Political bias at BBC - something has to be done surely
Discussion
hairyben said:
With the bbc the leaning is a little more insidious, it's followers actually think it's wholly neutral/fair minded and believe all the constant hogwash about "balance" (if it was balanced they wouldn't bang on about it all the time) and that's why it's more concerning to me than a lot of very very biased medias and people.
Yes definitely more insidious but becoming less and less subtle over time, it's now both insidious and blatant. The left-liberal position and perspective is not centrist. The BBC and its staff think it's somehow normal, when abnormal and 'failed' would be closer to it.Plain reporting using appropriate language while avoiding diversions, irrelevancies and a total lack of distorting reality to ‘put the right (left) message across’ is what’s needed, that would be fine. There‘s no basis and no excuse when it comes to applying a left-liberal veneer to descriptions of events, something which has long been typical of the biased BBC.
turbobloke said:
el stovey said:
eccles said:
don4l said:
The BBC are still downplaying the assaults on women that took place on new year's eve. They are pretending that only 100 women were affected, and they are also pretending that the assaults only took place in Cologne.
All other media outlets are reporting that the assaults took place in many cities across Europe. Yesterday, the BBC were claiming that half of the assaults may have been committed by asylum seekers. Feck off!
Here is a link to the BBC's latest output on the subject:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35251167
They are still downplaying the scale of what happened. Disgracefully, they are focussing on how some muslims are offended by these assaults. Surely, the feelings of the victims should be foremost at this point???
Compare and contrast the BBC's reporting of these events with the Daily Mail's take on things:-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3390168/Mi...
Jesus! You're holding up the Daily Mail as a good, more balanced example? There is no hope!All other media outlets are reporting that the assaults took place in many cities across Europe. Yesterday, the BBC were claiming that half of the assaults may have been committed by asylum seekers. Feck off!
Here is a link to the BBC's latest output on the subject:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35251167
They are still downplaying the scale of what happened. Disgracefully, they are focussing on how some muslims are offended by these assaults. Surely, the feelings of the victims should be foremost at this point???
Compare and contrast the BBC's reporting of these events with the Daily Mail's take on things:-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3390168/Mi...
What's not quite so normal was the BBC's diversionary reporting - mention of sites where pickpocketing takes place is irrelevant, women being present in a particular location is irrelevant...unless the BBC is suggesting they are 'asking for it' by being there...the behaviour on display from the perpetrators was disgraceful and criminal not boisterous...a police officer's eye witness testimony is official enough for Courts. Downplaying the event was obvious in initial BBC reporting, whether or not other cities are mentioned initially or in updates, which was only one part of don4l's comment in any case.
BBC coverage said:
The pretty Christmas market and medieval setting may look idyllic, but at Christmas and New Year the area around Cologne Cathedral is a notorious danger zone when it comes to pickpockets and theft.
and
In Hamburg several women told police that gangs of men had molested and robbed them on New Year’s Eve on the Reeperbahn – a street known for its boisterous night life.
and
A policeman who was outside Cologne station during the New Year’s Eve trouble told the city’s Express news website that he had detained eight suspects. “They were all asylum seekers, carrying copies of their residence certificates,” he said.
then
However, there was no official confirmation that asylum seekers had been involved in the violence. Commentators in Germany were quick to urge people not to jump to conclusions.
This is 05 Jan not 07 Jan or later.and
In Hamburg several women told police that gangs of men had molested and robbed them on New Year’s Eve on the Reeperbahn – a street known for its boisterous night life.
and
A policeman who was outside Cologne station during the New Year’s Eve trouble told the city’s Express news website that he had detained eight suspects. “They were all asylum seekers, carrying copies of their residence certificates,” he said.
then
However, there was no official confirmation that asylum seekers had been involved in the violence. Commentators in Germany were quick to urge people not to jump to conclusions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35231046
Typical transparent BBC spin is transparent.
MartG said:
What bias ?
How many staff are employed by the BBC?Andrew Neil is probably not a LibDem, Green or Labour. So, they have at least two employees who aren't lefties.
I suppose that if you think that one Conservative supporter proves that they are impartial, then two must prove that they have an incredible right wing bias.
don4l said:
MartG said:
What bias ?
I suppose that if you think that one Conservative supporter proves that they are impartial, then two must prove that they have an incredible right wing bias."For three decades I was that rare breed – a Conservative at the BBC"
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/what-is-the-lonelie...
Meanwhile:
After quitting as BBC Director General, Lord Birt became an adviser to Tony Bliar.
Greg Dyke was known as Tony's Crony; a generous Labour donor, he followed Birt as DG at the BBC.
Sir Michael Lyons, a former Labour councillor and staunch labour supporter, was appointed Chairman of the BBC Trust by Gordon Brown.
Previous Chairman Gavyn Davies, who resigned after the Hutton Report, had well-known Labour links; his wife was Gordon Brown's private secretary. Prior to taking up the role at the BBC, Davies was a member of the Labour Party.
Under Tony Hall’s management the BBC had an incestuous relationship with the Labour Party. BBC staffers assisted Labour’s ‘rapid rebuttal unit’ by tipping them off every time a Conservative said anything that challenged Labour.
Ben Bradshaw remained on the BBC Radio 4 payroll despite not working while campaigning to win his Exeter seat as an MP.
Joy Johnson, ex-BBC PR guru, became Labour’s Director of Communications, then lost her job, and was immediately re-hired by the beeb.
