Don't Let the BBC Tell You that They're Dumbing Down Politics

What was with Jeremy Vine, doing his analysis in a cowboy suit and a stupid accent last night? At first I thought I wondered if i had dropped off and dreamt it, when I realised I was awake I decided it was a night to watch Sky.

But the BBC aren't dumbing down their political coverage, no sirreee no.

BBC to review biased news coverage, well not really

This news seems to have sneaked in, at least I missed it being reported anywhere.

The idea that the BBC can investigate whether the balance of its news reporting towards devolved Governments is biased whilst ignoring the general issue of its left-leaning incination (which is now widely accepted) seems ludicrous to me.

Having said that, it doesn't surprise me, it's the BBC.

What is a real shame about the BBC is that if it could sort out the bias the extent of its news coverage would make it world class. But without the necessary change it will remain mediocre.

John Pienaar gets it right

I quite like John Pienaar, he doesn't always succeed, but he always tries to give an absolutely balanced view of the political scene - certainly he is far better at this than the majority of his BBC colleagues.

This article is a perfect case in point, having a go at both of the Lib Dem leadership candidates for their stance on ID cards and the Labour Government for being in a total state of chaos; twisting and turning on an almost daily basis without any coherent vision or methodology, except to be at least a step behind the Conservatives at every turn. He is probably not as hard-hitting as he could be, but the case is definitely made.

Sky's Adam Boulton seething at being left in the gutter

Just read this on Adam Boulton's Blog:

"As I write in the gutter opposite Number 10 the BBC's Andrew Marr is inside
interviewing the Prime Minister. It's unusual to make such announcments on an
exclusive basis - but it's a sure sign of meltdown, as is the radio silence
observed today by both Government and Labour spokespeople."

The gutter comment is a clear statement that Boulton is seething at the way he, and presumably other journos, have been treated.

I have a feeling Andrew Marr's job might be on the line here, his reputation certainly is.

More Pro-Labour Spin from the BBC

This article about Brown's first 100 days would be really interesting if it was sufficiently balanced. Overall there is paragraph after paragraph complimenting Brown for the way he handled the numerous crises that occurred, and absolutely no mention of the criticism that was widely levelled at him, that his real method was to disappear from public view and only reappear when things were looking OK.

The only real bad points mentioned are that Cameron's speech marred his 100th day and that he has dodged a referendum on the EU constitution. There is a lame quote from the Guardian's Michael White about the blatantly political decision to appoint opposition MPs as advisors, but it is hardly a criticism (nor would it ever be from Michael White).

The most astonishing thing is that, by far and away, the biggest single mistake that Gordon Brown has made was the appalling way he politicised our armed forces by announcing (or re-announcing) troop withdrawals whilst he was out in Iraq. The article makes no mention of that.

Whoever edited and approved that piece for publication must have realised that not mentioning the criticism over his visit to Iraq was a serious omission, mustn't they?

How do you know he isn't a Conservative?

The BBC are running this story about an MEP who has been found guilty of fraud.

As soon as I read the headline "MEP found guilty of fraud charges" I knew it was not about a Conservative (he is ex-UKIP).

Why, because if it had been a Conservative the word "Tory" would have been in the headline.

such is the nature of the BBC.

Is FMD news agenda being manipulated?

The first question I thought of whilst watching the breaking news about the Foot & Mouth Disease outbreak yesterday was "Has this already spread?"

I am sure that I am not the only one to be thinking about that. My concerns are partly selfish because I am planning to walk the first quarter of the Pennine Way at the end of this month, but I cannot believe that this is not a significant question given that we have fears about a repeat of 2001.

So, as this is such an important question, why is this comment:

"Defra said it was investigating other possible outbreaks of the disease"

buried inside the BBC News FMD article. Is someone trying to use the emergency context as a means of manipulating the news agenda, or have the BBC naively failed to recognise the importance of the comment? I honestly cannot see why this is not the headline.

Interesting to note that Sky do have it as a headline.

BBC Production - definitely out of control

My previous post (which was too long ago - for which I apologise) made the suggestion that BBC Production was out of control.

