I agree with Mr Littlejohn that it's time for the chop, though a replacement for Question Time would undoubtedly be much worse. BBC producers are so obsessed by their own lefty agendas that they are no longer capable of understanding, let alone marshalling, balanced debate. Many years ago, when Robin Day ruled the roost and it was broadcast almost every week from the Greenwood Theatre, I used to do the PR for the programme. It had its problems then, of course, but the current gimmicks had not even been thought about...it's been a slow, painful and garish slide into today's deliberately-rigged gang-bang confrontation in the name of viewer appeal. What say you? Mr Littlejohn's piece has been prompted, of course, by the news that the BBC's madhouse social engineering - in decanting thousands of staff outside London - means that in future that the production office of QT will be in Glasgow, but production meetings will be held in London because David Dimbleby refuses to travel to Glasgow. This will push the programme's carbon footprint and hotel bills into the stratosphere. It's madness on a massive scale that goes against the BBC's moral zealotry; clear evidence that they never let their so-called principles block their own plans, and are always keen to find new profligate ways of spending the licence fee. For the last couple of days, there have been major events in Wisconsin involving state government legislation intended to curtail public sector union entitlements in order to save money. Like several other states, Wisconsin faces a deep economic crisis and needs to save money and cut spending any way it can. The newly installed Republican Governor, Scott Walker, has said that anyone who didn't see this huge budget crunch coming must have been in a "coma". He's recently set forth a new budget plan with big spending cuts, including what gets spent on public sector unions. Needless to say, the unions are livid, and have taken to the streets. The BBC reports it this way: Wisconsin public workers protest over anti-union bill Teachers, prison guards and others say a Republican-sponsored bill would severely cut into their incomes.
QUESTION TIME AXE?
>> FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011
BBC Bias Favors Unions, Even In The US, And Censors News Of Violent Rhetoric
>> THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2011
Wisconsin public employees have crowded into the state capitol to protest the government's plan to curtail their right to collective bargaining.
In case anyone might get suspicious about the obvious trade union talking point here - 'cut into their incomes' - all doubts are dispelled immediately: 'Scariest thing ever' In Madison, the capital city of the mid-western state, the Republican-led legislature on Thursday was set to pass a bill pushed by Republican Governor Scott Walker that has been described by commentators as the most aggressive anti-union law in the nation. The bill would eliminate most public workers' collective bargaining rights and dramatically increase the amount they must contribute to their pensions and health insurance coverage. "This is the scariest thing I've ever seen," physics teacher Betsy Barnard told the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper of Mr Walker's bill. "This is going to change Wisconsin forever."
"Dramatically increase"? Here's what the BBC doesn't want you to know about that: Currently most state employees pay nothing toward their pensions and only a modest amount for their insurance.
Yeah, I suppose having to pay a little something when you've been paying zero might seem "dramatic". But that's the union perspective the BBC is presenting, and not an objective fact. The use of emotional language here is advocacy behavior and not journalism. And what about the claim that the bill will "eliminate most" bargaining rights? It's also a bit of BS:
Friday, 18 February 2011
Posts
