Viewers in Scotland...

 

Curiously, BBC One viewers in Scotland are still being treated to the Scottish government's daily coronavirus updates, without fail. 

Nicola Sturgeon's political opponents remain aghast at that. 

There was another one today of course, broadcast live in yet another BBC Scotland News Special. 

(They're hardly special, as they happen nearly every day, except weekends).

In contrast, today's UK government coronavirus update from Downing Street was dropped from BBC One and relegated to the BBC News Channel. 

What's the BBC's thinking here?

BBC Two's much praised lockdown educational output begins....with Greta

I was probably too sour the other day, and may have reacted in a knee-jerk fashion. (Or maybe not).

And it may very well be a wonderful thing that the BBC is broadcasting hours of extra educational programmes on CBeebies and BBC Two each day because of lockdown. (Or maybe not).

But...

...those tuning into BBC Two's Bitesize programmes today for secondary school children will have found the following at the start of the channel's two-hour educational package:

Since it's Science Week here at Bitesize Daily, our Big Read is Devika Jina's book, The Extraordinary Life of Greta Thunberg. 

Yesterday, we read about Greta's early childhood and how she first learned about climate change watching documentaries at school. 

In this extract, we get more insight into Greta's personal life and what makes her extraordinary. 

This isn't a parody. 

The sciences cover such a broad range, as does the science curriculum. Trust someone at BBC Two to place their favourite climate activist Greta front-and-centre of their opening week of educational programmes! 

And there was Professor Brian Cox to follow. (Things well and truly could only get better - it was his OK-ish The Planets series.)

I rather like Prof Cox, but he's long been the present BBC's idea of a 'hip-and-down-with-the-youngsters' scientist - despite being 52. He holds all the right views too.

You can just imagine the thinking at BBC Two as to what to choose for Week 1: 

(a) "Got to put out something about science. What can we put out? Something about climate change maybe? Ah, there's a book out about Greta Thunberg's extraordinary life. Good! Is there something on BBC Bitesize that? Yes. Should we put that out? Yes, that's a good idea. Let's do it." 

(b) "What else? Something from Brian Cox?".

Mark Easton follows suit

You know that thing about how pretty much every single question from the BBC's posse of political reporters at recent Downing Street briefings has asked precisely the same thing, "Why isn't the Government acting fast enough or hard enough over lockdown?"...

Well, today's briefing, starring Priti Patel, featured a rare appearance by the BBC's home editor Mark Easton. 

What question would he ask? Something a little bit different? 

No, he asked exactly the same question:

A question for the Home Secretary. We were warned we may be health facing health service catastrophe, so why are the rules of this lockdown not as tough as they were last spring?

Journalists have the opportunity to ask anything they like, questions the public might like an answer to, but they all ask that. Why?

Ghana bananas

 

The Biblical deluge of negative stories about Brexit on the Latest Updates section of the BBC News website's Brexit page continues apace. 

Today took us firmly into Russian doll territory with an article by the BBC's 'Reality Check team' headlined Five surprising consequences of Brexit. 

Not remotely "surprising" is the fact that each and every one of these five "consequences" of Brexit is  heavily negative about Brexit. 

It's like a 'greatest hits' of all the BBC's Brexit-bashing reports so far this year, with added gloating:

• 1. Ham sandwiches confiscated
• 2. Deliveries to Northern Ireland suspended
• 3. Tariffs charged on Ghana bananas
• 4. Cannabis oil prescriptions not recognised
• 5. Scottish seafood held up at borders 

If anyone thinks the BBC is calming down over Brexit, the Brexit tab on the BBC News website should quickly dispel that.

Stevenage, London, Surrey

Last night's BBC News at Ten caused a little alarm with its errant geography, what with Bristol and Birmingham moving into Wales and Manchester into the Irish Sea. But I for one am pleased to see Newcastle move to where Carlisle used to be as getting to Newcastle usually involves a tediously long journey from where I live but now is a mere hop, skip and a jump up the west coast mainline or the M6. 

Brexit

The BBC News website has a new tab on its Home page:

Brexit - BBC News

It posts all the stories it considers linked to Brexit there under the heading Latest Updates. 

Here's a complete list of all the headlines/stories so far in 2021. I think you'll spot a very pronounced pattern of overwhelming negativity.

There are a surprising number about children suffering because of Brexit.

(I'll keep this updated).

22 Jan

• Amazon to ask for GB to NI customs declarations
• Some GB plant businesses stop sales to NI
• Nissan commits to keep making cars in Sunderland

21 Jan

• UK accused of 'petty' behaviour in EU diplomat row
• Scottish government unveils 'green ports' plans
• 'I was asked to pay an extra £82 for my £200 coat'
• O'Neill: Biden 'will be a good friend to us'
• Post-Brexit business help scheme costs £330k so far
• 'I was asked to pay an extra £82 for my £200 coat'
• Exporter sets up Dutch firm amid Brexit red tape
• Shrimp held for five days in Brexit border delay
• Lamb exporter to EU 'making virtually nothing'
• Food supply clearly a Brexit issue, says Coveney

20 Jan

• EU orders next-gen Galileo satellites
• Concerns over 'competence' of new customs agents
• Musicians 'failed by government', stars say
• Shipping organic food is a 'nightmare' post-Brexit
• Brexit: 'My meat exports are rotting in Rotterdam'
• What does the deal mean for fishing?
• Government considers scrapping some EU labour laws
• £23m support fund for struggling fishing firms

19 Jan

• Brexit paperwork 'horror' sparks hauliers' anger
• NI secretary 'like emperor with no clothes'
• 'Food supply issues not down to protocol'
• Poots hits back at Lewis with 'emperor' comment
• 'No better time' to seek investors, says deal boss
• Will the UK refuse trade deals over human rights?

