As Sue mentioned in the previous post, I sent her a rushed email this morning before heading off to work after reading both the BBC and Sky website's takes on the news that Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis had strongly denounced Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party for spreading the poison of antisemitism. I wrote:
Comparing the BBC website report to Sky's, the BBC gives over more space to Labour than the Chief Rabbi while Sky's report is largely the views of the Chief Rabbi plus lots and lots of damning context - which the BBC avoids. Plus the BBC twice uses the word "claims" as a verb to describe the Chief Rabbi's criticism of Corbyn and Labour. Two very different reports.
I didn't mention to Sue that I'd also done a quick, early morning count.
At the time of writing (around 7 am), the BBC piece featured 11 paragraphs of direct or indirect quotes from Labour as against 10 such paragraphs from Rabbi Mirvis and others criticising Labour - i.e. more paragraphs for those supporting Labour against the Chief Rabbi than for those criticising Labour. There were surprisingly few extended quotes from Rabbi Mirvis.
In stark contrast, Sky featured a mere 6 paragraphs of direct or indirect quotes from Labour compared to 20 paragraphs given to Rabbi Mirvis and those criticising Labour. There were plenty of extended quotes from Rabbi Mirvis.
Whatever else this shows, it certainly shows a marked difference in attitude between the two broadcasters.
This was reflected in the 9am news on Radio 4 which involved a cursory (and misleading) summary of Rabbi Mirvis's critique but a much longer piece setting out the Dubs Defence, and referencing his Kindertransport status to add authority.
ReplyDeleteDon't BBC studios always have someone in the corner of the studio from the Labour Party politburo ?
ReplyDelete