From the Guardian:
John Whittingdale told the corporation its track record was ‘not faultless’ and it needed to correct ‘erroneous views’ quickly, letters reveal
The culture secretary warned the BBC that it must be impartial in covering the EU referendum and act quickly to tackle complaints about “erroneous views”, it has emerged.
John Whittingdale wrote to Rona Fairhead, chair of the BBC Trust, and broadcast regulator Ofcom, claiming that the corporation’s “track record in coverage of EU matters is not faultless”.
Whittingdale, who sent the letters in June but only made them public on Thursday night, said that the BBC and Ofcom should act on complaints about EU referendum coverage within 24 hours.
“The potential for unwarranted distortions to informed debate bears high risks,” he said. “And the longer that erroneous views or partial coverage are allowed to stand unchallenged or uncorrected, the greater the chance of public and democratic detriment.”
He said that Ofcom currently can “expedite” investigations into complaints about coverage in seven to 10 days, adding that it is in the public interest to slash this to as short a timeframe as possible.
“Where lapses occur, it is of course vital to the public that adequate and proportionate corrections are made in prompt order,” he said. “In light of the huge importance the public will place on the EU referendum, and the coverage of it by broadcasters, I would encourage Ofcom and the BBC Trust as the responsible regulators to consider whether your respective processes for redress for complaints which are upheld are as efficient and timely as possible.”
In 2005, an independent report commissioned by the BBC’s board of governors found that the corporation was guilty of “cultural and unintentional bias” in coverage of Europe
Why would he ever consider that the BBC would receive any complaints about its EU referendum coverage?
I wonder if that will include the BBC’s coverage of the ‘European’ migration crisis in which it has helped to apply massive pressure upon Cameron to change his asylum policies.
The BBC independent? Not when it takes part in the political arguments and tries to influence them itself.
Would this be the BBC’s very own Culture Secretary, Cameron appointed Whittingdale? Saying that the BBC is ‘not faultless’ will get this weasel into hot water.
Rona Fairhead was at the Bilderberg meeting held in Austria this year, you’d think 500 of the richest most powerful people in the world all shacked up in a hotel for the weekend would raise an eyebrow ? but it doesn’t because they control the media.
”The scandal-hit HSBC and everyone’s favourite vampire squid, Goldman Sachs, are both extremely well represented at this year’s conference. HSBC in particular by its chairman, its busy chief legal officer, and board member Rona Fairhead, who is also on the board of PepsiCo and chair of the BBC Trust.” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/08/bilderberg-summit-forget-the-g7
”Also attending the conference for the first time is former Financial Times Chief Executive Rona Fairhead, who recently assumed the role of chairwoman for the BBC Trust, the British Broadcasting Corporation’s “governing body,” and is also a director at HSBC.
Mere hours after Fairhead was appointed head of BBC Trust last year, she was sued by HSBC shareholders alleging she helped launder money for terrorists and Mexican drug cartels.
One HSBC shareholder, according to the Daily Mail, called her BBC appointment in light of the lawsuit and her prominent role at the bank an “obscene joke.”
“Mrs Fairhead’s credentials are great, as long as you ignore what she’s done at HSBC for the past ten years,” the shareholder said.
“It doesn’t augur well for her future at the BBC. She has a hell of a lot of baggage. Is she the best candidate to chair the BBC? I don’t think so.”
http://www.infowars.com/mainstream-reporters-attend-bilderberg-but-wont-report-on-it/
Media self-censorship
” Why would journalists be invited and then sworn to secrecy? It’s likely in hopes the ideas discussed will bleed through into their writings and onto their audience, helping shape public consensus via articles modeled around pre-approved notions. ” ( mass immigration, open doors perhaps ? )
“On its face, it makes no sense the corporate media would ignore and fail to report a confab comprised of newsworthy royal elites, chancellors, prime ministers, presidents, ambassadors, secretaries of state, Wall street bankers and investors, CEOs of transnational corporations, and corporate media executives,” writes Kurt Nimmo. “It makes no sense — that is until you realize the corporate media is owned and directed by this very same elite.”’