BBC CHURNALISM

BBC CHURNALISM

>> TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2011

Many thanks to Katabasis for pointing out his analysis of churnalism and the Environment Agency. I urge you to read it all, but here are some highlights:

The BBC is by far and away the worst offender for simply repeating whatever the Environment Agency claimed in its press releases.Out of the 393 articles where "significant" churn had taken place, the BBC were responsible for 44%. Likewise for the 49 articles that had "major" churn (meaning in most cases they were almost complete cut and pastes of the press releases), the BBC was responsible for 30.6%.

"Glaciergate should not distract us from climate battle"
Here the chairman of the Environment Agency is asked to write a piece for the BBC. It repeats exactly the majority of a press release issued by the Environment Agency two months beforehand claiming to quote the chairman by declaring what he is going to say at a forthcoming event. Yes I had trouble getting my head around that too.

"Flood defence project gets small seal of approval"
An absolutely stunning 94% paste job by the BBC. Even the churnalism engine struggles to represent it visually - make sure you click through to the BBC article itself. You can see from eyeballing it and comparing it to the submitted press release that it is a straight cut and paste.

[UPDATE - the Churnalism.com website Katabasis uses for his analysis can get a bit precious if you open too many tabs/windows. I suggest following one link at a time, closing it, then going on to the next one to avoid crashes.]

YOUR TUESDAY EVENING MOMENT OF ZEN

Meanwhile, over at BBC News online - another report about the MF Global scandal which fails to mention that Jon Corzine is a former Democrat governor and major fundraiser for Obama. And imagine how many times the word "Republican" would be screaming out from the headline and opening paragraphs of this article about the jailing of Tony Rezko if he'd been a GOP supporter (also check out the BBC's ass-covering on behalf of the beloved Mr President).

OPEN THREAD

Time for a new one of these! Got any thoughts on the bias from our Broadcasting Big Brother? Detail them here!

NOT SO SUPER, COMMITTEE

Well then,Stateside the "Super Committee" tasked with reducing the massive US deficit has, predictably, failed to agree on a plan. Naturally the BBC rows in behind Obama's view that this is entirely the fault of the Republicans, as this report makes abundantly clear. Mark Mardell isgrasping at straws for The One here as he prays the fewer people respect Congress than Obama.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

The politics of envy feature large on the BBC radar. Give this debate a listen of you get a chance, it's on the subject of whether "excessive deals for the UK's top bosses is having a corrosive effect on the economy, for companies as well as society as a whole." I have also been involved in BBC debates on this topic and the BBC are determined to present "big bosses" as vampires, feeding off the poor oppressed workers. Heather McGregor gives a spirited defence of the free market system so despised by the BBC and I loved her withering reference to communist Cuba and "fairness". The irony is that I suspect there are plenty within the BBC who do think that the Cuban collective model is superior to that which has enriched this country. I also note the BBC never asks whether excessive deals for the UK's top PUBLIC SECTOR bosses is having a corrosive effect on the economy?