18 Jan

• UK not going to do anything to make EU 'go crazy'
• Fishing firms protest over post-Brexit disruption
• 'Jelly and gravy shortage' warning over Brexit
• NI fishermen want 'fair share' of UK Brexit quota
• Exports to EU 'resume' for small seafood firms
• Truckers protest at post-Brexit fish export rules
• Does the UK still owe the EU money?
• 'Putting UK, not GB, delayed my fish for 24 hours'

17 Jan

• Legal action over post-Brexit UK trade law
• 'Partnership' on spending replacement EU cash
• New UK prosperity fund to bypass Holyrood
• GB delivery firm adds customs label to NI parcel

16 Jan

• Hauliers 'bypassing Welsh ports because of Brexit'
• Welsh seafood in 'grave state' over Brexit delays
• Brexit - a bruising battle for the DUP
• End to Gibraltar land border prompts joy and trepidation

15 Jan

• Dublin Port customs 'minefield' causing backlog
• Republic of Ireland to lose 15% of fishing quota
• Scottish fishermen 'landing fish in Denmark'
• Post-Brexit customs systems ‘not fit for purpose’
• Dublin Port customs 'minefield' causing backlog
• Brexit: 'Most difficult week I've had in this job'
• 'Brexit port delays mean our seafood is rotting'
• Minister denies plan to scrap some workers' rights
• Why are Percy Pigs a headache for M&S?

14 Jan

• Ministers accused of fishing compensation U-turn
• Brexit stops show jumping horses going to Europe
• EU blames UK after outcry over musicians' touring
• UK industry bids farewell to EU's Galileo system
• Poots says NI faces 'crisis' over food supplies
• Seafood industry 'under threat from Brexit delays'
• We will compensate fishing businesses - PM
• 'If we go another week like this, we're finished'
• What does the deal mean for fishing?
• German freight giant pauses UK deliveries
• New steps aim to ease mixed load transport issues

13 Jan

• Stena Line's new Belfast ferry moves to Rosslare
• Small seafood firms face further export delays
• Supply problems for supermarkets being 'overcome'
• Dorset fish merchant says UK seafood industry at risk of collapse
• 'My £50,000 shellfish lorry was delayed for a day'
• Food industry warns MPs of Brexit rise in costs
• Five surprising consequences of Brexit [update]
• NI 'consumers are facing empty supermarket shelves'
• DUP MP 'insulted' by Brexit trade remark
• SNP: Scottish fisherman facing 'worst nightmare'
• New Brexit security arrangements 'a downgrade'
• Business owners 'horrified' by post-Brexit costs

12 Jan

• Supermarkets call for action on NI food supplies
• Pressure mounts over EU tour visas for musicians
• Council to buy land for Brexit customs checks
• What's replacing the EHIC card?
• Five surprising consequences of Brexit
• Mixed food loads pose problems at Irish sea border
• Brexit leaves Spain's Costa Brits facing dilemmas

11 Jan

• 'Welcome to Brexit': Driver has sandwiches seized
• Super trawler docked as fishing rights run out
• New Spain expats: 'Brexit forced our hand'
• Scottish exporters count cost of further EU delays

10 Jan

• Online retailer Ocado warns of shortages
• Labour calls for action on GB-NI trade disruption

9 Jan

• Can Welsh firms cash in on Brexit red tape?
• House movers to NI may need customs declaration
• Brexit paperwork 'a nightmare' for small traders
• Chocolates and beer: Buying from Belgium after Brexit

8 Jan

• Poots warns of Brexit job cuts and food shortages
• Brexit sees M&S cut hundreds of products in NI
• Seafood bodies call for 'lighter touch' on exports
• No Brexit prescriptions deal 'means son could die'
• Were there hold-ups in first week after Brexit?
• Beyond Brexit
• New NI fishing boat rules 'create hard border'
• Brexit: The reality dawns
• Brexit stops NI epileptic girl's cannabis medicine
• Brexit barriers 'heartbreaking' for the arts

7 Jan

• Why are there empty shelves in some supermarkets?
• UK-Ireland lorry traffic at Welsh port slumps
• John Lewis scrapping overseas deliveries
• Vets help firms complete Irish Sea border forms
• Up to 6,000 still to apply for EU settled status
• Covid holds up baby's request for settled status

6 Jan

• 'No clear road map' post-virus for businesses
• Seafood exports 'held up by post-Brexit rules'
• Fishing boats 'gathering dust' as exports halt
• Nvidia takeover of chip designer Arm investigated
• Why is Sainsbury's selling Spar products?
• Son 'may die after Brexit stops cannabis medicine'
• 'Problems' in week one of post-Brexit GB-NI trade
• What will happen to EU health insurance cards?

5 Jan

• Irish boat blocked from fishing off Rockall
• Boris Johnson's Brexit claims fact-checked
• Brexit marks the start of a busy 2021 at Stormont

4 Jan

• EU firms stop UK deliveries over Brexit tax change
• Call for urgent action over deliveries to NI
• France's post-Brexit border rules face first test
• Brexit: Your questions answered
• Fresh test for Irish Sea trade border processes
• Eurozone manufacturers end 2020 with a boost
• ‘Sprightly start’ for FTSE 100
• Firms in Northern Ireland ‘finding their feet’
• Brexit: First week after New Year poses big test

3 Jan

• Foster sees 'gateway of opportunity' in trade deal
• PM says indyref vote should be once-in-generation
• Watch: Boris Johnson interview in full
• Arlene Foster: Brexit is a 'gateway of opportunity'
• Some lorries delayed at NI border control posts
• Post-Brexit jigsaw picture still to emerge for NI

2 Jan

• HGV inland border checkpoint planned near Dover
• What are the rules on driving in the EU after Brexit?