Today's news about massive deceptions of the public in Charity programmes where ongoing goodwill is absolutely essential is proof.

The fact that this publicly funded organisation has to send its production staff on courses in honesty says it all. The Government, either publicly or privately, must issue an ultimatum to the BBC - change or die.

BBC Production - out of control

Today's apology from the BBC for suggesting that the queen stormed out of a photo shoot through imaginative editing is the latest of a long line of sagas which suggests to me that the BBC is out of control.

The unprecedented and disgraceful coverage and advertising they have given Alastair Campbell's incomplete diaries, the manipulation of a Blue Peter competition and the admittance that the BBC has an institutional left-wing bias all contribute to the argument.

I am starting to think we would be better off without them.

Live Earth Let Down - Thanks BBC

Apparently us rock fans aren't allowed a look in. After having watched whole sets of dreary indie bands throughout the day they cut short the sets from Metallica and the hilarious Spinal Tap so that they could cut over to some non-artist in another Country.

I supposed the BBC doesn't believe the likes of me are viewers.

UPDATE: They managed to find time for the whole of the Pussycat Dolls set though. Manufactured pap wins.

The Elections Are Not Just In Scotland And Wales?

Am I the only one getting increasingly annoyed by the BBC completely forgetting that there are elections going on outside of Scotland and Wales on May 3rd.

Whilst events in Scotland and Wales are important, the English local elections are also critical. They provide a key indicator for exactly how unpopular New Labour has become; a failure by New Labour in England could be the point at which certain MPs realise that they need to stand up to the bully-boy tactics from the Brown Camp and get behind a different candidate.

Whilst there is the potential for Brown to lose any influence he might have in Scotland (if the SNP do pull off a victory), this could be worsened by a collapse in the New Labour vote in England which will leave him without any authority here.

But then, from the BBC's perspective, New Labour are likely to do worse in England - so they will inevitably hold off from commenting until they can no longer get away with it.

Auntie Beeb Can't Hear You!!

The Sunday Times posted this story about Golden Arrow on their front page yesterday. As ever the bloggers are leading the way following up on this story with both Guido and Iain Dale providing their own view.

A few years ago (i.e. when there was a Conservative Government) this sort of story would have already made the headlines at the BBC (and the rest of the media). How long do you think it will be before the lefties at the BBC decide they can no longer play "Auntie Beeb can't hear you!!" ?

More evidence of institutional leftism at the BBC

This article is a great read, yet another BBC insider providing well-founded evidence of institutional left-wing bias.

Will anybody take any notice? It will probably be buried somewhere and forgotten, rather like the report from Sue Lawley. Funnily enough, a search of the BBC News archive, which is normally pretty comprehensive, for "Lawley BBC bias" produces no results, the same for "bias Lawley".

Says it all really.

BBC Gets it wrong on obesity

I read this article about healthy eating and junk food yesterday (a subject about which I am a little obsessed at the moment). The article is poorly researched and fundamentally flawed, the BBC should hang its head in collective shame.

There is no comparison anywhere in the article on portion size, so the reader has no idea if they are comparing like for like. More importantly, it suggests that fat in food, per say, is a problem. The reality is that about 20% of our diet should be fat.

The most important difference is in the type of fat, where saturated fats and trans-fats should be avoided - because they are the ones that do damage. It is interesting that, in this respect, the article fits in with the Government's agenda, where their food labelling system makes no comparison between types of fat. This is one of the reasons Tesco stood their ground and used their own labelling system instead of the Government's (and quite rightly too). It is interesting that a flawed BBC article matches a flawed Government agenda instead of challenging it.

I am sure that there are those wondering if this matters? KFC (who feature in the abovementioned BBC article) have recently annmounced that they will be removing saturated fats from their products in the US. Is the fact that the Government are burying their head in the sand on this issue a reason why they have not made the same commitment here? It is certainly true that in America the obesity war has placed a significant amount of focus on trans fats, this has resulted in McDonalds, Wendys and KFC making changes to how they cook their food.