Continuing with our election coverage (comparing the BBC, Sky and ITV news websites at the same time every day)...
Sky News is, again, not leading with election, preferring to go instead with those "nine Britons" who've been "arrested 'trying to enter Syria'". Their two election stories (ranked #2 and #3) are evenly spread between the two largest parties:
(1) Tories Continue To Chase Down Business Support: The Conservative co-chairman is emailing business leaders asking them to add their names to a 100-signature support letter.
(2) Miliband: Epidemic Of Zero-Hours Contracts: Ed Miliband says he will outlaw the "exploitative" contracts where workers are at company's "beck and call" but have no security.
ITV News, again, leads with the election. (The "nine Brits" attempting to enter Syria come second). Their angle also balances the messages of the two largest parties:
More than 100 business leaders have declared their support for the Conservatives, warning a "change of course" after the general election would "put the recovery at risk." While Labour have unveiled plans to restrict zero-hours contracts.
BBC News, like ITV, again leads with the election. (The "Britons held on the Turkey-Syria border" are in fourth place). Their main story also balances the messages of the two main parties...
The Conservatives welcome an "unprecedented" endorsement by 100 business leaders - as Labour pledges to tackle the "epidemic" of zero-hours contracts.
...but the BBC has two accompanying stories - Miliband targets zero-hours and Has there been zero-hours explosion? which appear to tilt the focus firmly onto the Labour Party's campaign theme of the day.
However, there is also Robert Peston's prominently-placed blogpost Business v Economists which moves onto the Conservatives' talking point of the day - albeit only to undermine it with the counter-points of critical economists.
The other accompanying articles are more generalised - What parties pledge on economy; Is politics on Twitter a man's world?; and Poll tracker: How close is the race?
The other accompanying articles are more generalised - What parties pledge on economy; Is politics on Twitter a man's world?; and Poll tracker: How close is the race?
For the second day running I think the Labour Party will, I think, be happier with the BBC than the Conservatives.
The 'other' parties aren't getting an obvious look-in tonight.
The 'other' parties aren't getting an obvious look-in tonight.
I keep waiting for someone to ask a Beeboid how Miliband's plan to force all companies to give full-time contracts to freelancers after three months will affect the BBC's employment scheme. Maybe for some those personal production companies will let them continue the status quo, but surely the BBC would be forced to give 20-hour or full-time contracts to a significant number of their full-time freelancers.
ReplyDeleteI just watched an incredibly biased discussion on Newsnight of the prospective deal on Iranian nuke technology.
ReplyDeleteNeither Emily Matlis or the two invitees (one LSE one FT - both with Muslim names).
One of them (Fawaz Gerges) is described by Campus Watch as "typical of his field: He's yet another Middle East specialist who minimizes the threat of militant Islam while presenting the United States as a sinister force".
Apparently before 9-11 (according to Campus Watch) he found that Osama bin Laden was "exceptionally isolated," and "preoccupied mainly with survival, not attacking American targets." He also, according to Campus Watch, ridiculed "exaggerated rhetoric" in Washington about the Bin Laden threat.
The other Rousha Khalaf, is also one of the Middle East wiseacres who never actually predicts anything useful and takes as an unquestionable precept that there are meaningful "moderates" within the Islamic regime in Iran.
There were no sceptical questions and no sceptical interviewees - basically just cheerleading for an "agreement" - one which, if it happens, we will see used by Tehran as cover for advancing towards obtaining nuclear weapons.
The idea that a country whose government still regularly organises "Death to America" chanting and protests can be trusted by the object of its hatred seems to me absurd. But these commentators appear untroubled by that.