The Head of BBC Scotland's newsroom was strongly criticised by one of his former journalists over connections to Labour at the time of the independence referendum. John Boothman was a useful asset to the BBC at that time because of his Labour connections.
James Purnell, the former Labour culture secretary, stepped into a £295,000 a year job at the BBC.
There's more but that'll do from memory. While the obvious point about the BBC being packed with lefties from bottom to top remains, the problematic and unacceptable key aspect of the BBC's bias is in its output.
It may be stuffed to the gunwales with lefties but with hardline policies on impartiality strictly enforced on those lefties by their lefty senior managers, and a truly independent oversight body that wasn't tame or toothless, their output might be a tad less obviously biased than it obviously is.
williamp said:
One person. And hes not the director, or producer. Just an editor...
Mind you, daily politics is one orogramme which doesnt seem too lefty, so maybe he does have influence. Is daily politics the programme where no labour leader wants to appear??
The executive editor is important, he has the final say of what goes out on a daily basis. I would guess that only Neil (as a doyenne) has more swing.Mind you, daily politics is one orogramme which doesnt seem too lefty, so maybe he does have influence. Is daily politics the programme where no labour leader wants to appear??
I went looking for a page on Gibb, and this was one the first page.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/14/bbc-p...
https://www.change.org/p/bbc-we-demand-producer-of...
Oh dear, looks like Aunty Beeb has upset the Corbynistas.
Oh dear, looks like Aunty Beeb has upset the Corbynistas.
williamp said:
Mind you, daily politics is one orogramme which doesnt seem too lefty, so maybe he does have influence. Is daily politics the programme where no labour leader wants to appear??
On that basis, one of the very few slightly less left-tilt BBC programmes was destined to be attacked by Corbynistas for scoop journalism. Corbyn's innate leftist control freakery is getting worse.williamp said:
One person. And hes not the director, or producer. Just an editor...
Mind you, daily politics is one orogramme which doesnt seem too lefty, so maybe he does have influence. Is daily politics the programme where no labour leader wants to appear??
Actually he is much more important than both the producer and director, he will over see the whole series, and will definitely define its political bias. You may be confusing him with a video editor! Both Neil and him are more right leaning. Mind you, daily politics is one orogramme which doesnt seem too lefty, so maybe he does have influence. Is daily politics the programme where no labour leader wants to appear??
chris watton said:
I guess it could be argued that the Beeb do not like Corbyn as they know he will never be electable - they want someone smoother who can get elected, perhaps..
So the BBC is only slightly left then.I think it's true that the BBC it is full of chattering class types. They have no real agenda but tend to be naturally attracted to slightly left-wing politics. This they regard as being normal. Therefor anyone to the right or far left must be wrong.
eccles said:
chris watton said:
I guess it could be argued that the Beeb do not like Corbyn as they know he will never be electable - they want someone smoother who can get elected, perhaps..
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/nick-robinson-tackles-anti-corbyn-bias-at-the-bbc/
Toenails said:
One major grievance was that presenters regularly referred to the Labour leader as ‘left wing’.
colonel c said:
chris watton said:
I guess it could be argued that the Beeb do not like Corbyn as they know he will never be electable - they want someone smoother who can get elected, perhaps..
So the BBC is only slightly left then.I think it's true that the BBC it is full of chattering class types. They have no real agenda but tend to be naturally attracted to slightly left-wing politics. This they regard as being normal. Therefor anyone to the right or far left must be wrong.
I based my guess on how they reacted when Brown kept f
king up, and it became increasingly apparent that he was more of a liability to Labour getting re-elected. In that particular case, they were right to be worried...Edited by chris watton on Sunday 10th January 11:15
chris watton said:
My wife was watching the BBC series Waking the Dead last night (I bought her the complete box set, she loves it..), and at one point, I heard Trevor Eve's character say that 'We all know that the private sector is evil....'
Not a big deal I know, but it did make me smile...
Or frown?!Not a big deal I know, but it did make me smile...
It's not isolated and it's quite deliberate - as 22-year BBC veteran Dennis Sewell told us via Ed West, the BBC's Left-wing bias is in everything that it does. Nobody should be surprised!
This is a secondary source reporting Dennis Sewell content:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100164971...
turbobloke said:
Or frown?!
It's not isolated and it's quite deliberate - as 22-year BBC veteran Dennis Sewell told us via Ed West, the BBC's Left-wing bias is in everything that it does. Nobody should be surprised!
This is a secondary source reporting Dennis Sewell content:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100164971...
It's not isolated and it's quite deliberate - as 22-year BBC veteran Dennis Sewell told us via Ed West, the BBC's Left-wing bias is in everything that it does. Nobody should be surprised!
This is a secondary source reporting Dennis Sewell content:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100164971...
it made me smile because it was a reminder as to why I stopped watching the majority of BBC content. The digs at the private sector, and Thatcher in quite a few of the programmes became quite comical. For example, I remember watching a programme about an 'ordinary family' living as we did during the '80's. IIRC, this 'Ordinary family' consisted of the wife, who was an NHS manager, and a husband who was also in the public sector, both quite young, so would have been children in the '80's. I remember a snippet of news came on (from the '80's), and Thatcher was mentioned. At which point the NHS manager (probably on a lot more than 90% of people) called Thatcher a 'Witch' and said she hated her. She was never asked why...It's just little things like this that add up, and the 'edgy comedy' (which was/is anything but) is much, much worse. (at least it was by the time I stopped watching it a few years' ago)
Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff