Amol Rajan v The Guardian

Friendly fire time for the BBC as The Observer loads up this Sunday headline: 

BBC’s Amol Rajan criticised for using phrase ‘pro-life’ in Roe v Wade interview. Pro-choice campaigners say hearing the term, seen as partisan, on Today programme was ‘disappointing’.

The Observer 'reports': 

One of the BBC’s most high-profile presenters has been criticised for using the term “pro-life” to describe anti-abortion campaigners in a discussion about the US supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade.

The term, which is considered partisan, was used twice by Amol Rajan during Saturday morning’s Today programme on Radio 4, in segments about the landmark ruling ending Americans’ constitutional right to abortion.

The BBC News style guide advises journalists to “use anti-abortion rather than pro-life, except where it is part of the title of a group’s name”.

Now, a BBC reporter using the term 'pro-life' in the context of abortion is not what I'd expect, given the BBC's pronounced social-liberal bias, but Christopher Snowden of the free-market think tank the IEA makes an interesting point in response:

Both sides picked a name that makes their cause sound more appealing (pro-choice/pro-life) and everyone understands that. Unless this guy called the pro-choice people “pro-death”, I don’t see the problem.

And Christopher points out that the Guardian/Observer is mired in this language slough as well. See the image at the top of this very post for that tweet and his proof of that.

It's an interesting one. Though 'pro-abortion' and 'anti-abortion' aren't perfect terms, especially for some 'pro-abortion' people, they are understandable and not quite as loaded as 'pro-life' or 'pro-choice'. Maybe the BBC should stick to those?

From my own perspective, which I suppose I ought to put on record, I think our British compromise on the issue gets it about right - as BBC editors appearing on the BBC's Newswatch would say.

Update (Sunday): To expand on Christopher Snowden's point, here's BBC Washington correspondent Nomia Iqbal yesterday evening on the BBC News Channel:

It is day two of those protests, not as many numbers as they were yesterday when that ruling came through but there are hundreds of protesters. I would say they are a largely pro-choice group. Earlier, there were anti-abortion protesters as well and there was a slight stand-off between them where you had pro-choice groups surrounding those anti-abortion ones and shouting, my body, my choice.

What the people think

[h/t Sue]

The BBC's announcement of the clearing of Kyle Rittenhouse, along with Nomia Iqbal's report, has been posted on YouTube. 

It's garnered an avalanche of hostile comments about the BBC’s bias. 

So we're far from alone.

Its headline is US teenager who shot dead protesters against racial injustice found not guilty of murder - BBC News. 

Here's a selection of the replies:

• This is the worst framing of a case I’ve ever seen.
• He didn't shoot anyone during any protest. He shot rioters who were attacking him during the riot taking place after the protest, after curfew.
• Title should simply be: "Court rules Rittenhouse not guilty", or something of that sort.
• Rioters. He shot rioters. For attacking him.
• “Teenager accused of murder while defending himself against child molester and criminals rioting, found not guilty.” I like that headline better.
• Wow, no mention of the 2nd rioter hitting him with a skateboard or the 3rd rioter pulling a gun on him. Great reporting!
• "A third man survived" - a man who confirmed in court that Kyle only fired after he had ran towards Kyle brandishing a handgun pointed in his direction. Way to leave out a pretty damn important detail BBC.
• It's not the verdict that sends a fear and disbelief amongst people, it's how you guys represent the fact.
• "Shouting by the judge"….You mean protecting the accused’s right to remain silent when under caution, because the prosecutor used this as a suggestion of guilt. Classy reporting as always BBC.
• BBC is embarrassing. People here know about this case. They should change the title.
• They didn't say anything about one of them hitting him repeatedly with skateboard. Nothing about one of them pointing at him with a gun. They didn't say anything about one of them grabbing his gun. People outside: unattractive loud supporter, calm protester. Maybe BBC news should stick to news not giving a narrative?
• They weren't protesting, they were rioting. Big difference.
• And I thought the BBC couldn't possibly lose anymore credibility.
• This is exactly why I refuse to pay for a tv licence. I don’t like paying for a service just to be told one side of a story.
• BBC has still not given a fair analysis of the issues of the case. Even CNN did better (belatedly) explaining the video, and other evidence, that led to Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal.
• I have followed this case very closely. I am anti-gun but this young man acted in self defence under the circumstances he found himself in. This BBC coverage is ill-informed and heavily biased.
• A reporter and journalist has to be impartial. Every person who spoke in this video has failed at his/her job. Unbelievable.
• BBC shows you how to stick with the MSM narrative despite the facts and jury acquittal. That's what I call dedication!
• When you omit pertinent facts that counter your narrative it doesn't make people angry against the person/groups you're attempting to make us hate, it makes us angry at you for misleading us. A propagandist attempts to convince, a journalist should attempt to inform.
• Terrible framing of what went on from all angles. Well done BBC. Carry on.
• So now the BBC don't accept the verdicts of a jury anymore? At least they are consistent at being 'impartial'.
• This is why so many people are cancelling their licence fee.

