Britannia Radio

SAME HYMN SHEET

>> SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 06, 2011

Scratch the surface, and there lies yet another BBC climate change fanatic. They are everywhere; they are proliferating and they rule our lives.Yesterday, I reported that Roger Harrabin was off on a jolly to Norway to discuss how the media should be forced into reporting more climate change lies. One of his companions on the carbon dioxide guzzling fest will be Paddy Coulter, who is one of the three bosses of the modestly titled consultancy outfit, Oxford Global Media.

This company, I found with weary familiarity, specialises in guess what?Giving alarmist climate change advice to a whole range of government agencies and organisations, and was recently reponsible, for example, for organising a seminar on why Copenhagen went so wrong, spreading propaganda about climate change in China, and "sustainability" strategy for the developing world (codeword for ensuring that everyone involved follows the climate change agenda).

One of his fellow directors on this august and enterprising body is the chap above - David A.L. Levy. And surprise, surprise, he's a former BBC senior manager - Controller of Public Policy, no less. In his own words:

...in charge of UK & EU policy, engagement with the converged communications regulator, Ofcom and government affairs. He successfully led the BBC’s Charter Review & Licence Fee policy through its most testing review to date and was responsible for the management dimensions of the pioneering Public Value Test as applied to new services. He has long experience of the regulatory framework for broadcasting, having led the BBC’s input to the 1996 Broadcasting Act, the 2003 Communications Act, the European Communications Framework review, and the first Ofcom Review of Public Service Television.

Phew! And not only that. He was also clearly a toady to Peter Mandelson, because during the last couple of years of of NuLabour, he was appointed to the Department of Business Innovation and Skills to their Science and Media Expert Group. This body was - again, surprise, surprise - packed with warmist acolytes including Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute, and Fran Unsworth, the head of newsgathering at the BBC. Oh, and it was chaired by none other than one Fiona Fox, of the Science Media Centre....who, as I said yesterday, is also off on the jolly jaunt to Norway with our friend Mr Harrabin.

The findings of the said Science and Media Group were very predictably that nasty influences are keeping the true reporting of the full horrors of climate change out of the media, and steps must be taken to counter this. Exactly the same as Carbonundrum this Tuesday. It's the same people singing from the same zealot's hymn sheet. What is truly worrying is the depth to which this disease has infected the BBC, the extent to which the BBC is connected to these groups (and works with them), and the amount of our resources they collectively squander.

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE...

>> SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2011

Funny, isn't it, that Roger Harrabin's worries about climate change don't preclude jet travel? And funny, too, that he mostly turns up to demonstrate his knowledge at climate events organised and run by warmist fanatics. Next Tuesday, he's off to Carbonundrums (geddit? what a fabulous wheeze of a title) in Oslo with his chum Fiona Fox, she of the Science Media Centre, along with a chap called Paddy Coulter, who runs the equally eco-crazed Oxford Global Media group. As usual, there's not a sceptic in sight; they are worried, poor dears, that the media is not doing enough to spread climate change lies. I wonder which of the organisers is paying our Roger's CO2-fest fare? The BBC? the British Council? The Norwegian Government? Himself?...somehow I doubt the latter. I look forward to their conclusions - no doubt those nasty, evil, sceptics will get fingered again.

Middle Eastenders Like Us

The army of BBC reporters who’ve been plonked in Egypt have one thing in common - unalloyed joy at the people’s uprising.
We’ve heard people say, ‘Mubarak may be a monster, but he’s ourmonster,’ or, ‘ Careful what you wish for - some Iraqis long for the stability of Sadaam’ - but what we mainly hear is wholehearted enthusiasm for the 'deposing of the tyrant'. They approve of Ben Ali’s removal from Tunisia, yet have little interest in what will follow.

Just because we all abhor torture and corruption, and applaud democracy and freedom, our enemy’s enemy is not necessarily our ally, and we should all be careful about expressing unreserved enthusiasm for what we know little about.

Even though the Muslim Brotherhood is not considered to be an immediate threat to Egypt’s future, none of the BBC interviews I’ve seen have questioned the bright-eyed protesters about their attitude to the West, and Israel in particular. Polls suggest that the majority of Egyptians sympathise with Sharia, which doesn’t auger well for an enlightened future. Remember Iran.

