The Militant Tendency

Just as a P.S. to the previous post...

Some of us who have been watching the BBC for some time have been 'living with' the BBC's opposition to the use of the word 'terrorist' to describe terrorists for so long now that it no longer shocks us. 

Yes, it still appals us, but we've kind-of grown accustomed to it.

It still evidently has the power to shock to shock others though - particularly people who haven't paid much attention to the BBC's news reporting before, such as the young Mancunian poet Richard Mather. 

Arutz Sheva has re-posted a piece of his called The BBC's militant tendency. (Is Richard too young to recognise the ironic relevance of that headline - given a certain notorious Panorama episode from the 1980s called Maggie's Militant Tendency?.)

Following the atrocities in Brussels, the BBC’s flagship News At Ten programme referred to the bombers as “militants” rather than “terrorists.” Initially, I thought this was a mistake. And then the BBC did it again, this time in the context of events in Syria and Iraq where ISIS is engaging in a wholesale massacre of the innocents. 

How long had the BBC been referring to suicide bombers and beheaders as “militants”? I rarely watch the BBC’s news output, so I couldn't be sure. Someone told me that it was part of the BBC’s style guide. But, I reasoned, the word “militant” suggests someone who is belligerent or combative, e.g. a militant feminist. Not so long ago, the trade union movement in the UK was described as “militant.” But neither feminists nor trade unionists are terrorists. 

So I contacted the BBC. And I explained to them that the trouble with the word “militant” is that it falls short of describing an individual who engages in acts of extreme violence with the express aim of terrorizing – of invoking fear and submission in the general population. In response, a spokesperson for the BBC told me: 

“The BBC has an obligation to be impartial, independent and accurate. We use neutral language to describe news events, particularly in complex situations where any appearance of bias would undermine our credibility.”

It's good to be reminded, from time to time, just how ridiculous and wrong-headed the BBC is over this. If only the BBC itself would realise that.