Betcha?

 

Making Charles Moore the next Chairman of the BBC and Paul Dacre the next head of Ofcom would be a bold act by the Government. But are they still just floating it? Iain Dale is confidently predicting that neither will be put in place. 

Conversations

I

Peter Hitchens: The BBC has no right to meddle in this crude cheap way with Charles Dickens's 'Christmas Carol': "The BBC plans to rewrite Charles Dickens tonight, complete with the f-word and a scene showing a character urinating on a grave. It has no right to do so."  

David: No doubt done deliberately to get media backlash & increase audience figures.

Peter Hitchens: I’m not sure this is true about the ‘backlash’. Though yes, it is about numbers. The BBC genuinely think the ‘Peaky Blinders’ appproach to the past is a good one. This mad incomprehensible rubbish gets good ratings. 

II

BBC One: We are thrilled to announce that Stormzy will be bringing Christmas Day to a close this year on BBC One, telling the story of the first ever Christmas with a reading from Luke’s Gospel. On Christmas Night.

Allison Pearson: This is the man who just said the UK is “100% racist”. And he’s allowed to read the CHRISTMAS STORY on the BBC funded by the licence payer. The very people who are 100% racist? A new low for public broadcasting. #bbc

III

Iain Dale: Somewhat appalled by the idiots piling in on Owen Jones for no apparent reason other than he is Owen Jones. Grow the f**k up, He has as much right to a voice as anyone. #whycantwealljustgetalong. #ItsChristmasFFS. #SolidarityWithOwenJones.

Andrew Neil: Agreed. Even though he has run a campaign to shut me down.

Laurence Fox: Owen Jones has sought to divide people at every opportunity. I am enormously encouraged that his narrative has been so roundly rejected by the electorate. Do I feel that mocking him furthers the cause of reason? Not really, but you live in the sun and you die in the sun. X 

IV

Dr Paul Stott: If there's one thing the British are rubbish at, it's racism. After Stormzy's dad did a runner, our welfare state helped bring him up. It may not have been perfect, but it was better than what was on offer in Ghana. As a celebrity, we invite him to our schools, where he tells the next generation our society is 100% racist. Our national broadcaster (presumably funded by 100% racists) gives him a platform on the most important day of the year. Although he does not realise it, half the world would swap places with Stormzy in a shot, if they could. If there's one thing we need to hear from this young man in 2020, it is surely thank you Great Britain.

V

Michael Swadling: Are they finally starting to get it? “THE BBC is looking at restricting its journalists use of Twitter, following the waves of online criticism...It comes as Channel 4 reportedly have told non-political staff not to tweet about current affairs”.

Suzanne Evans: Ludicrous idea. Twitter is now my primary source for news and I want to read what journalists are reporting here. Shoving them off social media isn’t the answer - reinforcing principles of objectivity, factual reporting and ensuring sources are checked, is.

VI

Bruce Lawson: BBC Editorial meeting: “So who are we going to get to close Christmas Day by reading from the Bible? How about a misogynist, homophobic millionaire who thinks our country is 100% racist and shouts “f*ck Boris, f*ck the government” at every opportunity? Yes, that’ll do nicely.”

Iain's concluding paragraph

Finally:

The BBC cannot afford to continue the way it is. The media landscape is shifting beneath its feet, and viewers and listeners will not put up with this behaviour indefinitely. Will it adapt to the times and realise the scale of its failures? Might it even be proactive and put forward its own proposals to replace the outdated licence fee, before the Government gets there first? I won’t hold my breath.

There's much more in the article too, so please read it in full.

Iain Dale on the BBC's middle-class liberal assumptions

Sixthly:

The dominant mentality in the BBC is not necessarily pro-Labour, but its assumptions are those of middle-class liberals. Look at its coverage of poverty. Judging by its output, anyone would think that Britain is a country solely of billionaires and the very poor: the interests of the majority in the middle are rarely taken into account. On food banks, the BBC makes out as if they are a peculiarly British phenomenon, forced on people by a wicked Tory Government. There are food banks in virtually every country in Europe, but you won’t see that pointed out by BBC producers whose middle-class guilt complex permeates every minute of their output. Suggest that it’s capitalism that has lifted poor people all over the world out of poverty and it’s a quick, “Sorry Mr Dale, we don’t think that particular documentary idea is right for our audience.” Why? Because they commission programmes for “people like us”. Perish the thought that the kind of person in Bassetlaw who voted Tory last week should be catered for.

Iain Dale on 'Question Time' (again)

Fifthly:

And why did the post-election Question Time take place in a London borough which saw the only Labour gain in the country? The story of this election wasn’t in liberal Wandsworth – it was in Workington and Wakefield. The audience was probably the most anti-Tory they’ve had this year on a day when the Conservatives had won an emphatic victory. The BBC is broadcasting a view of the country that most of us do not recognise.

