Even as Gordon Brown digs the UK into ever deeper recession, BBC coverageof Obama’s unfolding administration continues to put the fawn into fawning. His newly announced treasury team, replete with Harvard and Berkeley professors, appears to offer little different in substance to the current Bush/Paulson endless bail-out approach – other than they will bail even more out! This is “the jolt” that Obama promises and which the BBC uncritically lets pass without deeper economic analysis. It seems to me that the BBC gets excited when politicians extend the malign tendrils of government into every part of private business, and so Brown and Obama can expect an easy ride in the time ahead.
OBAMA WORSHIP.
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cf. Jonathan Freedland Obamah fawning on “The Long View”, or should that be “The Guardian’s View”, on now on Radio 4.
The funny thing is, when Obama was asked to make a decision (to regulate Freddy and Fanny, and thus protect america from toxic debt), Obama did what Obama has always done…he sided with his party (after taking all of that lovely money from Freddy).
I dont believe this has ever been raised on Al Beeb.
Mailman
There was a bit of a stir on rightist blogs because every single member of his economic advisory team is tied to economic scandals and corruption.
Again, not a single story on Al Been about this.
Mailman
If he tries an FDR on the states and expects people to grin + bear the nanny state the US had from 1930 till the war Obama will fail .. He needs to let certain businesses fail otherwise we (the world) will end up paying for huge corporations with poor infrastructure and burdened with debt.
The only problem is, he cant let those big companies fail simply because of the follow on impact that will have on the state (ie. benefits going up, tax revenue going down etc).
Also, we dont want those big companies to fail because if they do fall over in a screaming heap, EVERYONE will pay.
Mailman
At least our children are getting impartial news from the BBC:
“The government has announced a plan that should make almost everything you want to buy a little bit cheaper.
In recent weeks there have been loads of news stories about global money problems called the cash crisis.
The UK has been hit hard by the crisis, so the government has decided to change some rules and laws to improve things.”
Sounds good – improving things!
The article goes on to tell kids how much cheaper Gordon is making their compact discs and games consoles, before mentioning a few doubters right down at the bottom of the article, but those doubts are dealt with simply by asserting that the shortfall in public finances can be overcome by making “rich people pay higher taxes in future years”
I always find it illuminating to read the Newsround pages, because in simplifying things for the sake of children, you often find the BBC position spelled-out quite clearly and concisely. The mask drops a little when they write for a younger audience.
Full article here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7740000/newsid_7746300/7746359.stm
with that logic you can’t afford to let lots of small companies fail —but they have –especially in the building trade. A lot of these big firms have overextended themselves with the cheap cost of cash over last few years. Which companies do we save + which do we let go? I am very vunerable to the vagaries of the building trade, but I don’t expect you to pay to keep me in business.
The BBC, along with much of the US Leftoid media, is ecstatic about the new regime. Of course, they’re pretty much all Clintonistas, so it’s no surprise.
Plus we seem to be doomed to Secretary of State Hillary. It’s Matt Frei’s dream come true: a Democrat President and a Clinton as the international face of the US. I’m not imagining that, or inferring it, or assuming it. He said that’s what would be best last year during a panel discussion on his very own BBC World Propaganda America. Frei Boy stated it flat out as his opinion, not a “some say” or “what if” or anything else.
Franko,
Thing is, small companies dont employ tens or hundreds of thousands of people, so if they fall over its not as noticable as a Citi Group falling over.
Mailman
henryflower | 25.11.08 – 3:20 pm |
I can see how most of it is just trying to say, “there’s been a problem, kids, the government is trying to fix it”. However, saying that the government is doing something that “should make almost everything you want to by a little cheaper” is not only a blatant lie, but is actually propaganda.
henryflower | 25.11.08 – 3:20 pm | #
Good, if jaw-dropping, link. That has to be one of the scarier things I have seen here, and there have been some doozies.
What next? “Mummy and Daddy saying nasty things about the Dear Leader? Dob ’em in to our special phoneline (all profits might go to charity) and we’ll have a Zil round to haul ’em off to ‘right thinking camp’ before you can say ‘get em while they’re young'”
I used to think my references to the EU of the 30’s were a slight exaggeration, but now…
Like I said, hope and change = recycled Clinton failures.