There are plenty more.

Update: As CAB says in the comments below: 

Reading the comments under the video is interesting in that every single one is not only based on fact, but is condemning of the BBC. 

The BBC would definitely describe this as a right wing troll pile on, but the lack of any comments defending their reporting is the notable element. 

Where are your supporters, BBC ? 

Sending a dangerous message

Every hour on the BBC News Channel since around 5pm yesterday a report has been broadcast by Nomia Iqbal where she says of Kyle Rittenhouse, ''But many Democrats are worried that by not being held accountable for killing two men and injuring a third, it sends a dangerous message. The Vice President said the decision reflected poorly on the justice system.'' Given that he was put on trial for murder and four other offences and found innocent on all counts, surely that is accountability? Of course, what she means is that he should have been found guilty.

Behind the scenes at the BBC News website, with help from NewsSniffer

For easy of access and posterity's sake, here's a link to the long chain of comments on the Open Thread about the BBC's reporting of the clearing of Kyle Rittenhouse...to which I've kept on adding.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to it.

Comments trail  

 

The BBC's edits of their various website reports have been absolutely fascinating to watch, with NewsSniffer's help. 

It's like a behind-the-scenes glimpse of BBC editorial decisions being made and articles being re-made as a result. 

There's clearly an ongoing battle between those at the BBC angry at the verdict and cooler heads trying to tone it down.

Here's a selection of those edits for those who missed the thread:

The report headlined Kyle Rittenhouse: US teenager cleared over Kenosha killings saw the BBC add the sub-headline 'Disgusting' verdict and then remove it.

They also removed the bit saying 'He said that if Mr Rittenhouse had been a black teenager "police would have shot him dead"'.

And they changed

A US teenager who shot dead two men during racial justice protests has been cleared of homicide and all other charges after claiming self-defence.

to:

A US teenager who shot dead two men during racial unrest has been cleared of homicide and all other charges after claiming self-defence.

Then in a piece by Nomia Iqbal and The Zurch headlined Kyle Rittenhouse case: Why it so divides the US they added previously-'forgotten' 'Mr's to Kyle Rittenhouse and Judge Schroeder's names, as if they'd suddenly remembered their journalistic manners.

And then - moving in the opposite direction - a third piece headlined Kyle Rittenhouse: Biden angry after teen cleared of shootings saw them change:

Mr Rittenhouse, then 17, showed up in Kenosha after the city had been convulsed by two nights of rioting, looting and arson when police shot a knife-wielding black man, Jacob Blake, seven times in the back on 23 August 2020, leaving him paralysed.

to:

Mr Rittenhouse, then 17, showed up in Kenosha after the city had been convulsed by two nights of rioting, looting and arson when police shot a black man, Jacob Blake, seven times in the back on 23 August 2020, leaving him paralysed.

And now there's a fourth BBC article, headlined Kyle Rittenhouse: Calls for calm after US teen cleared of murder, and this has already had two beauties. The first saw:

Mr Rittenhouse said he was acting in self-defence when he fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, 28, with a military-style semi-automatic rifle in August 2020. He has been cleared of all charges.

get changed to:

Mr Rittenhouse said he was acting in self-defence when he fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, 28, in August 2020 in the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin. He has been cleared of all charges.

The second change saw the BBC drop poor, hapless Kamala Harris's thoughts on the matter entirely - which gave me a good laugh.

Thank goodness for NewsSniffer. What would we do without them? 

