Sunday 28 January 2018

"I was able to use bias in my reports"


Just bumping this 'scoop' from this morning back up the blog, as it poses very serious questions for the BBC...


A LABOUR frontbencher has admitted broadcasting biased news reports while working as a BBC journalist. 
And last night the revelation by shadow treasury minister Clive Lewis plunged the corporation into a damaging storm. 
Mr Lewis told left-wing Momentum members: “I was able to use bias in my reports by giving less time to one than the other. 
I reported on both but the angle and words and the language I used — I know the pictures I used — I was able to project my own particular political positions on things in a very subtle way.” 
Mr Lewis made his damning comments last September at a Momentum rally in Brighton.
They were discovered in a secret recording and will be a huge embarrassment to BBC bosses. 
Tory MP Damian Collins said: “He’s boasting about undermining one of our great institutions.” 
A spokesman for Mr Lewis declined to comment.
And the BBC's response?: 
A BBC spokesperson said: “Our editorial guidelines ensure impartiality.
Clive Lewis was a senior BBC broadcast journalist and the main reporter on the BBC's Politics Show East.

Update: (intervention by Sue to protect Craig's modesty)
You saw it here first! (note to Biased BBC and Notasheep)

5 comments:

  1. The BBC's pay policy is clearly out of control. Why should we expect the editorial policy to be any different?

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  2. This is an absolutely damning comment. It's certainly not good enough for the BBC to use their usual parrot lines. This is going to come back to haunt them I hope. Surely someone can use this as the basis of a complaint to Ofcom?

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    1. BBC parrots know they can only 'get it about right' or see it shunted to OFCOM where their mates are waiting to endorse this.

      Trying still to think of the perfect analogy for flat out being anything but impartial but pointing out guidelines that say that this is ensured.

      And with a straight face.

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  3. The use of photos to convey a politically biased message can be more damaging than text. Nigel Farage in a pub with a glass of beer sloshing about, Boris stuck on a zip-wire, Theresa May with a black back-ground, and then in contrast, Corbyn looking triumphant waving to his supporters with the Labour message on a red background behind, are all examples of the technique used in this way.

    But, once we realise how these images are used, they can backfire when, for instance, the BBC Business website use the example of a restaurant as an image of growth in the economy. It shows a feebleness in reporting.

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  4. Is there a register of BBC complaints decisions? If Look East viewers were paying attention and felt motivated to complain, there might be some interesting reading to be had.

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