BBC bias

[lichtgilphead]

1 hour ago, jakedee said:

D.C. Thomsons, an employer, that when I left school, depending on which one you attended, you were advised not to bother applying for a job.

The same DC Thomson that sacked one of my friends for joining the NUJ in the late 1970's?

The same person used to make a few extra bucks by writing romantic fiction for one of their magazines. After she was sacked, these commissions dried up. Strangely, they started buying her work again when she submitted it under her mother's maiden name.

That DC Thomson?

[Billy Jean King]

I think historically the proprietor has had much more of an influence than they do now. 
The position of the papers is now more about a marketing niche than any sort of principled stance. 

IMO that's irrelevant, they are pedaling a specific line and the reasons behind that are moot.

[coprolite]

42 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said:

2 hours ago, coprolite said:

I think historically the proprietor has had much more of an influence than they do now. 
The position of the papers is now more about a marketing niche than any sort of principled stance. 

IMO that's irrelevant, they are pedaling a specific line and the reasons behind that are moot.

Disagree. If there's no controlling mind behind them they'll all eventually tend towards more populist positions whatever they may be. Completely changes the dynamic. 

Although it will all be moot in other ways soon enough as the press becomes an irrelevance. 

[Genuine Hibs Fan]

20 hours ago, Detournement said:

Emily Maitlis disintegrating on contact with reality. 

It's the constant talk about debate that gets me here. Who is he meant to be debating? He's the Head of the Palestinian mission, he's obviously there to talk about what's happening to his people, not to indulge the BBC's weird both sidesism 

[Guest Bob Mahelp]

2 hours ago, Pato said:

Not massively convinced by this; if it was just market forces making so many of them herd together to represent broadly the same outlook, you'd expect to see much the same thing happen in other countries. We don't tend to see that, and trust in the press in countries with very diverse press (e.g. Holland, France, Germany) is quite a bit higher than it is here, so there's obviously value in that.

 

I suspect that newspapers are not as politically motivated in most of Europe, because most countries have adopted a PR system. 

In the UK we traditionally have right-wing (Tory supporting) press or left-wing (Labour supporting) press. There's never been much room for something in the middle. 

Most European countries are not as polarised as the UK, therefore the press....with some exceptions.....tends to sit in the middle ground. 

I've lived abroad and there is absolutely no comparison between the mainstream newspapers in France, Germany, The Netherlands etc., and the propaganda mouthpieces that control 80% of the market in the UK. 

 

[Salt n Vinegar]

The BBC might be biased, but they still have a sense of humour and possibly a Scottish news editor... Their story on the post pandemic financial recovery has just featured a shop front brilliantly named "keech hospice care". 

[Tattie36]

Was just listening to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2, talking about the Glasgow immigration situation yesterday. Essentially turned into a gammon central, anti SNP phone in pretty quickly. We’re turning into a country of Mob-rule and anti English sentiment, and it’s all the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon’s fault. Most of the callers from Glasgow were, coincidentally very anti SNP. Turned it off.

[SandyCromarty]

On 12/05/2021 at 14:42, Bob Mahelp said:

I suspect that newspapers are not as politically motivated in most of Europe, because most countries have adopted a PR system. 

In the UK we traditionally have right-wing (Tory supporting) press or left-wing (Labour supporting) press. There's never been much room for something in the middle. 

Most European countries are not as polarised as the UK, therefore the press....with some exceptions.....tends to sit in the middle ground. 

I've lived abroad and there is absolutely no comparison between the mainstream newspapers in France, Germany, The Netherlands etc., and the propaganda mouthpieces that control 80% of the market in the UK. 

 

A statistic is often shared on social media that “five billionaires own 80% of the UK media”. Who are these five people? Supposedly:

• Rupert Murdoch (owner of News International)
• Richard Desmond (who was the owner of the Express)
• Viscount Rothermere (owner of of the Mail)...
• and the two Barclay Brothers (owners of the Telegraph)

A very small number of corporations own the bulk of media companies. News UK (part of News International owned by Rupert Murdoch), the Daily Mail and General Trust (run by Viscount Rothermere) and Reach PLC (formerly Trinity Mirror, whose CEO is Simon Fox and who have now bought the Express) own over 70% of the newspaper market in the UK. Even regional newspapers are now owned by a small number of newspaper groups, rather than run locally and independently.