Transcript: BBC NEWS CHANNEL, 19 November 2021, 7.06pm - The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict

  

Shaun Ley: Nomia Iqbal has been following the trial in Kenosha and she joins us from outside the courthouse. A highly charged situation the night of these killings and it's been a highly controversial trial. Tell us what happened today.

Nomia Iqbal: It has been. After more than 26 hours of deliberations, the juror made up of seven women and five men finally released their verdict today and have cleared the 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse on every single charge. I just want to read you a statement that has just been released from the family of the second man that he shot dead last year. Anthony Huber. They have said that 'it sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the streets.' And that is the core argument that many liberal groups are making about the fact that Mr Rittenhouse has been cleared because this isn't just about what happened here in Kenosha. This verdict has been seen as almost a referendum on the very polarising issue of gun ownership in America. For conservative, who largely backed Mr Rittenhouse, he is the Second Amendment personified, and for them, pro-gun rights groups, this a victory. They say it's a victory for the Second Amendment, that he is a patriot that was standing up to lawlessness. But liberal groups back this argument that's been made by the family, that what sort of message does this send out that people can turn up to protests with guns and not face any consequences. and not face any consequences. Kyle Rittenhouse was very emotional when that verdict was read out, but I suppose for a lot of people here - there are a lot of protestors outside the courthouse - it just leaves a very worrying conclusion. I spoke to the family, the uncle of Jacob Blake. Now he was...he is a black man that was shot by a white police officer last year, which sparked the protests in the first place which then ended up with Kyle Rittenhouse entering the city on the third night. He said to me that if Kyle Rittenhouse had been black he believes that the police would have shot him. And so there's so many issues that this trial embodies, but as I say, for the many liberal groups this is sending out a worrying message. And because of the rule double jeopardy as well in this case, Kyle Rittenhouse can never be tried for this case again. There can be no appeal and he's walked out of court a free man today.

Shaun Ley: Nomia Iqbal, thank you very much.

Transcript: NEWS AT TEN, 19 November 2021 - The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict

 

Jury member: We the jury find the defendant Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty. 

Newsreader: Cleared of murder - American teenager Kyle Rittenhouse - who shot dead two people last year during protests against racial injustice. 

Newsreader: An American teenager who shot dead two people during protests against racial injustice in Wisconsin last year has been found not guilty of murder in a trial that polarised opinion in the United States. Kyle Rittenhouse argued that he had feared for his life and acted in self-defence. Prosecutors said he had behaved like an armed vigilante. The case has provoked a heated debate about gun ownership. Our correspondent Nomia Iqbal reports now from the city of Kenosha.

Judge: The defendant will rise, face the jury and harken to its verdicts. 

Nomia Iqbal: A dangerous vigilante, or someone acting in self-defence? After 26 hours, the jury decided Kyle Rittenhouse's fate. 

Jury member: We the jury find the defendant Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty. 

Nomia Iqbal: The 12 men and women of the jury accepted the teenager's claim that he killed out of fear for his safety. 

Man outside court: Somehow, some way, those 12 jurors found that he was innocent. 

Nomia Iqbal: Outside court, the political divisions this case has caused were clear. 

White man outside court: You attack me, I have the right to defend myself. That's what Kyle was on trial for, and that's what Kyle has now been acquitted of. OK, so you telling me that two guys come up to you and accost you, you can't defend yourself? That's what was on trial today. 

Black man outside court: There is no way in a land of law where a person can shoot three people, kill two of them and be acquitted. There's just no way. 

Nomia Iqbal: The shooting happened against the backdrop of nationwide protests over racism and police brutality, following the murder of George Floyd. In Kenosha, another black man, named Jacob Blake, had been shot by police seven times and on the third night of riots Kyle Rittenhouse entered the city. He said he came to provide security. 

Kyle Rittenhouse: If there's somebody hurt, I'm running into harm's way. That's why I have my rifle because I have to protect myself obviously.

Nomia Iqbal: In a series of confrontations, he shot dead Joseph Rosenbaum, who had chased after him into this car park. He then killed another man, who ran after Rittenhouse, thinking he was an active shooter. A third man survived. Police later arrested the teenager and charged him with murder. At his trial, there were tears, challenges,... 

Thomas Binger, prosecutor: When you point the gun at someone else, that's going to make them feel like they are about to die, right? That's what you wanted him to feel. 