1 Jan

• New era for UK as it completes separation from EU
• First goods cross Irish Sea trade border
• Brexit: Are the borders ready?
• Who really owns UK fishing rights?
• Activists cheer as 'sexist' tampon tax is scrapped
• What does the deal mean for fishing?
• How will London change after Brexit?
• Post-Brexit trade changes 'not a surprise'
• Brexit: Seven things changing on 1 January
• What will happen to mobile roaming charges after Brexit?
• 'Plans in place' to minimise port Brexit delays
• UK waves au revoir to the EU
• 'We welcomed the Brexit deal like a Christmas present'
• Adieu to the single market created by the UK

Now Slightly Jaded New Year Open Thread

 

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! Thanks for all your comments and may 2021 be a better year. 

(Well, it's still early days. Who knows?)

Scenes from this morning's 'Andrew Marr Show'

INTRODUCTION 

Andrew Marr: The Government, we are told, thinks the British public is misbehaving - we aren't doing enough to stop this second wave. Well, if that's true, apart from shouting louder, what more can ministers now do? Derbyshire Police have been collaring walkers carrying cups of peppermint tea in their hands. But to impose tougher measures across the country now, when everybody is already so fed up - well, that could be a risky step. And anyway, isn't this disobedience partly the result of months of mixed messages from ministers? 

**********

PAPER REVIEW

Andrew Marr: Meanwhile, Twitter has snipped [Donald Trump] off, and others are also coming off Twitter this morning we see from the front pages. 

Alison Phillips. editor, Daily Mirror: Yes, Trump will be coming off. He has been banned from Twitter. He is looking at alternative social media platforms. But the reality is none of those will have the impact that Twitter has. I think it is an interesting thing that him, and today we have also got Harry and Meghan saying they're also coming off Twitter. It's interesting. You've got two sorts of people, Trump and the Sussexes, who have both railed against mainstream media, and now they are finding that social media is not a very nice place for them. Maybe they were better with the mainstream media anyway? Although there's that sense that they cannot control it in the same way. 

Andrew Marr: Instead. Coming off Twitter is the new thing, Alex. Of course, a lot of people are trying to work out with all these social media platforms what they get back from them as well as what they put on. What are they getting back from it? It's very interesting that Harry and Meghan now feel they can conduct themselves as a kind of global brand, while ignoring these huge media platforms.

Alex Forsyth, BBC: Well, I have some sympathy with those views. We have all had our problems with social media in the past. What is interesting about this story, as you say, and exactly as Alison, the point made: Some people have turned away from the mainstream media because they didn't feel like it did them any favours and have encountered social media being equally unforgiving. We all know that social media, when it came to the Trump presidency, had a very specific role to play. The decision by Twitter today has opened up a whole debate around free speech and whether that was the right decision or not. But it does seems that some of the shine of social media has come off for quite a lot of people. 

Andrew Marr: Well, can I just say in relation to the mainstream media that the papers  are crammed with really interesting stories today. If you possibly can, either physically or online, read and buy a newspaper. And with that, so to the weather...

[ed -The mainstream media is evidently feeling very pleased with itself this weekend!]

Sooner, tougher, longer

 

This time last week Andrew Neil was criticising Andrew Marr for his Boris Johnson interview, saying "Another interview with the Government in which the broadcaster’s sole theme is — why didn’t you/don’t you lockdown, sooner, tougher, longer?".

Well, this week's Andrew Marr interview with Sir Keir Starmer was a close variation on that and AN might well have tweeted this week, "Another interview with the Opposition in which the broadcaster’s sole theme is — why didn’t you/don’t you call for lockdown, sooner, tougher, longer?".

It began:

Andrew Marr: Last week I spoke to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, in the first of our Leaders interviews this year. This morning I’m joined here in the studio by the Leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer. Sir Keir, welcome. Are these new rules tough enough?

Praise from the SNP

 

It's striking I think, in terms of 'bias by omission', that Newsnight's Lewis Goodall, though tweeting as hyperactively as ever on all manner of aspects of UK and US politics, is avoiding the remarkable goings-in in Scottish politics at the moment. His one act of recognition that something big is going on up there  - the explosive charges against Nicola Sturgeon from Alex Salmond - was a lone retweet of his BBC colleague Nick Eardley on Thursday.

Rechecking Lewis's feed to make sure I hadn't missed anything I did spot, ironically, someone called Erik Geddes saying, "Lewis Goodall's reporting of Scotland is as fair and as strong as anyone on the BBC network".

When I clicked on the man's name to see who he was it turns out he's head of broadcast media for the SNP.

The Usual

 

Jake Wallis Simons has a piece in The Spectator taking Amnesty International to task for traducing Israel's much-admired handling of its coronavirus vaccination rollout. 

Amnesty, which has become remarkably anti-Israel in recent years, has accused Israel of "denying Covid-19 vaccines to Palestinians", which is claims "exposes Israel’s institutionalised discrimination". 

I'll summarise it: 

The Palestinian leadership hasn't complained because, under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority runs health in the parts it runs (Hamas runs health in Gaza) and they don't like asking Israel for help, viewing it as collaboration with the enemy, and initially insisted on obtaining the vaccine themselves via the WHO/United Nations. Israel, meanwhile, speeded ahead impressively with Israeli Arabs being fully encouraged to take up the vaccines. The PA, seriously lagging behind, appears to have now changed its mind and (covertly) asked for - and received - Israeli help.

Jake concludes, "Seen in this light, the picture bears little resemblance to the narrative pushed by the likes of Amnesty International. The Palestinians neither expected nor requested help from Israel. They held no sense of grievance, even as hand-wringing commentators from overseas sought to stir up resentment by reporting that a great injustice had been done. Palestinians appear to be seen by some as an infantilised people in need of Western intervention. But this is certainly not how they see themselves."

