Having been at work all day, I've not heard much of Radio 4 - other than catching up with that Gus O'Donnell documentary and hearing PM as I drove home.
I did, however, hear Steve Hewlett's interview with former BBC DG Mark Thompson on this afternoon's The Media Show and was struck by two things:
Firstly, the specific examples of 'wrong use of language' that Mark Thompson used to bolster his argument that "something has gone wrong with political language and it's making it harder to have serious public debates about important issues" in the UK and the US included a couple of recent examples from British politics - both from the Leave side of the EU referendum: "take back control" and "our Independence Day".
And, secondly, that Steve Hewlett pushed a 'Roy Greenslade/Timothy Garton Ash (etc)' line of questioning on how the BBC had reported the referendum, and whether BBC guidelines should be changed to stop the BBC treating both sides of a referendum equally - or as Steve 'n' Mark put it, treating 'Coco the Clown' on one side with the same respect as a 'world-leading expert' on the other.
Mark Thompson duly went along with Steve's line of questioning and agree that if there's another referendum it should be conducted differently by the BBC and that 'Coco the Clown' on one side shouldn't be accorded the same respect as the 'world-leading expert' on the other.
I think it's not hard to guess where that kind of argument is intended to take us - especially if there's another referendum.
I'd settle for an explanation prior to them speaking of who they work for and who funds the people they work for, only seems to happen when the speakers from the right (team clown!?!).
ReplyDeleteI am new to this having been forced here by the final straw of tonight's newsnight. I have a simple question,WHy are they so ridiculously biased? Who is driving this and why?
ReplyDeleteClowns to the left, jokers to the right; stuck in the middle with the BBC, who are balanced (apparently).
DeleteIt seems to me that the BBC was anything but impartial in its EU Referendum: Pro-Brexiteers ,particularly Farage, were treated as clowns throughout, while Cameron & Obama's outpourings were treated with reverence.
ReplyDeleteThe view from the other side:
ReplyDeletehttp://diybrexit.38degrees.org.uk/
It will always be biased when the BBC decides who the experts are. They simply can’t get past the plain fact that people can actually think for themselves without being directed by the BBC. The argument that has been pedalled relentlessly by the BBC that the Brexit vote was some kind of protest against what they suppose to be a metropolitan elite is nothing more that a testament to their own arrogance.
ReplyDeleteThey were having a discussion on Today about how those who voted for Brexit were uninformed or misinformed. As always, there can never be a legitimate reason to disagree with the BBC line of thinking. If you don't agree with them, you're either an idiot, a racist, or have some other nefarious reason for your opinion.
DeleteHe who controls the edit...
DeleteShe who controls the pre-pro...
Shmee who controls the Newspeak...
The BBC treated both sides of the EU Referendum debate equally? When did that happen? Okay, maybe a couple times on the Daily Politics...
ReplyDeleteThey really are so far up themselves they don't know what they're doing.
There's anti-Brexit bias right there in this discussion. 'Experts' on the side of the angels, and 'Coco the Clown' on the Brexit side. And Mark Thompson shares a good deal of responsibility for the coarsening of political language in Britain.
Lest we forget MT was the guy who engaged in unprovoked biting attacks on colleagues!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.standard.co.uk/news/the-day-i-was-bitten-by-bbc-boss-7086208.html
He's in no position to lecture anyone on anything.
On the topic of Mark Thompson, you can take the man out of the BBC, but you can't take the BBC out of the man:
ReplyDeletehttp://heatst.com/politics/new-york-times-arts-gender/
New York Times Axes Local Arts Coverage To Free Up Resources For New ‘Gender Editor’
Actually, the cash-strapped Grey Lady is simply dumping lots of local NY coverage in favor of appealing to an international audience. It not only frees up daily resources, but eliminates the cost of having so many different print versions for all the different markets. But only a Beeboid or NY Times Progressive elitist would think discussion of gender identity is going to increase their market share in Beijing.
Maybe Ms. Boaden could be asked if he or she remember talking about such things back in the day?
DeleteLol based on today's survey results does this mean all those "experts" won't be allowed next time?
ReplyDeleteAt what point does the bias of the BBC against brexit become unsustainable?
ReplyDeleteIn the sense that, by moving so clearly, and with such bias, into the political arena that a compulsory license fee cannot be maintained because it is a forced political subscription?