They might as well have elected Hillary.
Mailman –taken together there are millions of small businesses, and with a huge failure rate. I suppose you hear a big tree fall in the forest without noticing how many small ones die.
“There was a bit of a stir on rightist blogs because every single member of his economic advisory team is tied to economic scandals and corruption.”
Including the execrable Larry Summers, architect of Russian “Shock Therapy” in the 90s. Pure scum.
I tell you, Obama is typical American establishment.
Just had some jackass on Radio Four enthusing about an German artist who’s made an exhibition of mock-ups of the Oval Office, which was all about ‘power’
Ah, here he is online
‘Nigel Wrench writes: “One of a series of huge images in a timely new show, opening this evening in one of the commercial art galleries in Mayfair, London. Photographed in Mr Obama’s future office in the White House, obviously.’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/pm/2008/11/the_oval_office_or_is_it.shtml
Mr. Wrench sounded so happy, like a kid in famous football stadium, or in a great big sweet shop.He spoke approvingly of ‘The West Wing’ TV series.
Since when did the Oval Office become the Last Sion, the dome of the Rock, and the Bethlehem stable all rolled into one?
When did it stop being the SMERSH HQ/ the board room of the Fourth Reich?
When did Radio Four last broadcast something nice about the US president’s home and his’power’?
Hmm, something unequal going on here, I think.
The CBBC piece even gets its arithmetic wrong:
“At the moment VAT is at 17.5%, which means for every pound we spend the government gets 17 and a half pence.”
Sorry mate – the 17.5% is added on to the goods value.
So the true facts are:
At the moment VAT is at 17.5%, which means for every 1.175 we spend the government gets 17 and a half pence.
The difference between margin and mark-up could be just too hard for a beeber to get right.
Towards the end:
“The government … wants to do [things] like schools and hospitals.”
How would I “do” a school or a hospital ?
Don’t forget that someone is paid to write these sentences. It’s their job.
North Northwester
Any picture of the Prayer Room?
Jack Hughes – getting maths right is just so elitist isn’t it!
Nice analysis: what you’re essentially saying is that apart from the party political propaganda, the faulty economics, and the appalling grammar, there is nothing wrong with the article?
£3.2bn well spent. To educate and inform.
“The government has announced a plan that should make almost everything you want to buy a little bit cheaper.
In recent weeks there have been loads of news stories about global money problems called the cash crisis.
The UK has been hit hard by the crisis, so the government has decided to change some rules and laws to improve things.”
Is it just me but do these Hitler-Youth style CBBC reports seem creepy?
Has anybody sent in a complaint to the math geniuses at CBBC about the 17.5% confusion? If archduke is going to let his kids look at the site, the least we can do is help them out.
Actually, I’ve just realised what it is about the CBBC’news’ that gives me the creep.
That somewhere, some kid is reading it and taking it all in and nodding earnestly, like some blue eyed blonde haired wunderkind from a John Wyndham novel.
What type of kid – apart from BBC employee offspring – would ever read the CBBC news site anyway?
As Henryflower pointed out, the CBBC over-simplification of complex issues, shows the true face of the BBC’s lefty values. Perhaps the CBBC site is there to help BBC journalists understand what angle they should push when they file their reports.
Perhaps the CBBC site is there to help BBC journalists understand what angle they should push when they file their reports.
Kill the Beeb | 25.11.08 – 8:16 pm | #
Wonderful, KtB, wonderful 🙂
Pplans to raise VAT to 18.5% – later Freezing personals allowances will pull more people into the higher tax bands.What shits this government are.
What is particularly interesting about the 18.5% debacle is that the BBC went to enormous lengths yesterday, in its pre-emergency budget broadcasts, to assure us that this ZaNuLabour budget would be unique in that it would not contain any hidden details in the small print.
This was not stated just once by BBC pundits, but over and over again.
As those pundits could not have had sight of the budget (at least officially) they can only have formed this opinion by having been told it by ZaNuLabour sources.
It was a lie. Another lie that the BBC dutifully and faithfully broadcast on behalf of its masters in government.