Enter the BBC. On Friday, the BBC News Channel announced: 

Israel is also facing criticism over what responsibility it has to share its vaccine supply with Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza. Well, to discuss this more we are joined from Jerusalem by Dr Gerald Rockenschaub, head of the World Health Organization office in Palestine.

Dr Rockenschaub was captioned "Head of the WHO office in Palestine", though the word "Palestine" isn't in his official title. It appears to have been the BBC's decision to use that word, even though its official guidelines say it shouldn't be used in "day-to-day coverage" to refer to the West Bank and Gaza. (Wonder who wrote Annita McVeigh's script?)

Anyhow, here were the BBC's questions to Dr Rockenschaub: 

• How many people - and we are talking about 5 million people, aren't we, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, roughly? What percentage of those people have actually received a vaccination yet?
• So what are Israeli officials are saying about this criticism then? 
• If it has been doing really well vaccinating its citizens, what is it saying about the lack of vaccinations for people in the West Bank and Gaza? Why is it saying that has or hasn't happened? 
• I know you have said nobody is safe until everyone is safe, so presumably that's a message that you are really trying to hammer home with the Israeli authorities as you try to facilitate the fair spread of the vaccine, I guess, can we put it that way, through the region?
• Looking at the new cases, more than 8000 new cases per day leading to a third lockdown, believed to be because of this new variant first identified in Britain. Do we think this variant started to take off before the effects of the vaccination programme could really be felt? 
• Getting new supplies in before hospitals become overwhelmed and before health care becomes overwhelmed is absolutely of the essence now, isn't it? 
• Dr Rockenschaub, thank you for talking to us today. Dr Gerald Rockenschaub, head of the World Health Organization office in Palestine.

It would have been interesting to hear an Israeli perspective on this.

White Too Long

 

Radio 4's Sunday had a very 'Sunday' take on events on Capitol Hill this morning. They interviewed Robert P. Jones, author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, who talked of "the ownership of the country by white Christians", and Bishop Mariann Budde, who lamented the US's "nativist, racist Christian past". They agreed with each other.

BBC Persian accused of “twice promoting the homophobic views of the Iranian regime”

Peter Tatchell wrote to Tim Davie, Fran Unsworth and Jamie Angus last week accusing the BBC's Persian service of “twice promoting the homophobic views of the Iranian regime”.

In one instance, on its website on 28 December 2020, BBC Persian published a post calling LGBTs “faggots”, compared them to opium addicts and people who commit incest and implied that they are an “abomination.” 

On another occasion, BBC Persian mockingly referred to “so-called” LGBT+ Pride and apparently attempted to out an Iranian interviewee. This was broadcast on its TV channel on 6 July 2019.

He also called for an inquiry “into persistent allegations that BBC Persian is infiltrated by staff who are apologists or possibly agents for the Iranian dictatorship” - an accusation I saw being made by Iranian activists on Twitter last year. 

The Telegraph reports that the online piece has now been amended with a correction stating: “In an earlier version of this article, a word was used to refer to homosexual relations in the historical context of Iran that is not among the terms that the BBC uses to describe sexual orientations and was therefore inappropriate.” But, apparently, the video is still available online.

The BBC said: “A freelance opinion piece has been updated with an acknowledgement on our website. We will provide a full response to Mr Tatchell in due course.”

Wonder who wrote that “freelance opinion piece”? An 'A. Khamenei, Tehran' possibly?

Top Of The 'Pops at the BBC's output'

 

The Daily Telegraph reported that the BBC’s New Year fireworks broadcast, organised by the Mayor of London’s office and put together for broadcast with the help of the BBC, received 500 complaints for Black Lives Matter tribute. Curiously though, if you look at the latest fortnightly complaints report you find this wasn't the most complained about programme. Here's the chart:

5. Chiles on Friday ("Interviewee’s claim about increased hospital admissions of children and young people with Covid-19 not sufficiently challenged") - 103

4. The Goes Wrong Show ("Humour offensive to Christians") - 193

3. The Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown ("Unhappy episode included reference to ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement") - 289

2. Happy New Year Live! ("Unhappy the New Year fireworks display referenced ‘Black Lives Matter’") - 500

1. The Andrew Marr Show ("Bias against Boris Johnson") - 1,712

Congratulations to Andrew Marr for a runaway success there! Straight in at Number One.

A Twitter Tale, starring Evan Davis

Twitter feeds have become a hot topic today, what with tech giant Twitter's private owners "permanently suspending" the present US president, the famous Donald Trump. 

I don't think that my Twitter feed is anything like an echo chamber. I deliberately try to avoid making it so. I follow leftwingers and rightwingers, pro-Brexit and anti-Brexit people, pro-lockdowners and anti-lockdowners, people who liked Level 42 and people who didn't like Level 42 (like Rob Burley), cat people and dog people, anti-BBC people and pro-BBC people, etc.

Doing so can occasionally raise my blood pressure, but it also keeps me aware of other points of view. 

(I'll confess to breaking down just once. I unfollowed one person last year: Newsnight's hyperactive, intolerably hyper-biased Lewis Goodall. I did so purely for health reasons. He was making me sick. He was much, much too much.) 

Today, on my timeline, has been notable for three people I follow - LBC's Maajid Nawaz (who I mostly agree with), British Future's Sunder Katwala (who I sometimes agree with)  and the BBC's Evan Davis (who I never again with 😜) - getting involved in a discussion.

Actually, I say 'discussion', but it was mainly Sunder and Evan chatting about Maajid behind his back.

*******

Right, so for those new to the Twitter soap opera......

Maajid was the former Islamist radical who abandoned Islamism, became a Lib Dem and then embarked on a successful non-BBC radio career where he said all sorts of things that right-wingers like.

Sunder is a thoughtful, left-leaning blogger and activist of the pro-immigration variety. 

And Evan is a BBC presenter with an especial thing for the Paddington Bear movie.

