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Topic: Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply
Posted by: Steven Rose
Date/Time: 14/11/25 02:41:00

Hi Jonathan

I was unable to find the article by Rafael Behr. (Hopefully I have spelled his name correctly). As for David Aaronovitch, I am amazed he is still in a job after his ‘satirical’ advice to Biden to have Trump murdered. Presumably his employers at the ‘Observer’ are not too bothered if Trump gets assassinated. Of course if Aaronovitch had made a similar suggestion about a left wing or, heavens forfend, a black politician, I am pretty sure his feet wouldn’t have touched the ground as he was escorted off the premises.

I think many people on the left are in denial about bias at the BBC, mainly because they share the same prejudices as the journalists. As a result, when they see a biased report on the television, they don’t even recognise it as biased. They regard it as factual rather than tendentious.

It is not a secret that the majority of BBC journalists are of left of centre. It is not even surprising. The vast majority are university graduates and the polls suggest that graduates tend to vote for left of centre parties (i.e. Labour, Lib Dem or Green). What is surprising is that many of the journalists, particularly but not exclusively the younger ones, have lost sight of their duty of impartiality.

If you doubt this, consider the issue of the ‘Panorama’ programme. I can understand that a couple of woke editors might have wanted to convict Trump of having deliberately incited the riot at the Capitol by splicing together different parts of his speech, rather like corrupt police officers used to tamper with witness statements in order to get a conviction against individuals they thought to be guilty when actual evidence was lacking. But how would you explain the fact that at the meeting last May called to discuss Michael Prescott’s letter, this dishonesty was justified by BBC managers as ‘normal practice’, an explanation accepted by the Director General and the Chairman who attended the meeting? My interpretation of this episode is that staff at the BBC were so imbued with contempt for Trump, they didn’t care whether they were in breach of journalistic standards or not.

However a much more serious example of bias can be seen in the BBC’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza. The use by BBC Arabic of grossly anti-Semitic Hamas supporters to comment on the conflict was utterly disgraceful. One individual, who called for Jews to be burned ‘just like Hitler did’, appeared on the BBC Arabic service hundreds of times.  How was this allowed to happen? But what about footage shot by Palestinian journalists in Gaza which was regularly shown on the BBC News, often accompanied by a sombre voiceover from Fergal Keane? Why did the BBC never inform its audience that this footage was subject to Hamas censorship? In fact one never saw Hamas. It was as if the whole of Gaza was populated by innocent civilians. That is just one example of biased coverage.

The BBC is an important part of British life. It has many good journalists, like Chris Mason, the political editor. But in recent years the Corporation has been undermined by the actions of ideologues whom managers have been unable or unwilling to restrain.  And rather than recognise the bias exposed by the report of the BBC’s own Editorial Committee, left-wing  journalists and politicians  have sought to impugn the integrity of Michael Prescott and Sir Robbie Gibb. They don’t like the message, so they attack the messenger.

Entire Thread
TopicDate PostedPosted By
Irony alert!09/11/25 09:17:00 Jonathan Callaway
   Re:Irony alert!09/11/25 10:25:00 Robert Wheeler
      Re:Re:Irony alert!09/11/25 12:27:00 Ivonne Holliday
         Re:Re:Re:Irony alert!09/11/25 12:54:00 Ivonne Holliday
   Re:Irony alert!09/11/25 12:14:00 Ivonne Holliday
      Reply09/11/25 12:26:00 Sue Hammond
         Irony upon irony09/11/25 12:46:00 Jonathan Callaway
            Re:Irony upon irony09/11/25 12:59:00 Ivonne Holliday
               Reply09/11/25 16:53:00 Sue Hammond
            Reply09/11/25 15:34:00 Sue Hammond
               Re:Reply09/11/25 18:13:00 Steven Rose
                  Re:Re:Reply09/11/25 19:23:00 Jonathan Callaway
   Reply09/11/25 18:24:00 Michael Ixer
      Reply09/11/25 19:07:00 Michael Ixer
         Re:Reply09/11/25 19:22:00 Robert Wheeler
            Re:Re:Reply09/11/25 21:43:00 Steven Rose
               Re:Re:Re:Reply09/11/25 22:33:00 Sue Hammond
                  Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply10/11/25 00:02:00 Steven Rose
               Re:Re:Re:Reply10/11/25 12:37:00 Ivonne Holliday
            Reply10/11/25 00:22:00 Michael Ixer
               Re:Reply10/11/25 11:47:00 John Hawkes
                  Reply10/11/25 12:19:00 Michael Ixer
               Re:Reply10/11/25 12:28:00 John Hawkes
                  Reply10/11/25 13:31:00 Michael Ixer
         Re:Reply10/11/25 09:13:00 Lucille Grant
            Re:Re:Reply10/11/25 09:37:00 Jonathan Callaway
               Re:Re:Re:Reply10/11/25 10:06:00 Andy Pike
                  Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply10/11/25 10:17:00 Robert Wheeler
            Reply10/11/25 10:52:00 Michael Ixer
               Re:Reply10/11/25 11:36:00 Andy Pike
                  Reply10/11/25 12:22:00 Michael Ixer
                     Re: Brexit10/11/25 12:50:00 Lucille Grant
                     Re:Reply10/11/25 13:06:00 Steven Rose
                        Reply10/11/25 14:12:00 Michael Ixer
                           Re:Reply10/11/25 14:16:00 Gerry Boyce
                           Re:Reply10/11/25 15:13:00 John Hawkes
                        Re:Re:Reply11/11/25 20:39:00 Jonathan Callaway
                           Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 11:50:00 John Hawkes
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 19:12:00 Jonathan Callaway
                     Re:Reply10/11/25 14:34:00 Andy Pike
                        Re:Re:Reply10/11/25 15:54:00 Lucille Grant
                           Re:Re:Re:Reply11/11/25 21:47:00 Steven Rose
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply12/11/25 20:40:00 Jonathan Callaway
                           Re:Re:Re:Reply11/11/25 22:30:00 Andy Pike
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply12/11/25 23:27:00 Steven Rose
                                 Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply13/11/25 22:52:00 Jonathan Callaway
                                    Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 02:41:00 Steven Rose
                                       Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 12:20:00 Ivonne Holliday
                                          Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 12:30:00 John Hawkes
                                             Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 12:58:00 Ivonne Holliday
                                                Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 13:57:00 John Hawkes
                                          Reply14/11/25 12:38:00 Sue Hammond
                                       Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 19:30:00 Jonathan Callaway
                                    Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 12:17:00 John Hawkes
                                       Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 16:35:00 Steven Rose
                                          Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 19:52:00 Jonathan Callaway
                                          Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 10:47:00 Richard Carter
                                             Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 12:05:00 John Hawkes
                                       Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 19:40:00 Jonathan Callaway
                                          Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 21:25:00 Steven Rose
                                             Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 22:07:00 Jonathan Callaway
                                                Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply14/11/25 22:10:00 Jonathan Callaway
                                                Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 11:53:00 John Hawkes
                                                   Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 13:08:00 Jonathan Callaway
                                                      Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 13:44:00 John Hawkes
                                             Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 11:44:00 John Hawkes
                                                Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 12:22:00 Steven Rose
                                                   Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 13:00:00 John Hawkes
                                          Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 11:31:00 John Hawkes
                                             Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 13:19:00 Steven Rose
                                                Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply15/11/25 21:41:00 Gerry Boyce
   Reply15/11/25 13:53:00 Michael Ixer

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