Just wanting to take a quiet moment this morning and wish everyone on Biased BBC a Happy New Year. Thanks for all your support in 2008 and I look forward with vigour to 2009. My clear objective next year is to get the Biased BBC book published and tomorrow, on January 1st, I have made plans to start that process! Here’s to a great year exposing the BBC bias and making a real difference. The floor is yours, as ever!
When it comes to finding instances of unambiguous BBC bias, you do not have to look very far. I was studying the main BBC news portal covering the conflict between Israel and Hamas and was being royally entertained by the..ahem... absolute neutrality of side-bar items such as “Grieving Palestinians struggle on” and “Grief and fear in Gaza” not forgetting “Israel’s mixed motives” when I spotted another item entitled “Aid worker diary -part three.” You should read it.
It is a diary of Hatem Shurrab who is an aid worker in Gaza with the British-based “charity” Islamic Relief Worldwide. Yes, you heard that right. In this third tear-jerking instalment of his diary, Hatem writes about the psychological impact of Israel’s air strikes on Gaza’s children. In fact all Hatem does is spout pro-Palestinian propaganda even sharing with us the shocking news that the brother of one of his work colleagues has been killed in an Israeli attack. Then again, quite a few Hamas terrorists have been killed in Israeli attacks, haven’t they, Hatem? Interesting that Islamic Relief manages to get its views embedded into the main BBC site – I can’t seem to find a balancing series of opinions from an Israeli point of view. Can you? The bias in the BBC output at the moment is shocking – every bit as as bad as it was when Hezbollah fought Israel back in 2006. It seems that the hatred of Israel runs deep in the BBC and such profound endemic anti-Semitism is reason enough to pull the license tax.
Did you see the prominence the BBC has given to the thoughts of Comrade Brendan Barber on the UK economy today? Brendan reckons that “the finance and banking sectors” have caused the recession (Has he not read Gordon’s script? It all started in America, remember?) but that 2009 represents a chance for government to create a “new” and “more fair” economy. Yes, just like Cuba, I’m guessing. (BTW – the BBC celebrates 50 years of Castro tonight if you feel strong enough to tune in!) Brendan then shows his economic perspicuity by demanding more welfare benefits for the unemployed even though I note he does not specify where the money for this is coming from and naturally, the BBC merely acts as his PR agency. Since the Trade Unions have so little relevance to the wealth-creating sector of the UK economy, why is Barber given such a soap-box?
I was reading this BBC report on the birth of a baby son to Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol. So far so good, until I get to the line that says “the father is apprentice electrician Levi Johnston, who has been dating Miss Palin for three years and is reportedly keen to take their child hunting.” Now then, is it just me or is this another gratuitous dig at those moose-hunting Alaskan unsophisticates ? Why could the BBC not just report the birth without having to oh-so-subtly snipe at the Palins? Sniggering up their sleeves is about as close to objective reporting as this lot get.
Another day and the continued BBC onslaught against Israel shows no sign of abating. During this morning’s Cormac Murphy O’Connor produced programme (Featuring Thought for the day by Jerome Murphy O’Connor – keep it in the family, eh?) there was a truly wretched item just after the 8am news which started with the UN special rapporteur, and noted anti-Israeli activist Richard Falk whinging on about the “daily atrocities” that Israel is committing. This set up things for Jeremy Al Bowen who rose to the challenge once again asserting that he believed Israel’s military strategy could not succeed as well as being politically non-sustainable. Next we segued into Richard Haas, the current president of the US Council on Foreign Relations. Haas gave a modest defence of Israel, though he is a keen advocate of the “Two State Solution” and shills for the PA. Since when did holocaust denier Mahmoud Abbas come to represent moderation? He also suggested that the current Middle East situation could take a few lessons from Northern Ireland where the IRA were told they could not bomb and shoot their way into government. (This somewhat surprised me since I have lived through three decades of IRA bombing and shooting and now they are in government! Go figure.) The BBC has moved into full-on support for Hamas and I will be damned if this is not documented here on a daily basis. Israel fights to defend it’s people from Hamas Islamic savagery, the BBC seeks to undermine this at every junction.What is it that drives such vicious anti-Israel feeling at the BBC?
Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. This is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely.
I was amused to see the BBC do everything possible to ameliorate the news that fatal stabbings are at a 30 year high in England Wales. Spot the lovingly inserted caveats in this BBC report today!
“Fatal stabbings in England and Wales have risen to their highest level in three decades, say the Conservatives. The unconfirmed claim comes as the government unveils tougher new community sentences for those convicted of carrying knives. The Tories say police figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show 277 stabbing deaths in 2007-8, the highest since records began in 1977. The government disputed the claim and said overall violent crime was falling.” Does Labour write these “news” reports and just email them to the BBC?
Well folks, I looked forward to getting the latest analysis of the cleansing of Gaza from the BBC’s Middle East editor Jeremy Al Bowen and I was not disappointed. According to Jeremy, the suffering is all on side (Hint – and it’s not that of Israel) Jeremy also was quick to pour scorn on Israel’s current military and political assumptions for good measure. A Gazan “doctor” was then wheeled on to inform us that wicked Israel is now targeting families and kids. This isn’t news, folks, it is rank Pali-propaganda and we are witnessing the BBC in full-on anti-Israel mode.
Visceral BBC prejudice against Israel will constitute a full chapter to itself in the forthcoming book on BBC bias. As Israel continues to righteously take out Hamas terror infrastructure, the BBC is naturally giving Pallywood every opportunity to portray itself, and its rocketeers of course, as victims. Their only crime is to be, erm, Jihadists. So I thought I might open up this thread for you to detail some of the worst excesses you are bound to come across as the BBC rallies around Hamastan. Just as well Harold Pinter is dead, he would be so upset to discover Israel is still capable of defending itself.
Glad to see that Israel has finally responded to the endless rocketing from Hamas but as you can imagine, the BBC is outraged. Israeli F-16 bombers have pounded key targets across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 225 people, “local medics” say.Most of those killed were “policemen” in the Hamas militant (aka terrorist) movement, which controls Gaza, but women and children also died, the Gaza “officials” said. The entire emphasis of the BBC report is aimed at painting Israel as the aggressors, the bad guys, and I note that the predictably pro-Palestinian babble from Ban ki-Moon is also faithfully recorded. The UN, the BBC, all mouthpieces for rampant Palestinian propaganda – and now all outraged when Israel finally moves to crush Hamas killers.
Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. This is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely.
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Along with the rest of the UK media, the BBC has lavished praise on the Israel-bashing US hating Harold Pinter. I suppose that expecting any criticism of the great Harold was naive but a little sense of perspective on the man would have helped. I recall his comments on 9/11…
“The 911 atrocity in New York was predictable and inevitable. It was an act of retaliation against constant and systematic manifestations of state terrorism on the part of the United States over many years, in all parts of the world…” Pinter described America as “a country run by a bunch of criminal lunatics” You can see why the BBC loved him.
I see that Today have announced that five programmes next week will have guest editors in the shape of author Zadie Smith; Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the head of the Catholic church in England and Wales; musician Jarvis Cocker; Sir Win Bischoff, the chairman of Citigroup and architect Zaha Hadid. In one way this is a good thing since we recognise that ALL these people come with a clear set of prejudices and will mold the daily news agenda on Today to reflect such. But what about those who edit this programme for the other hundreds of days each year – what are THEIR prejudices, their biases? The BBC should come clean, just admit it is riddled with bias, and then that is then fine by me. Of course, as a biased broadcaster, it should then be forced to fund itself and stop thieving from us. There is nothing wrong in admitting bias, but there is everything wrong in denying it when it is manifest for all to see, and hear
– An article by Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail. (Hat tip: Jason.)
All watching ITV
The angel of the Lord came down
And switched to BBC.
Anyone else remember that? I’m pretty sure that in the playgrounds of my youth it was that way round, though Google gives about 50-50 the angel switching to ITV. I draw no particular conclusions. The only real purpose of this post is to wish everyone a merry Christmas.
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