Sunder has been going after Maajid, pretty much daily - relentlessly - sending out dozens of tweets most days for months, now totally many hundreds at least, slamming Maajid personally for his views on the US election, and, to a lesser extent, coronavirus - because (among other things) Maajid has backed those alleging voter fraud and election rigging in the US election.

Today Evan Davis stepped in, possibly to rescue Sunder from his near 24/7 obsession with the misguided LBC presenter.

(All this Twitter stuff might be boring you rigid, but please hang on for Evan's point of view...)

Sunder had, as is his way, been getting into his quotidian stride this morning (nightgown off, suit on) and posting tweet after tweet after tweet attacking (bullying?) Maajid again, once again, and again some more, over the LBC man's highly sceptical, non-Marianna-approved views on the validity of the US election result.

Then Evan, evidently trying to stage 'an intervention', said:

Evan Davis: Sunder, there is literally no-one on Twitter I respect more than you... 

I take daily guidance on what to think about things by observing what you say. But I wonder whether you (and many others) give too much attention to cranky views and conspiracies. Can't we just ignore them?

Sunder posted four replies, including a graph, justifying himself, but Evan replied again:

Evan Davis: As always, you are thoughtful and reasonable on this. But when it comes to crazy views, I worry most about the potential for discourse and argument to cement opinions rather than change them. 

So, stepping back and goggling afresh...

The BBC's Evan Davis (a) says he "respects...literally no-one...more than you" to very possibly the most ultra-mainstream, left-liberal, pro-immigration, 'very BBC' person I follow. (Truth or politeness?). 

He then (b) slurps that he takes "daily guidance on what to think about observing what you say" to the same 'very BBC' pundit. (Truth or politeness?).

It wouldn't surprise me. Sunder's way of thinking is, indeed, very BBC. That Evan hangs on his every word daily would be a very BBC thing to do.

Note, above all, that Evan is advising Sunder to "ignore" the likes of Maajid Nawaz. (That's Evan's main point here.) And he's doing so because he, Evan Davis, clearly also disapproves of Maajid's "cranky views and conspiracies".

Like Samira Ahmed, Evan Davis then evidently advances the line that airing and arguing and discussing such "crazy views" as those expressed by Maajid about the US election are something to "worry" about.

"Discourse" and "argument" thus become problematic -  things with "the potential...to cement opinions rather than change them". 

Evan seems to be calling for the censoring of certain kinds of "discourse" and "argument" here, doesn't he? Shush!!!

Such censorship of people with 'wrong' views has a long BBC pedigree.

As for Sunder Katwala, I suspect he'll ignore Evan. He's a man on a mission to 'Get Maajid'.

Things going de Pear-shaped

Not the BBC, but here's the editor of Channel 4 News Ben de Pear thinking aloud on Twitter in the wake of Wednesday's Trump-encouraged shenanigans ("the failed beer belly putsch") on Capitol Hill:

Now that Trump is off Twitter & social media how do you deradicalise the millions of people he has lied to & put into this frenzy? 

There are infinitely more armed Trumpists in America than there were ever potential recruits for ISIS but they’ve not been seen as the threat. 

In the case of Trumpists they’re all over America openly professing their faith and anger and even threat. 

Social media have not seen them as a problem but more as a customer base and allowed it to grow; anger and emotion being the defining characteristics of the business model. 

How many billions of dollars have these people, angry as hell & super engaged, meant in profit for social media companies - that’s why they were allowed to be led to this point. 

How do you deradicalise & reestablish shared facts without angering & disrespecting them in the process? 

Advantage is now being taken....by social media tech giants and mainstream media outlets. 

Victims of viral disinformation

If you're one of those people who believes that there was voter fraud and rigging in the US presidential election and that Donald Trump may have actually won the election, or if you're one of those who thinks that the deadly fracas in the Capitol building on Wednesday involved Antifa 'false flags'...

...well, here's Marianna Spring of the BBC's Disinformation Unit (on Thursday) to tell you that you're a "victim" of "viral disinformation".

(And Christian blames "the right-wing media" too):

Christian Fraser: It was so striking listening to those people as they went up the steps of the Capitol building yesterday Marianna about what they believe, what they understand to be true. What are they saying today on social media? What have you seen? 

Marianna Spring;  Those images, those interviews, were very, very striking because a lot of people really, genuinely, do believe allegations of rigged elections, of voter fraud - conspiracies that have been circulating on social media in recent weeks and months - very passionately, and in many ways too they have fallen victim to viral disinformation. Today we have seen even more disinformation online, more conspiracies. A lot of it has focused on who was there outside Congress yesterday and inside, and there are lots of images showing supporters of the QAnon Conspiracy - that's the baseless conspiracy that suggests President Trump is waging a secret war against satanic paedophiles - as well as those who are part of the Stop the Steal movement that emerged in the days following the election when it appeared that Joe Biden was going to win, and also extreme groups like the Proud Boys and others who have been linked to far-right groups and circles. But today the suggestion from those people, influencers within those conspiracy communities, was that people causing the trouble yesterday were Antifa - anti-fascist groups. There is no evidence to support that idea, and a lot of the pictures they are using to demonstrate that show recognisable conspiracy influencers, generally on the far right. So those claims are not true. But in the chaos of what has been building on social media, and in the days afterwards, we are just seeing more and more conspiracies. 

Christian Fraser: Yeah, and some of that is stoked by the right-wing media as well. 

Katty Kay:  I'm going to assume, Marianna, that all of that now gets traction, and that is what the narrative becomes amongst those groups. Does suspending President Trump make any difference in that case or is this bigger than one person now? 