Kyle Rittenhouse: No! 

Nomia Iqbal: ...shouting by the judge... 

Judge: Don't get brazen with me! 

Nomia Iqbal: ...and a controversial defence by his team in regards to the shooting of Jacob Blake. 

Mark Richards, defence lawyer: Other people in this community have shot somebody seven times and it has been found to be OK. My client did it four times in three quarters of a second to protect his life from Mr Rosenbaum. I'm sorry, but that's what happened. 

Nomia Iqbal: This case has become a big flash point on gun rights. Some see Kyle Rittenhouse as a hero, for others he is a reckless teenager and a symbol of a gun culture out of control.

Newsreader: Nomia is in Kenosha live for us tonight. This is a case that's been gripping America really. What's been the reaction tonight to this verdict? 

Nomia Iqbal:: Well, the reaction has been division. This case has pulled together some of the most explosive issues in America, the right to bear arms, protest, racial injustice. There were civil rights protesters outside the courthouse who said if Kyle Rittenhouse had been a black teenager and had shot at three white people the police would have behaved very differently that night. The National Guard is on standby just in case there is any violence. President Biden has reacted. He has said that the verdict will leave many Americans feeling very angry and concerned, including himself, but he has urged people to respect the verdict. Kyle Rittenhouse has reacted. He has said he is remorseful and wants to get on with his life. For others it may not be so easy. The family of one of the men shot dead that night has said that this not guilty verdict sends a dangerous message that any armed civilians can show up in any town and justify shooting people. So this political divide that we know exists in America on gun control, and gun ownership, has, tonight, got even deeper. 

Newsreader: Thank you very much indeed.

In Praise of DB

Talking of DB (me and Sue's old blogging pal), he's on fire again at the moment, and his Twitter feed is a must - if you're into Twitter.

Please follow him if you can.

Here's a selection of his posts from the first three weeks of 2019:

I

Hmm. Maria reminds me of another pro-EU Newsnight employee with a Polish-sounding name, Maya Rostowski. Maya's apparent heavy involvement in a report slagging off her pro-EU Polish politician dad's political opponents, the conservative Law and Justice, raised eyebrows - to put it mildly.

II

Nomia's not a Rod Liddle fan, obviously. 

(In contrast, I thought this from Rod in this week's Spectator, on a related theme, was another gem from the former Today editor).

Nomia isn't new to us. She did a pro-hijab report for BBC One's news bulletins.

III

And here's that very The Young Talks video for your delectation, featuring alt-right-obsessed, left-wing, ever-so-impartial, senior BBC Trending guru Mike Wendling. Enjoy!

IV

This preceded the previous example of the BBC leaping on an anti-Trump story from a major US mainstream media source and swallowing and regurgitating it hook, line and sinker (see next-to-last post). Here the BBC, making it their top News Website story, leaped on an anti-Trump Buzzfeed story that, like an insubstantial pageant, dissolved and appears to have left not a rack behind, leaving the BBC scrambling, discreetly, to bury its tracks. 

(MB has been closely following this on the previous Open Thread). 

V

Ah yes, good old Hugh. Coat always hung up at the door of BBC impartiality. 

And that 'gotcha' so excited the BBC that Reality Check generalissimo Chris Morris was wheeled in in to deliver the coup de grace to poor, babbling Boris. 

Oddly, Chris's take (and other would-be 'reality checks' across the BBC, and elsewhere) piled on just three examples - two throwaway, somewhat ambiguous comments and one co-authored letter with Michael Gove and Gisela Stuart. 

And that was pretty much it. Where was the long, damning list of quotes?

And, to me, this actually, accidentally, showed that Boris had, in reality, made next to nothing of the Turkish EU accession question in the run-up to the EU referendum. 

But "latch on" and make "a huge gotcha moment" of it the BBC tried to do nonetheless.

VI

This one was initially prompted by StewGreen:

Well done More or Less! The BBC's BBC Global Gender and Identity Correspondent (yes, really), to give her full official BBC title, certainly did get called out by Tim & Co, there. Ha ha. 

For more on Megha from me and Sue, please click here. She's very BBC - not into Ivana Trump, a fan of Naomi Klein, someone who wants to explain explain arranged marriage "to white people", and someone who deleted a tweet damning pro-gay rights Ireland for backing Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest!

