(Lack of) impartiality on news reports

[shagnasty]

but is it not a question of who is working on the the news the presenter in my opionion are just mouthing words and would not have even read about what is happening vis a vis iran.the editor etc write the words and there is no doubt there is political preesure.if you remember in the tory days you could tell when an election was comming when tebbit started bullying the bbc saying they were labour mouthpieces.so if the editor is a strong willed person then it is more likely to be not so government biased

 

[Mungy]

pre hutton the beeb was quite factual unlike the fear mongering that itv has been for a very long time.

 

[KeyboardJockey]

We've been infected by the infotainment disease that first broke out in the States with Fox News. That's my tuppence worth for what it's worth.

And look at the negative effect that entity has had on public discorse. Evidenced by some of our more 'intellectually challenged' posters from the US.

'I saw it on Fox it must be true'

 

[nino_savatte]

And look at the negative effect that entity has had on public discorse. Evidenced by some of our more 'intellectually challenged' posters from the US.

'I saw it on Fox it must be true'

Exactly, I can see the same things being repeated here with the treatment of the news as a piece of entertainment. Sometimes I find myself watching the news and thinking "That isn't news, that's publicity for some business". This is particularly the case with local news.

 

[KeyboardJockey]

Exactly, I can see the same things being repeated here with the treatment of the news as a piece of entertainment. Sometimes I find myself watching the news and thinking "That isn't news, that's publicity for some business". This is particularly the case with local news.

It's like with the local London News both BBC and ITN with regards the Olympics. It was just one large puff for the pro bid people and a chance for 'Brave Sir Robin' Wales to crawl further up NL's arse. The anti bid people no matter what their case were portrayed as backwards anti future cranks.

 

[nino_savatte]

It's like with the local London News both BBC and ITN with regards the Olympics. It was just one large puff for the pro bid people and a chance for 'Brave Sir Robin' Wales to crawl further up NL's arse. The anti bid people no matter what their case were portrayed as backwards anti future cranks.

Quite. I feel insulted and patronised!

Emily bloody Maitlis!

 

[articul8]

Incredible example today on ITN lunchtime news.

The story was about a protestor who was encamped in trees in Somerset due to be felled to make way for a new branch of Tescos.

The presenter began "now he may be just a tree hugging hippy but..."

You never hear stories begin "now they may be just a faceless corporate monolith but..."

 

[nino_savatte]

Incredible example today on ITN lunchtime news.

The story was about a protestor who was encamped in trees in Somerset due to be felled to make way for a new branch of Tescos.

The presenter began "now he may be just a tree hugging hippy but..."

You never hear stories begin "now they may be just a faceless corporate monolith but..."

It sounds as though the news item became a free bit of advertising for Tesco's, while at the same time having a pop at someone because of their politics.

ITN News is shite.

 

[Kenny Vermouth]

The BBC is disgracefully biased and pro-Labour.

Monday saw Andrew Marr's fawning interview with Tony Blair's poisoner-in-chief Alistair Campbell, the man who tried to destroy the corporation. Marr treated Campbell as an old friend.

Then there was Guto Hari's report in which he stated that Michael Howard had been booed by a tv audience while failing to report that the audience had also booed Blair.

The BBC has been forced to apologise over the report:

http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=247472006

Yet more reasons why we should not be paying this poll tax called the licence fee.

 

[KeyboardJockey]

Yet more reasons why we should not be paying this poll tax called the licence fee.

The alternative to the licence fee is the nightmare known as US style TV. Imperfect as the BBC is I'd rather scrimp and save to pay my TV Licence than have free tv which is 120 channels of utter shite.

 

[William of Walworth]

Not an in defence of Marr or the BBC post btw

I'd agree -- if it wasn't a disgraceful right wing bigot** like you posting it!

**Track record on Urban as long as your arm

What would you prefer Kenny? A UK version of the 'fair and balanced' Fox TV??



And which paper do you work for by the way? You've never said, but I can make an educated guess!

 

[William of Walworth]

The alternative to the licence fee is the nightmare known as US style TV. Imperfect as the BBC is I'd rather scrimp and save to pay my TV Licence than have free tv which is 120 channels of utter shite.

I think Kenny would like two of the US style channels to be run either by a TV offshoot of Associated Newspapers, or by Rupert Murdoch ...

 

[KeyboardJockey]

I think Kenny would like two of the US style channels to be run either by a TV offshoot of Associated Newspapers, or by Rupert Murdoch ...

I reckon you are right there William.

I wonder what Daily Mailavision's schedule would looklike

7.00pm Is your cat giving you cancer -- various psudoscientific therories on how cat hairs cause cancer
9.00 Send 'em back -- A game show in which Daily Mail readers compete to throw out the most immigrants
10.00 Hate of the week
11.00 The Womens Programme -- the ghost of Linda Lee Potter berates women and orders them to bed or they will be too tired to make their husbands breakfast
12.00 Midnight Relationship Programme for Men -- this week 100 ways to keep your wife in the kitchen.
1.00 am Cocoa and closedown


8.00 am Childrens programmes - this week some Enid Blyton with added 1930's racism.
9.00 Storytime - this week 'Little Black Sambo'* meets an explorer
10.00 Coffee Time Programme -- Women, remember going to work will reduce your fertility
11.00 News
12.00 History Programme - This week why Oswald Mosely wasn't that bad really

etc etc etc

*NB for younger readers LBS was a rather racist childrens book used in the UK up untll the 1950's.