Marianna Spring:  I think that it is bigger than one person. President Trump's social media accounts have been crucial to fuelling the conspiracies spreading on social media for a number of months. But what is key here is, this is not something that came out of the blue, It has been building online for weeks and weeks, not just after the election but in the build-up to that too. Conspiracies like QAnon have thrived on platforms like Facebook, like Twitter, like Instagram and YouTube, and President Trump since April has been tweeting allegations of voter fraud showing no evidence, claims about rigged elections that have further fuelled those conspiracies. So many people have been primed over a number of months on social media to genuinely believe false claims. And what you remove now and do now almost feels slightly futile because the very worst thing, the fears, were realised yesterday. And those fears were that not only viral information can inspire violence but in many ways it can erode democracy. We saw that happen. 

Christian Fraser: Yeah, Interesting that the DC police have asked for people to come forward with information. A lot of it is there on social media, You can tell who these people are, as you say. Marianna, thank you very much indeed. Thank you. 

Are you? 

John Simpson's Thought For The Day (on Twitter)

"Most critics of Donald Trump think he’s careless & mentally disorganised. If he’s threatened the US political system to this degree, imagine how effective someone who’s organised & really determined might be."

Emma Barnett's first week continues

 

Emma Barnett is having an interesting first week at Woman's Hour. 

Falling prey to the curse of open Zoom links, she was overheard today, just two minutes before going on air, by an interviewee - actress Kelechi Okafor - saying something that the interviewee found "absolutely degrading and vile": namely Emma was overheard worrying aloud to her team about alleged antisemitic remarks made by the actress. A direct confrontation then ensued, with Emma offering to discuss it on air. Kelechi hung up and Emma later tweeted her side of the story.

The programme was about to discuss the #MeToo movement and Kelechi was coming on to say that, whatever women with "white, middle class sensibilities" think, marginalised black women still need #MeToo - a very BBC guest, until this happened! 

Enter the new BBC chairman

 

A scoop for Sky today. 

As widely mooted, Sir David Clementi is being replaced as BBC Chairman by another man from the City: Conservative Party donor Richard Sharp - a former Goldman Sachs partner (where he was Rishi Sunak's boss) and director of the right-leaning Centre for Policy Studies. 

Apparently he supported Brexit and has been giving unpaid advice to the Chancellor over the economic response to the pandemic. 

The FT says that his appointment suggests that the Johnson government is adopting "a more restrained approach" to the BBC, and that his appointed "was greeted with some relief within the BBC". He's "said little in public about the BBC". 

Friends of Mr Sharp said he was unlikely to push for a radical overhaul of the broadcaster or its commitment to political neutrality, but may seek to steer its output towards core public service responsibilities.

“Richard is the sort of guy who thinks the BBC should do more opera and high culture, since it is public service broadcasting no one else covers. But he won’t want to turn it into a rightwing talking shop,” one ally said.

BBC producer elected to US Senate? (to be confirmed)

Blimey, the BBC's economics editor Faisal Islam has a bit of breaking news from Georgia..

And - blimey the 33 year old who could be about to lose POTUS’s party the senate, Jon Ossoff, was a producer on some documentaries... including the BBC 3 Stacey Dooley ones...

Apparently, he worked on both 2016’s Stacey on the Frontline: Girls, Guns & Isis and 2018’s Stacey Dooley Investigates episode Face to Face with Isis, both broadcast on the BBC. 

Maitlis of the Bailey

You can always tell who's in the dock on Newsnight when Emily Maitlis is presenting.

Toby Young was very much in the dock last night. 

She had past quotes lined up in evidence against him. She repeatedly contradicted and argued with him. She had that laugh in her voice. She demanded contrition. And she interrupted him 6 times.

She wasn't just interviewing Toby though. She was also sort-of interviewing Ian Dunt.

(She got Ian's name right, you'll doubtless be relieved to hear, with no 'Jeremy Hunt'-type misspeaks). 

She interrupted Ian just once - and that was only so that she could get straight back to bringing the errant Toby Young to book. 

No gotchas, no contradictions, came hurtling Ian's way.

In fact, Ian might as well have not been there. He didn't get much of a look-in, and could have had an early night instead.

This was because Emily kept the focus relentlessly on the accused, Toby Young, and because Emily was so intent on acting as chief prosecutor poor Ian Dunt was demoted to a mere eye-rolling witness for the prosecution. 

Alternative arguments regarding this encounter, however, run as follows:

1. 'Toby Young shouldn't have been allowed on, and the BBC disgraced itself by even giving him airtime. He's a dangerous, ignorant liar. It's like Nigel Farage all over again.' 

2. 'Toby Young deserved to be treated like criminal and Ian Dunt a mere witness in this case because, Toby Young is akin to a flat-earther, and - during a pandemic - a dangerous flat-earther as far as Covid goes. So, if interviewed, he should be proved guilty at every opportunity and convicted. Emily was doing her duty.'

What I wonder is why Toby agreed to go on. He's not naïve. Surely he knew what was coming. It was the deadest of dead certs. Self-confidence maybe? (One for his Spectator column if so).

Another Brick in the Wall

 

It all started with a tweet from Rory Bremner (as himself):

Yes, from 11 January CBBC will "have a three-hour block of primary school programming from 9am". And BBC Two "will cater for secondary students with at least two hours of content each weekday".

Update: According to this Twitter feed, Boris is a fan:

Fantastic initiative from the BBC, who will be helping children to learn while we all must stay at home. 

Dominic Cummings has certainly left the building. 

*******

Let's not forget, even if Boris does, that if you look up what BBC Bitesize says, on certain matters of public interest, they don't necessarily behave like disinterested educators. There's a strong whiff of BBC groupthink about their output.

If you look, say, at their Key Stage 3 section on Population and migration you find highly controversial statements presented as facts e.g.

Immigration is not new and the UK has been a multicultural society for thousands of years.

In my days, the word 'Discuss' would be put after that, at the very least. The BBC now presents it as fact.

Their 'case study' on Participation regarding Brexit is classic BBC (almost a case study, you might say). It ignores the left-wing case for Brexit and, in outlining the two sides (Leave and Remain) clearly favours Remain over Leave. The telltale language (one for English comprehension students?) is that Remain "highlighted the dangers" while Leave merely "argued" and "claimed". And it pushes the 'Russian interference' line regarding the outcome. 

And as for their coverage of Israel and the Palestinians, well, please read this if you think the BBC plays a straight bat on Israel:

Would you trust the BBC with your children? 

It remains a good question, doesn't it?

Where's Amol? (Updated)

 

It's quite an astonishing act of censorship that Google has pulled talkRADIO's YouTube channel, presumably for 'sailing close to the wind' for giving voice to the sceptical minority over Covid-19 and lockdown, as if such views shouldn't be tolerated. 

talkRADIO is an Ofcom-regulated broadcaster that receives its hourly news from Sky News. 

It's owned by Wireless Group, which also owns talkSPORT and Times Radio and is part of the universe of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. 

Amol Rajan, the BBC's media editor has been highly active on Twitter today, but - so far - has been ignoring this extraordinary attack on free speech by 'Big Tech'.

Come in, Amol! One for BBC One's main bulletins? Urgent questions from you to Google/YouTube?

Anyhow, here's BBC disinformation specialist Marianna giving her "analysis", and sympathising with the predicament the poor, censorious 'Tech Giants' find themselves in. 'It's so hard for them having to decide to censor media outlets like talkRADIO but it's a job they've probably got to do' seems to sum up her point of view:

That's outrageous, but it's where we are with the BBC these days.

Update:  talkRADIO is back on YouTube, but Konstantin Kisin's earlier comments (before their reinstatement) still strike an ominous chord:

I am sure thatTalkRadio will get their YouTube channel reinstated. They have the lawyers, the connections and the money. I will be delighted for them when it happens. However, it doesn't matter. Today is the day we can all be 100% certain that free speech is over. Here's why:

When Big Tech censored the New York Post's story about Hunter Biden during US election, I told you (as a non-partisan) it was the biggest story of 2020. Big tech decided what was true in an attempt to influence an election. From there it gets worse: 

As covered by Glenn Greenwald, the Biden cabinet is packed with former big tech executives. His administration will do nothing to deal with big tech censorship. The only chance was Trump winning and being so pissed off that he took a sledgehammer to Section 230. Congress won't help - they don't even understand how big tech companies operate as we have seen from hearing after hearing. They once asked Zuckerberg how Facebook makes money if they don't charge users. 

There is a simple truth here: Big Tech has more power than individual consumers and creators due to their monopoly and they have more power than your government due to lobbying, geriatric politicians and political appointees from big tech backgrounds. And they know it.

Free speech online is over.

Update 6/1: As StewGreen notes, the BBC website article was re-written last night and Marianna Spring's 'analysis' removed. 

Questions to the Prime Minister. Question One. Vicki Young of the BBC...

 

I wonder if, while watching the latest Downing Street Covid press conference, Andrew Neil was tempted to paraphrase his criticism of Andrew Marr on Sunday. 

With the merest tweak his new tweet would say, "Another question to the Government in which the broadcaster’s sole theme is — why didn’t you/don’t you lockdown, sooner, tougher, longer?"

That, and the other endless 'gotcha' questions of course...

Here's what happened today:

Boris Johnson: Let's go to Vicki Young from the BBC. 

Vicki Young: Prime Minister, the whole country is relying on you to take the right steps at the right time and many think that you waited too long to bring in extra restrictions. How can I have confidence in your decision-making when on Sunday you insisted that all schools should stay open and the very next day ordered them to close. And to Professor Whitty and Professor Vallance, when did you first advise the Government to lockdown in England and do you think the vaccine rollout timetable is realistic?

The BBC are absolutely relentless. With so many other possible questions the public might want answering, BBC political journalists, whenever they get the opportunity, ask little else. Absolutely every question there was a politically point-scoring 'gotcha' question from a very particular angle.

They are one-track journalists. It's as if they have an agenda.

Two things that don't normally go together: 'Woman's Hour' and chuckles

 

I've never managed to form a fully-rounded opinion yet of Emma Barnett, the new presenter of Woman's Hour, but I chuckled at a few things in a laudatory report in The Times today about her debut yesterday. 

The first chuckle came on reading that that HM the Queen sent a congratulatory message to the programme on its 75th anniversary. Emma's first act yesterday was to read it out. 

The Queen professes herself a fan, and I bet the HRH the Duke of Edinburgh is a huge fan too. I can just imagine him being (like his eldest son) all ears for the very latest about gender bias in school books, sustainable fashion, student sex work policy, Extinction Rebellion, post-partum psychosis, female footballers and dementia, and the orgasm cult. 

The second chuckle came on reading that Emma's first interview - and Woman's Hour's opening interview - was with Sonia Khan, a woman "peremptorily sacked" by BBC bogeyman Dominic Cummings. 

How very BBC! - especially from someone who spent last year as a regular presenter on Newsnight, the BBC programme that went after Dom so hard and so personally. 

They're truly obsessed with him, aren't they?

The third chuckle came from reading that, apparently, this interview didn't work out well though for the BBC as Ms Khan said she was "not going into the detail" about it and that it was "not as dramatic as it sounds". No scoop then for Woman's Hour. (Ha ha! Classic Dom!)

The fourth chuckle concerned something that took me back before even reading it, having had a look at the BBC Radio 4 schedule prior to the programme being broadcast: There were two men listed as guests: Jeremy Hunt and Nazanin's husband Richard Ratcliffe. 

Men, on Woman's Hour?!? I thought Woman's Hour was a mans-exclusionary radical feminist (MERF) programme. 

Apparently though, "Before the show aired [Emma] Barnett had promised that she would have more men on it". 