Iain Dale on the election and the BBC's own echo chamber

Fourthly:

Then there is the election. From my experience, about 85 per cent of the BBC news department voted Remain and they’ve created an echo chamber for themselves. Why else did they appear so shocked at Labour Leave seats voting Tory in such numbers last week? Had they made even a cursory effort to talk to these voters instead of subliminally ridiculing them or assuming they had all given up on Brexit, perhaps that air of surprise would not have been so stark.

Iain Dale on the BBC's coverage of the 'People's Vote' campaign

Thirdly:

The sycophantic coverage given to “People’s Vote” campaigners (even the use of that absurd moniker to describe people who want to reverse the original people’s vote) when compared to the “look down your nose and sniff” tone the BBC adopts when questioning Brexiteers has been readily apparent to anyone who isn’t aligned to the Remain cause. One of the big stories of the last week is that the campaign for a second referendum is effectively dead. Have you heard that reflected on the BBC in the last week? Me neither.

Iain Dale on 'Question Time'

Secondly:

But implicit bias is everywhere. When the BBC puts together panels for its shows, for example, it is rare they contain a majority of Brexiteers. Many is the time I have been outnumbered two or even three to one. And on the one occasion there was a 3-3 balance on Question Time, the Remainers were allowed to dominate the discussion to such an extent that in an hour-long programme, the three Leavers, including your humble servant, got all of 15 minutes between us.

Iain Dale on the BBC's reaction to Brexit - and its Reality Check

Firstly:

The problem reached its zenith after Brexit. Like most London middle-class liberals, the BBC couldn’t understand why 17.4 million had voted to leave the EU. But then it has never seemed to make any attempt to do so. After the referendum, it panicked, apparently believing that the Leave vote was a consequence of its failure to dispel politicians’ “lies” or “populism”. 

Thus for the last three years, it has gladly wheeled out its “Reality Check” fact-checkers to pick holes in the case for Brexit, deploying them only occasionally to question the case for Remain. Its ostensibly impartial presenters, meanwhile, feel the need to stand in judgment over the argument, determining what is “true” as if viewers were incapable of making up their own minds.

Other reading

Rob probably won't be recommending Iain Dale's piece about the BBC in the Daily Telegraph but I think it's pretty much spot on, so much so that I'm going to quote it over a few posts - so that each telling point rings louder.

Questions, questions!

Mazel Tov to Jeremy Corbyn

I can’t get LBC. Well, I could, but I never bother to tune in. You wouldn’t hear this on the BBC, but if you want to hear  9 entertaining minutes of pure joy click here. (And, “you know what?” for once I even don’t mind those.)

“I have to say to Jeremy Corbyn, absolute Mazel Tov to Jeremy Corbyn - he’s done an amazing job. You lied your backside off beyond belief.

“You promised sweets for everybody, you promised sweets for the doctors, you promised sweets for the policemen, you promised sweets for the railway workers, you promised sweets for the nurses - you promised sweets for the whole world.”

He went on: “I knew it was all spin, they even stuck a rose on Jeremy Corbyn’s lapel in the past few days to make it look like New Labour.

“They kept Momentum quiet, which is a militant organisation, I always voted for New Labour, I always voted for Tony Blair, I couldn’t vote for Jeremy Corbyn. 

“I knew it was spin - but what did Theresa May do? I tell you what she done, she said to the electorate: ‘I’ve got such a lead, I can say what I want and I can do what I want’. 

“And what did she do? The silly woman went after the old age pensioners for no reason whatsoever… she didn’t need to put that in their manifesto.”

Martin continued: “That lady treated the entire working class of this nation with utter contempt. 

“She thought we’d like Jeremy Corbyn so much that she would sweep to power and she’s made the biggest political error in my lifetime.”

The BBC continues reacting to 'What British Muslims Really Think'

What British Muslims Really Thing also came up during the paper review on the Andrew Marr programme, and credit is due to Andrew Marr for not downplaying the story and not going along with some of the deflection tactics employed by his two paper reviewers.

Interestingly, Iain Dale ended up saying much the same as what Sally Hitchener said earlier on BBC Breakfast - that, anecdotally, the Muslims he speaks to in his daily life aren't like that. And Polly Toynbee simply tried to wish the Muslim problem away by saying it's a more general problem with older people and, very surprisingly, went on to suggest (hope) that the next generation of British Muslims will be like other young people - ie much more liberal than their parents on social issues. That's not something other reports into the views of young British Muslims have borne out, is it? They've tended to show that many young British Muslims are becoming more religious, more socially conservative, than their parents. So Polly seems to be engaging in wishful thinking. 

Andrew Marr: One other story that's caught my attention...front page of the Sunday Times again, under the masthead. It's this big poll of British Muslims and an article by Trevor Phillips, ex of the EHRC. 

