figures for Jihadists that the Egyptian Army has killed are disappointingly low. Nontheless, the Egyptians, like the Algerians in dealing with Al Qa'eda hostage taking, are blazing the trail on how Islamists should be dealt with.
hippiepooter / Graeme
Hola and gracias Graeme.
ReplyDeleteYes, still at it!
Yes, I recall the 'passion in the streets' with the muslim brotherhood raping and slaughtering their way through Egypt
ReplyDelete