Britannia Radio

Biased BBC

Monday, April 06, 2009 ed thomas # Legal purposes crossed There's been an interesting story recently which might tell us much about the BBC's editorial bias. I was reminded of it by this article by William Rees Mogg in the The Times. According to him, senior judge Lord Hoffman, who has spoken out against the Strasbourg law court the European Court of Human Rights, "has supported the shift to judicial liberalism that followed the passage of the Human Rights Act 1998" So, a liberal judge. Who attacks a European institution. What to do (for the BBC, who are attached to both)? Well, interestingly, the BBC immediately reported Hoffman's attack- they may have even broken the story to the wider public - but they made special points of saying where he might be acting from a sense of personal injury, "In 1989 Lord Hoffmann had a decision of his overturned", or untrustworthy, Hoffman "had contributed to a decision that the former Chilean leader could be arrested and extradited for crimes against humanity, without emphasising his links to human rights group Amnesty International." As this kind of background is normally quietly left aside when reporting the thinking of liberal leftists, and in those cases the BBC simply rest on the seniority of the source, we can be sure that this time the BBC came down in favour of supporting a European institution. As Russell Crowe said to Marr on Sunday, pointedly and deliberately- "objectivity is a myth". Comments: 4 (unread) - Biased BBC Home Sunday, April 05, 2009 ed thomas # General BBC-related comment thread. Please use this thread for comments about the BBC's current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog - scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. This is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It's your space, use it wisely! Comments: 58 (unread) - Biased BBC Home ed thomas # Brown Boosting Choreography It was interesting listening to BBC world service reflections on the G20 summit. The analysis focussed almost totally on the mood music- no mention was made of actual outcomes, as for instance the UK press has focused on. It was left to commentators to discuss that in a debate section. The summit was presented mainly along the lines of personality. The BBC presenter couched the question as: the Obama - Brown relationship; respectful courtesy or something better? How about utterly predictable, without political cost, and mainly for the cameras? In other words, no room was given for a genuinely critical perspective The presenter continued: Are we seeing the birth of a new and incredibly significant special relationship? 10 more years, I tell you! The next question involved the comparison of the so-called "London Summit" with Camp David, Yalta, etc. Wow, that big huh?- until we were called on to remember that most summits are finally not too significant. Thus it was that expectations were lowered and Brown's reputation elevated in the same broadcast. Icing on the cake was the little ad for the BBC's economic coverage which followed the broadcast, beginning with Brown's gutteral "no time for a novice" soundbyte from one of the Great Leader's top hits. Comments: 7 (unread) - Biased BBC Home