Tuesday 21 October 2008

Biased BBC
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Hugh #

Not even trying

Is the loathing of Bush's Republicans so firmly established in the minds of all right thinking people that the BBC, as with global warming, has abandoned even the pretence of impartiality? Here's Peter Marshall's Newsnight blog following in the steps of Justin Webb and the rest in this review of Oliver Stone's film 'W':

Indeed Stone's Bush is remarkably similar to the "hollow man" I identified in the 1999 election campaign, a characterisation which so annoyed the then Texas governor that for a while he refused to speak to the BBC. He is a man with a drink problem who'd failed in various ventures, reached 40, found God and resolved to join the family business: running the country. At the time it was gratifying for one's critique to be noticed by the candidate - and also rather worrying. If he were to be so distracted by a foreign correspondent's personal analysis, how would he cope with the slings, arrows and barbs that inevitably befall any inhabitant of the White House? Well now we know. He can't take criticism and, in a politician, criticism is part of the climate

And here he is on Condi Rice:

But my favourite character is Condi Rice (Thandie Newton). Somehow she plays her as a cyborg, ultra-loyal to W because that's how she has been programmed. She has no doubts, no opinions and her only emotions revolve around serving her mentor. It rings true.

It's worth reminding ourselves, again, that the Beeb's guidelines on impartiality apply just as much to blogs as elsewhere. In particular: News and Current Affairs staff should not:
  • advocate support for a particular political party
  • express views for or against any policy which is a matter of current party political debate
  • advocate any particular position on an issue of current public controversy or debate
Of course, the BBC's commitment to impartiality is so fundamental that it doesn't actually bother monitoring it, but even so how hard can it be to see this piece has no place in its output?

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