Representatives of the BBC should engage their brains and stop assuming all Egyptians view everything through the eyes of the western liberal. That’s a common failing of all the BBC’s reporting. None of them seem to have the imagination to put themselves in any shoes other than their own. I think I’ve said this before. The Middle East isn’t like Islington, and Islam isn’t a religion of peace.
H/T True Too for Caroline Glick

Spot the Party

Via Conservative Home, this story from The Times (£):

"In an interview with The Times, Paul Maynard, the Conservative MP for Blackpool North & Cleveleys, described an incident in which some Labour MPs made faces, stretching their cheeks up and down as he spoke. It appeared to be an attempt to mimic him…"

(See also Telegraph, Mail, Press Association)

Whoever wrote the copy for the final newspaper review on this morning'sToday programme decided one particular detail wasn't worth mentioning. Here's how Evan Davis told it - see if you can spot what's missing:

"The Times says the Conservative MP Paul Maynard has been mocked by colleagues in the House of Commons because he's disabled. Mr Maynard has cerebral palsy and he tells the paper MPs appeared to pull faces to mimic him as he spoke in a debate. He says that carrying on regardless was one of the hardest things he's had to do. The Times says MPs of all parties have condemned the general behaviour in the commons as cruel and despicable…"

There's a similar omission in the BBC's online paper review (h/t Craig):

The Times has Tory MP Paul Maynard, who has cerebral palsy, saying he was mocked by MPs during a Commons debate.
He says they pulled faces at him, and the paper calls it a "scandal".

As Craig points out in the open thread, this brief item in the paper review is thus far the only mention of the story on the BBC website. There is, however, room for yet more Alastair Campbell-related publicity.

The BBC would be treating this very differently if Tories had been accused of mocking a disabled Labour MP.

UPDATE 4pm. NotaSheep and Span Ows point out in the comments that the phrase "mocked by colleagues" in the Today paper review goes further than merely covering for the Labour MPs involved by creating the impression that fellow Conservatives could be to blame. And Hippiepooter reminds us that when a non-entity Tory activist (not an MP) sent an email to a Tory councillor (not an MP) in Bradford in which he called a Labour agent "a cripple", Newsnight led with it (here's then editor Peter Barron's response to the ensuing criticism.)

OPEN THREAD

Well, he's had his say. What do you think of the BBC today?

Being Louis

>> FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2011

or Louis in Wonderland.
I was wondering what all that fuss was about, so I put on my best Louis Theroux voice. I wanted to understand Louis, so I set off to enter Louis’s mind. I tried to think like Louis.....I wondered if Louis felt uncomfortable, as a human being, that the filmmakers used the word ‘Zionist’ pejoratively, and selected the most controversial sound-bites for their ubiquitous trailer? Then I realised - it’s the ratings, stupid.

I was wondering whether Louis was worried that the film might inadvertently lure antisemites from their lairs. Then I remembered the subtle backtracking I had noticed earlier, and I thought I understood.

I wondered whether Louis felt uncomfortable, on a human level, for asking settlers if they felt guilty over stealing Palestinian land, when his film actually stated, " It [an Arab area] used to be Jewish till all the Jews were violently driven out 1920s during a pogrom.”
I wondered if Louis felt uneasy perpetuating myths about Jews stealing Arab land, when the opposite is nearer to the truth. Then it occured to me that the filmmakers forgot to edit that bit out and hoped no-one would notice. It was revealing, yes, but also so fleeting, so momentary, so easily missable; few would have noticed.

I began to wonder whether Louis had done any homework, before embarking on a film which he had waited ten years to make. Then I remembered, studying the Guardian and the BBC would have provided all the education Louis needed.

Louis chatted to the head of security of the Hebron Jewish community, named Yoni. Louis began a series of questions that were cunningly designed to highlight the Palestinians' inequality. Louis seemed to be exposing injustice, but I was wondering if the injustice Louis perceived was the injustice that prevents Palestinians with murderous intent being allowed to import knives and guns, freely and democratically into Israeli residential areas. Was that the injustice Louis perceived, I asked myself?
I thought I detected some clumsy editing. I noticed an abrupt jump from Yoni’s half-finished answer to Louis’s first question, ping, to Louis’s next question. Louis said: It’s been reported that Arabs suffered a campaign of harassment from Jewish settlers in Hebron, including graffiti, stone throwing, abuse - to which Yoni replied: There were incidents - of course there were incidents - unfortunately - but you cannot compare.. CUT!
I was wondering whether Yoni had actually said some more, and the editors had edited it out. Hmmm, I wondered.
If some Arabs threw stones at Jewish settlers, the settlers would do what?asked Louis. If Yoni had said something that the editors didn’t like, the editors would do what? I wondered.

You may now stop thinking in the Louis Theroux voice. Snap! You’re back in the room!

Most of the Jews in the film seemed engaging and human. The Palestinians, on the other hand appeared to be bristling with hate and spittle, or sitting puffing a fag all day getting fatter and fatter and wondering why they couldn’t sell something and own it at the same time.
I’m not saying all Palestinians are like that by the way. I’m talking about the way they were shown on Louis’s film.

Is it fair to transfer Jews into Palestinian areas that had been won in war?asked Louis.

Is it fair not to mention that the wars in question were, in fact, wars of aggression, started by Arabs with the sole object of obliterating Israel?
Not a lot of people know that, Louis. And Louis, if you were given the chance to enlighten them, why didn’t you?