[tamthebam]

4 hours ago, Pato said:

Isn't one of the Barclay brothers dead?

I hope so, they buried him

[Salt n Vinegar]

1 hour ago, tamthebam said:

I hope so, they buried him

Never rule out a cunning tax dodge. 

[jakedee]

I see the BBC have dredged up Stephen Kerr to criticise the 1st minister for " the dearth of talent and having to dig up names from the past to fill her cabinet"
Not a shred of irony either.

[Salt n Vinegar]

Well, I've had a reply to my complaint about the photos, party emblems and colours on the manifestos page a while back.  The expected bollocks about BBC fairness, different pages on different days, blah blah. 

Completely ignored the main thrust of my complaint of course, which was the pretty blindingly obvious point that once all the manifestos were published, they should all have equal prominence at the time any user looks at it DURING THE ELECTION PERIOD. Still, the beeb gotta "B". 

[Baxter Parp]

https://www.ft.com/content/a8541974-57f3-46ac-b0fd-0f359db2b7a9

Secret panel threatens BBC’s future, warn cultural grandees
More than 120 public figures call for government to be more open about its plans for UK broadcaster

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Am I the only one who thinks this is turning into a political witch-hunt?

I personally couldn't give a flying f**k that a publicity whore was somehow tricked into an interview. The fucking airhead would have gone on the record at some point irrespective of Bashir's shenanigans.

The Heil and the Express seem to be pushing on this - brass neck would be an understatement.

[stanton]

To have Boris Johnson talking about someone else's deceitful behaviour is hypocrisy of the highest order , the guy couldn't lie straight in bed 

[madwullie]

38 minutes ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

Am I the only one who thinks this is turning into a political witch-hunt?

I personally couldn't give a flying f**k that a publicity whore was somehow tricked into an interview. The fucking airhead would have gone on the record at some point irrespective of Bashir's shenanigans.

The Heil and the Express seem to be pushing on this - brass neck would be an understatement.
 

Definitely. Absolutely ideal shock horror fodder for the tories to f**k up the BBC more than they already have. 

[Granny Danger]

40 minutes ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

Am I the only one who thinks this is turning into a political witch-hunt?

I personally couldn't give a flying f**k that a publicity whore was somehow tricked into an interview. The fucking airhead would have gone on the record at some point irrespective of Bashir's shenanigans.

The Heil and the Express seem to be pushing on this - brass neck would be an understatement.
 

I’m surprised by the naivety of this bit.

 

On a wider point there’s an incredible irony that an action aimed at benefiting the establishment royal family is now being seized upon the establishment Tory Party to further its attacks on the BBC.

 

 

[Soapy FFC]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57209829

"Julian Knight, chairman of a committee that scrutinises the organisation, told the BBC he wanted to know why Bashir was rehired as a correspondent in 2016 and later promoted to religion editor."

Is it possible to replace Bashir with Priti Patel, and religion editor with Home Secretary? Or once again, am I just trying to find cynical hypocrisy where there is none?

[ICTJohnboy]

1 hour ago, Granny Danger said:

I’m surprised by the naivety of this bit.

 

On a wider point there’s an incredible irony that an action aimed at benefiting the establishment royal family is now being seized upon the establishment Tory Party to further its attacks on the BBC.

 

 

 

The Tory Party has a major say in the appointment of those actually running and controlling the BBC.

See here :

Quote

Richard Simon Sharp (born 8 February 1956) is the current Chairman of the BBC, a role he has held since February 2021. A former banker, he worked at JP Morgan for eight years, and then for 23 years at Goldman Sachs. Sharp was an advisor to Boris Johnson during his tenure as London Mayor, and to Rishi Sunak as Chancellor. He has donated more than £400,000 to the Conservative Party.

 

[Guest Bob Mahelp]

10 hours ago, Granny Danger said:

I’m surprised by the naivety of this bit.

 

On a wider point there’s an incredible irony that an action aimed at benefiting the establishment royal family is now being seized upon the establishment Tory Party to further its attacks on the BBC.

 

 

There's a multi-pronged.....MSM, Tory party et al....attack on the BBC, designed to make it into right-wing friendly, UK version of Fox news. 

That's the end game in all this, to make the national broadcaster effectively a Tory party mouthpiece. 

I'm stunned, but not surprised, that there isn't a greater outcry about this.