At least the departed Dame Jenni and Jane, after copious consumption of smelling salts at that absolute outrage, can just about breathe a sigh of relief that the men in question weren't transwomen.

For the sake of balance

In fairness, here's praise for the BBC from one Jamie McMillan (not the great Scottish composer): 

Two outstanding achievements from BBC News last year: one is hiring Marianna Spring as Disinformation Correspondent (A World First?). The other is the consistently excellent clarity of Americast.

Marianna retweeted his praise (as is her way, along with all the selfies). 

It's Jamie's Twitter bio that tickled my funny bone though:

Greenish grumpy wildlife-loving grandpa living near Eustacia Vye’s house in Dorset (Return of the Native). Blocked by Julia Hartley Brewer & Rob Burley.

Wonder what Rob did to offend him?

Reading his tweets, Jamie's left-leaning but anti-Corbyn and VERY pro-EU. Remind you of any  particular corporation? (Rob's employer maybe?).

Emily shares her embarrassment

 

Talking of last night's first Newsnight of 2021, here's how host-commentator Emily Maitlis framed the bit on US politics. (They really are obsessed with US politics.):

It's exactly two months since the US presidential election. Exactly two months since Donald Trump lost that election to Joe Biden. But two months hasn't cooled the ardour of the man who is still passionately, embarrassingly, insisting he won. In an hour-long phone call this weekend, Mr Trump first encouraged, then beseeched, then threatened Georgia's Secretary of State to overturn the result. Georgia was one of the states he lost. Unfortunately for Trump, the phone call with Brad Raffensperger was recorded and leaked to the press. It could not have come at a more critical moment. Georgia will see a run off tomorrow for two Senate seats. If the Republicans lose them, Democrats will control the Senate. Our US Correspondent David Grossman joins us from Washington.

Putting aside the disputed accuracy of how she presented this story, when did it become acceptable for BBC current affairs presenters to tell us that they find a foreign President's actions "embarrassing"? Is that within BBC editorial guidelines? Why can't she keep her "embarrassment" and her opinion to herself?

Ah, of course, she's presuming to speak for us all again. 

Frankly, I find her "embarrassing". Why doesn't Tim Davie?

The juggernaut rolls on

 

Emily Maitlis and Newsnight returned for another year last night, and it was business as usual.

They went with the familiar Newsnight approach of 'gotcha-ing' the Government, and doing so from the familiar BBC 'Why didn't they lockdown, sooner, tougher, longer?' angle.

Here's how Emily began:

Boris Johnson: From this evening, I must give the British people are very simple instruction. You must stay at home. I'm afraid you must once again stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.  

Did we ever think, back in March, we'd be hearing it all over again today? A brand new year, a brand new lockdown. Yesterday, we were promised schools were safe, today they are shut. They won't reopen until late February. What do we know now we didn't know in December? 

Emily then mounted her soapbox and gave the nation a 'alternative prime ministerial speech' in that all-knowing, self-important style that she's quite obviously nicked from high-profile 'liberal' US commenter-presenters like Rachel Maddow. 

Having had a swipe at the Government in that introduction, she then sort-of-credited Boris for "spelling it out" after his belated "recognition" that his previous limited measures "have not worked". (Boris evidently seeing the light of Emily's superior wisdom). She then gave her authoritative take on why "the numbers are stark enough to explain the why" of the new lockdown:

Good evening. To all those who welcomed in 2021 with a renewed sense of optimism and cheer, we salute you and we want you to cling on to that feeling. Because, tonight, it will feel we are moving backwards in time, not forward, to another stay-at-home lockdown and the closure of more of our schools. This is a recognition that the measures of the last few weeks - the tier system, the cancelling of Christmas, the forbidden foreign travel - have not worked. And, this evening, the Prime Minister spelled it out. To those thinking the disease peaked last March, it didn't. Covid hospital admissions in England are now at a 40% increase on then. There's been a 30% rise in just one week. The numbers are stark enough to explain the why. But here's the how. The rules start from now and stretch until mid-February. Parliament will vote on the new laws tomorrow. Tonight, we get first reaction to the Prime Minister's announcement and ask if this means we have run out of options for controlling the disease with anything less than total shutdown. 

 More asking, less telling us what to think would be welcome.

John Simpson & Julian Assange

Charlie mentioned John Simpson's report on BBC One's News at Ten last night, saying that JS is "obviously a fan of Julian Assange".

"His long ‘love letter’ report on tonight’s main news was a one sided affair carefully crafted in its use of words and images to leave the viewer in no doubt that he is more a hero than a villain".

This is where it gets especially interesting, because the BBC's World Affairs Editor has form here. 

This is what he tweeted on May 26, 2019:

Alan Rusbridger, writing in defence of Julian Assange: 'Whenever you read about journalists harming national security, massive alarm bells should start ringing.' Absolutely right. Assange revealed uncomfortable truths about US policy & tactics, & the US wants to punish him for it.

It's a funny thing. Dame Jenni Murray was banned by her BBC bosses from talking about certain subjects - transgender issues and Brexit - after she expressed views on them on non-BBC platforms, yet here is John Simpson being permitted to report on a matter of controversy where he has previously expressed a very strong opinion on a non-BBC platform. 

One rule for one, one rule for another it seems.

UPDATE 14:30: John is now reacting, and not just to the news...:

John Simpson: Big victory for Julian Assange, his partner Stella Moris & his legal team. Most supporters of free journalism are over the moon. BUT Joe Biden is no friend of JA & may bring new charges. Importantly, though, it’s Round One to Assange.

Ratfink Maloney: Julian Assange literally collaborated with Roger Stone to influence the 2016 election. Was that “journalism”? You’re a useful idiot John.

John Simpson: And you don’t seem able to control your rudeness. I don’t want you following me, thanks.