VII

And, OMG, here's something about Katty:

Yes, Katty actually just-about, in a roundabout, unspecific way, acknowledged that mainstream media types, leaped in too soon on the Buzzfeed Mueller story. but then - having, as DB noted, evidently learned nothing, was straight in their again on the Native American/MAGA-capped schoolboys media fiasco. 

Oh Katty, as we approach Burns Night, please bear this good-natured advice in mind:

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion.

Aye to that! Cue bagpipes...

Sir John Sulston and the BBC Hijab Project

C. elegans

It was typical of the BBC's flagship news bulletins on BBC One (News at Six and News at Ten) that they each devoted just 14 seconds to the death of Sir John Sulston, the scientist who led the human genome breakthrough:

Sir John Sulston, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on the Human Genome Project, has died. Sir John's work in decoding the sequence of human DNA, the building blocks of life, saw him awarded the prize back in 2002.

Bizarrely the BBC even managed to get this wrong, twice in the space of two short sentences! 

Sir John won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for work on 'genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death' through his study of a particular species of worm (Caenorhabditis elegans) - work which led to innovations in cancer research - and not for "his work on the Human Genome Project".  

Very poor journalism.

The death of Sir John Sulston (real news) got relegated to a mere quarter-of-a-minute footnote on both the News at Six and News at Ten in order to make way for the 'news' that a modelling agency has just signed its first British catwalk model who wears a hijab - an item which took up nearly four minutes of both prime time BBC One bulletins. 

Nomia Iqbal

Here's a transcript. Note the very heavy imbalance in favour of those who take a positive view of the hijab:

Nomia Iqbal, BBC: The spotlight is on the hijab. Many Muslim women choose to wear it proudly. For some, it's an act of modesty. For others, in countries like Iran, forced to wear it, it's a symbol to remove in protest. It may divide opinion, but the hijab is going high fashion. 20-year-old model, Shahira Yusuf, has been signed up by Storm, the agency that found supermodel, Kate Moss. Shahira is one of the first British models with a hijab taking to the catwalk. 

Shahira Yusuf, model: Yeah, definitely don't want to be considered a token girl. I don't want these models like ethnic models or models from different religious backgrounds to just pave the way, I want the way to stay there, become the norm within society. Because it is the norm outside of the modelling sphere. 

Shahira is becoming the face of Modest Fashion. At the show in London, Muslim designers have come from all over the world to promote their clothes. The market for Modest Fashion is on course to be worth billions. I grew up in a Muslim family and none of the the women in my family wore the hijab. None of my Muslim friends wore it either. But now, more and more young women are wearing it. 

Shahira Yusuf: The reason why I wear it is to number one, cover my hair. And number two, to be honest, I actually enjoy wearing the hijab, I enjoy covering my hair, I enjoy the hijabs I have today. I feel like it makes a statement. It's part of who I am, it's my crown.  

Unnamed woman: The hijab to me is empowerment and it's feminism and it's taking control and ownership of what I choose to show to the world. 

Being online has given some women a powerful platform. Social media star, Mariah Idrissi, has a huge following on Instagram. 

Mariah Idrissi, online personality: The hijab is a part of me, it's part of my career and its representation. You know, we shouldn't be ashamed or shy to represent who we are. 

Nomia Iqbal: If you are a model wearing a hijab, and you're on Instagram and having thousands of people following you, aren't you doing the opposite of what the hijab is supposed to be about?  

Mariah Idrissi: The mainstream media, western media isn't representing Muslims on TV, in fashion, anywhere. The only time we are represented is for something bad. I just saw this as, you know I'm going on the news and I'm talking about something that's not about terrorism, not about women being oppressed, I'm talking about fashion. 

Some campaigners for Muslim women's' rights think the hijab's popularity is a political statement. They feel uneasy about its use as an expression of identity. 

Ahlam Akbar, Basira Women's Rights Group: Modest does not mean you need to wear the hijab. Modesty goes beyond that in your behaviour and your way of dressing. I don't need to prove to anybody what I am, but in the hijab, you are singling yourself and proving something unnecessary, especially in the Western world. 

The hijab means different things to different people. Shahira believes you can wear it and be a successful model. Her dream? The cover of British Vogue, wearing her hijab. Nomia Iqbal, BBC News.