Me thinks that this is more Kenny's style of viewing.

 

[Kenny Vermouth]

The alternative to the licence fee is the nightmare known as US style TV. Imperfect as the BBC is I'd rather scrimp and save to pay my TV Licence than have free tv which is 120 channels of utter shite.

Well I think it is grotesquely unfair that I have to pay for a service that I do not use.

I have Sky because I want to watch sport and documentaries. I buy it through choice. If I become unhappy or dissatisfied with the service I can choose to cancel it. You can do no such thing with the BBC and are criminalised if you elect not to pay for it.

I wonder how far the corporation would go if it was forced to compete on the open market. Not far, I suspect.

Meanwhile here are the highlights of today's BBC programming. Remember these are tv shows are we are required to fund whether we want to or not:

9.15am Animal Park
11.30am Bargain Hunt
12.15pm Cash in the Attic
7.30pm Stars in Fast Cars (With Nell McAndrew and Ainsely Harriott).
8.30pm Just the Two of Us (More reality tv).
11.05pm Twins (That excellent film starring Danny De Vito and actor Arnie Schwarzenegger).

Reminds me of that Alan Partridge sketch when he sends up the BBC for pumping out some ghastly fucking rubbish.

"So when I turn on the BBC, I will get originality, quality and excellence. Noel's House Party - originality, quality and excellence."

 

[nino_savatte]

Well I think it is grotesquely unfair that I have to pay for a service that I do not use.

I have Sky because I want to watch sport and documentaries. I buy it through choice. If I become unhappy or dissatisfied with the service I can choose to cancel it. You can do no such thing with the BBC and are criminalised if you elect not to pay for it.

I wonder how far the corporation would go if it was forced to compete on the open market. Not far, I suspect.

Meanwhile here are the highlights of today's BBC programming. Remember these are tv shows are we are required to fund whether we want to or not:

9.15am Animal Park
11.30am Bargain Hunt
12.15pm Cash in the Attic
7.30pm Stars in Fast Cars (With Nell McAndrew and Ainsely Harriott).
8.30pm Just the Two of Us (More reality tv).
11.05pm Twins (That excellent film starring Danny De Vito and actor Arnie Schwarzenegger).

Reminds me of that Alan Partridge sketch when he sends up the BBC for pumping out some ghastly fucking rubbish.

"So when I turn on the BBC, I will get originality, quality and excellence. Noel's House Party - originality, quality and excellence."

You watch documetaries on SKY? What documentaries? Murdoch doesn't have them.

 

[atitlan]

You watch documetaries on SKY? What documentaries? Murdoch doesn't have them.

Course they do ...

10:00 A documentary about Nazis
11:00 A documentary about Ancient Egypt
12:00 A documentary about dinosaurs

(repeat ad infinitum)

 

[nino_savatte]

Course they do ...

10:00 A documentary about Nazis
11:00 A documentary about Ancient Egypt
12:00 A documentary about dinosaurs

(repeat ad infinitum)

 

[Idris2002]

Years ago, I did a market research job in Belfast's 'Golden crescent' where one of the questions was 'do you think the TV news is biased'.

One guy blew up at me and said 'I was head of TV news at BBC Northern Ireland for 20 years and no way were we biased'.

Now in Northern Ireland in the old days that was very much a matter of debate. But if what you're all saying on this thread is true, there's not much of a debate over that one left. . .

 

[Fruitloop]

Brave of him to admit that to a stranger....

 

[Idris2002]

On another job I met a columnist with the (republican) Andersonstown News, who wrote me up in his column the next week. Apparently I gave him the worst grilling he'd had since being in Castlereagh in 1979.

 

[Giles]

The alternative to the licence fee is the nightmare known as US style TV. Imperfect as the BBC is I'd rather scrimp and save to pay my TV Licence than have free tv which is 120 channels of utter shite.

If they are going to have a state-funded broadcasting network, they should just lump the cost in with income tax.

It would be fairer, and it would save millions in terms of the whole collection and enforcement apparatus that exists solely to make people pay the TV licence.

Just think: All those millions of letters and reminders that get printed and posted, the enforcement officers, the "TV detector vans", the ad campaigns, the locking hapless people up for non-payment.

All of that just deleted at a stroke!

Giles..

 

[Kenny Vermouth]

You watch documetaries on SKY? What documentaries? Murdoch doesn't have them.

For example, I watched one about the infrastructure problems facing Mumbai this morning.

 

[nino_savatte]

For example, I watched one about the infrastructure problems facing Mumbai this morning.

Was that Sky or the "Weren't the Nazis awful" Channel? Sky doesn't really do in depth documentaries. If it does documentaries at all, they tend to be cheap sensationalist rubbish about sex or chavs.