BBC – Brown’s Bitches Club. Truly appalling that the BRITISH Broadcasting Corporation can sell the British people down the river.
henryflower
I agree with your key point about CBBC – their “kids’ version” is just a simplified distillation of BBC groupthink.
And that sort of pap does have effect – it is what many kids see on Newsround. It is of course subject to editing by the main BBC news pamjandrums. Ergo – it reflects what the main news panjandrums truly believe – stripped of all the verbiage.
JohnA
“it is what many kids see on Newsround.”
Yeah, for about ten seconds when the TV cable has fallen out the back of their Playstation.
KtB – ever the optimist.
They’ve actually got a whole page gathering together stories about “The Obama Presidency” – all of which are positive, of course.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/americas/2008/obama_presidency/
In principle, it’s entirely sensible since there are lots of stories when a new president takes over – appointments, plans, announcements and so on. So brushing over the positive tone (OK brushing over the complete absence of any dissenting or critical voice) why not have such a page ? I’m confident there was no such page in 2000 when Bush got in, but maybe they were just learning the ropes then.
Should the Tories get in next time in the UK, though, I look forward to an entire page of positive stories about the plans and appointments of “The Conservative Government.”
Incidentally, this sort of gather all the stories together consolidated-theme page seems to me to be quite fertile ground for BBC bias hunters. I can remember such pages on “The Green Room” (eco-wackery) and on “Breadline Britain” (relative poverty wackery.) But I can’t remember any on Daily Mail topics. I suspect you don’t get your own consolidated page unless you’re very much on message.
I thnk I’m going to be sick. “Obama in charge” latest headline. This is bordering on the homo-erotic. “Oh! Oh! Oh! Bamaaaa!. You’re so strong, And in charge – oh! oh! oh! Do it to me again!” What kind of BBC swooning brown-tounge leftie writes this shit? (Oh. That kind.)
I hope everyone realizes that there’s really no such thing as an “Office of the President-Elect”.
The Obamessiah and his gang just made it up, created a logo and stuck on a podium. It’s a fraud, and the entire media is playing along. He’s done nothing so far, only appoint a bunch of people and make spending noises. Other than that, his “policy” statements so far have mostly been that Bush and Paulson are doing the right thing, and he’ll just do more of it.
Nobody would know that from the BBC, though. As far as BBC victims are aware, he’s already enacting policies that are saving the world (except when Mr. Brown is saving it).
What is it about Democrats? Obama acts as though he already has power, Al Gore can’t adjust to the fact that he’s not President and is never going to be, Carter and Clinton can’t keep their opinions to themselves, as Presidential tradition demands – it doesn’t seem to matter whether they are single term Presidents or get the full 8 years – or none at all! – Democrats seem constitutionally incapable of holding in check their desire to govern, whether they’re entitled to or not.
Actually, that’s exactly it: a sense of entitlement. Governance is theirs by right, because they know they are right about everything, and grant themselves a moral mandate, whatever the electorate or the Constitution may decree.
A little something I sent yesterday to Have Your Say over Matt Frei lovefesting the leader of the ‘Frei World’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/7749748.stm
Yet another clear example of a BBC journalist who does not have the professional integrity to work for an impartial news organisation. Mr Frei is not commenting on any of the positions actually taken by President Bush and his administration, he is commenting on the way he has caricatured and downright falsified them for the last 8 years. 30 years ago I was a left wing member of the Labour Party who opposed BBC bias. It was bad for democracy. Now its like living in a proto one party state.
hippiepooter | 28.11.08 – 11:13 am |
You got that right. This is the attitude with which he hosts (when he can be bothered) his BBC World Propaganda America. It wins Peabodys because they show footage of international news presented by people with lovely accents. All any of the US outlets have is Frei’s fellow traveler, Christine Amanpour.
Frei says that Bush and Palin “built their campaign on the tradition nurtured under George W Bush of ridiculing intellect and articulacy as subversive values that rub up against the wholesome grain of middle America.”
When in fact, it was Frei and his kind who ridiculed them, for the subversive act of not being superficially intellectual and articulate.