Iain Dale: Well, it's interestingly on the...in the paper this is allied to a small article about Sadiq Khan, the candidate for Mayor of London, who, according to the Sunday Times, in 2004 said he wanted areas of Sharia law introduced in the UK, particularly on inheritance tax so it could be divided between wives. His spokesman now is insisting that he's always opposed Sharia law, says there's no place for Sharia law in the UK. You look at this survey and that's not the view of the majority of Muslims.  

Andrew Marr: Just read out some of those percentages for us. 

Polly Toynbee: Percentages. 'Wives should always obey their husbands', 39%; 'It's acceptable for British Muslims to have more than one wife', 31%. I think you've got to put this into some context, that if you look at older people who were born abroad...I mean, it is...quite a lot of that is quite like Britain 50 years ago.... 

Andrew Marr: Yes. Polygamy less popular, even in the 1950s... 

Polly Toynbee: Less popular,... 

Andrew Marr: ...though it depends which circles you moved in, but... 

Polly Toynbee: ,,,but the idea that wives should obey their husbands. I think a lot of people would have said that. A lot of older people would have said... 

Andrew Marr: And strong hostility towards homosexuality as well. 

Polly Toynbee: And the Church of England. Just look what the Church of England marriage service says: 'Love, honour and obey' . 

Iain Dale: I cover a lot of these Muslim issues on my LBC show and I have to say the people that phone in to talk about them - the Muslim callers - do not reflect that. I mean, they're very much sort-of integrated and all the rest of it but, of course, this survey will include all Muslims, maybe people who've come recently from Muslim countries. 

Andrew Marr: Half of Muslims want gay sex to be outlawed it says there. 

Iain Dale: Yeah.  

Andrew Marr: Yeah. 

Polly Toynbee: But that older people,. you know....I think that the next generation will be, you know, will be different. You know, older people among the white population also are very different to young people. 

Andrew Marr: At any rate, a very, very interesting read and well worth it.

Sunday Morning Live; curate’s egg episode

I thought today’s SML was the best SML I’ve ever seen. Not that that’s saying much. For once, many interesting points were made by all.

Sian asks: Should Britain join air strikes in Syria?

The whole panel were against hurriedly rushing in to bomb ISIS without properly planning for the aftermath. Even those with pacifist tendencies agreed that defeating ISIS with military force will have to happen sometime, but not before serious consideration is given to the possible consequences.

I have enjoyed watching Emily Dyer’s assertive performances when she’s been on TBQs. 

The blurb on the SML web page doesn’t mention that she’s from Henry Jackson; it describes her as ‘foreign policy and extremist researcher and writer for the Daily Beast’. She seems to know her stuff. In fact her obvious expertise all but sidelined the other contributors. But SML is a religion-based programme so I suppose they have to include the views of a Bishop. (or an Imam) 

Iain Dale was good, and the Bishop - Stephen Cottrel, spoke some sense. Even Owen Jones made some thoughtful comments. 

There was an awkward moment when Anjum Anwar (whose huge intrusive image on the monitor was unhelpful) advocated negotiating with ISIS rather than blanket bombing, unfortunately comparing ISIS with the IRA. In fact she too had made some valid points, but by making that particular analogy she handed Iain Dale an easy point-score, enabling him to say indignantly “Are you comparing ISIS with the IRA? You must be on a different planet!” To which she replied with a wry smile “No, I’m on the same planet as you”.  With that, the panel completely ignored her for the rest of the debate.

They talked about Assad a lot. Owen said the Sunnis must be supported in Syria, though everyone agreed that Saudi-funded mosques are a major source of radicalisation. 

It’s patronising to include over simplified comments and tweets from listeners. If the panel is any good, as they were in this case,  emails from the likes of  ‘Andrew, Manchester’ are irrelevant, and  Tommy (I don’t know who or why he is) can’t even read them out without making mistakes, especially as they’re displayed on a giant screen so we can easily read them for ourselves.

Ditch the giant screen, ditch the vox pops, get some knowledgable, articulate contributors and you’ll have a programme. Otherwise, get rid.

********

The section about the Lord’s Prayer advert being rejected by cinemas was less gripping. SML didn’t nail it, either. For what it’s worth, I’d guess the cinemas fear audiences will resent being proselytised or preached at. 

Don’t want to put off the punters. Are cinemas having a hard time these days? What with box sets and all. Audiences didn’t like being expected to stand still for the national anthem either. Maybe the CofE were aiming for the success of the popular mash-up ‘Perfect Day’. 

(‘Arfur who art in heaven, ‘arold be thy name’ isn’t a patch on Perfect Day.)

It was amusing to read Harry’s Place on this topic. There were several comments about Justin Welby’s soul-searching over the whereabouts of God, after Paris.  

Like -- he should have thought about that before becoming an Archbishop, or any kind of bishop, what with all the genocides that have taken place while the old man in the sky was looking the other way. Anyway, they’ve exchanged words, Welby and God, and now everything’s hunky dory. 

No offence.