BBC biased or incompetent?

Dinamho

"POGS I watch Politics Live every day (when it's on) with my lunch. The guests are always balanced."
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What's your point in addressing me?

I did not state Politics Live was not 'balanced'! I'm sorry if you read my comment in that way but I thought the context behind my post was clear, obviously not.

My post was making the point that naming only those on one side of the political divide has a mirror image to those on the other side of the Political divide.

I used as an example of my point by using the constant use of guests to counterbalance the faux argument the BBC only invites right wing guests such as Nigel Forage /Tim Weatherspoons, Bannon, Mark Francois in answer to a previous poster who felt the BBC favoured inviting only right wing guests.

I will however not be a hypocrite because Questionn Time, unlike Politics Live, does consistently have a panel of 5 and it is inevitably Co sists of 3/4 left 1/2 right. It should be more balanced like the Daily Politics programme which is fair and balanced as a rule.

varian

Your post of 07.30 is a load of generalised hogwash.

You are pigeonholing people into what You believe they live there lives by.

"Commentators like Andrew Neil, Nick Robinson, Laura Kuennsberg and John Humphries are all Conservatives and the relentless promotion of Farage and his ilk has been an utter disgrace."
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Do you know how the above vote? I have never noted any of the above ' Promote' Nigel Farage. Can you give a couple of examples. I think all 4 of the above actually ' give some stick' to those on the left and right of politics. It will depend on what is current news, the story, the interviewee..
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"It suits the right-wing press to condition their readers into regarding the BBC as left-wing as it does when they refer to Corbyn as a communist, and to ridicule what they term "politidal correctness"..

Ah the right wing press. The Left Wing press condition their readers. Social Media propaganda sites condition their readers. It is again your belief that 'everybody' who does not agree with you must by default therefore read the right wing press. It is a form of self - conceit and refuses to accept that others who do not agree with you have a brain and will read comments/articles etc. from left and right media sources to make their assessments. Not everybody is indoctrinated by their left/right wing political opinions and are more astute and diverse in their reading material and understand the left/right wing press, propaganda social media sites/blogs are doing their job, trying to form opinion.
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"No one could seriously regard the political stance of the BBC as left-wing unless they are comparing it with Fox News"
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Of course they can. The same as others would say you cannot seriously regard the political stance of the BBC as right-wing. It is in the eye of the beholder.

Right again POGS. I have Socialist friends who believe I’m to the right of Genghis Khan and right wing Tory pals who think I’m a right little Commie! They have to label and dismiss anyone who doesn’t agree with everything they believe in!

It’s sad isn’t Pantglas that when people don’t exactly mirror the view of the poster they are labelled hard right/facist or hard left/communist. This is very noticeable on Gransnet with the hard right/facist label. They feel the need to belittle those who don’t agree with them. It must make them feel better

Identifying certain BBC journalists as right wing is not just based on their performance as interviewers and commentators, but
on their past and present political affiliations and stated opinions.

For instance, Andrew Neil was the chairman of the Federation of Conservative students, worked for the Conservative party, promoted the right wing agenda of his employer Rupert Murdoch when he was editor of the Sunday Times and is currently the chairman of The Spectator magazine.

He recently attacked Carole Cadwalladr, the investigative journalist who exposed the dealings between Cambridge Analytica and the Leave campaign, calling her "Karol Kodswallop, the mad cat woman,,", which says more about him than it does about her.

varian

"Commentators like Andrew Neil, Nick Robinson, Laura Kuennsberg and John Humphries are all Conservatives and the relentless promotion of Farage and his ilk has been an utter disgrace."
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Where/when have they ' promoted' Nigel Farage?

You make a reasoned argument re Andrew Neil.

However I could have said I ' know ' Alistair Campbell, Baroness Betty Boothroyd et al would always vote for Labour because of their history but that would prove me wrong in stating ' I know' how they vote wouldn't it.

I have not witnessed Andrew Neil, Nick Robinson, Laura Kuennsberg and John Humphries ever ' Promote ' Nigel Farage as you state.

I have noted they make salient points to broaden the debate or use diverse angles to NOT appear bias but that is the art of a good interviewer. Some see that as ' sticking it to all of them left or right', others see it as bias because they don't like the hard questioning of their man/woman because it doesn't suit their politics and that again applies to left/right of politics.

Did you see Andrew Neil for example interview Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson? That was hardly a pro Conservative journalist giving his side an easy ride! He did his job and he did it without bias if he is a supposed Conservative voter.

Somewhat hypocritical I will say I find some interviewers bias when they are interviewing somebody they dislike either personally or politically but that is an opinion not a fact.
The 4 you state ' promote ' Nigel Farage ' are certainly not among them.

I do not put the blame for the relentless promotion of Farage by the BBC onto any or all of these right wing commentators.

During the years leading up to the fraudulent referendum of 2016, Farage appeared on Question Time, regarded as the BBC's 'flagship' political discussion programme, no less than 29 times. The only other MEP invited onto the QT panel over these years was the arch- brexiter Tory MEP, Daniel Hannan (who assured us all that no- one was talking about us leaving the single market).

No other MEP was ever invited onto the QT panel - no Conservative other than Hannan, no Labour, no Liberal Democrat, no Green or SNP. Not one MEP was able to speak up for our EU membership.

For more than twenty years the person responsible for selecting the QT audience was Alison Fuller Pedley, who was a member of UKIP.

Farage has not been relentlessly promoted by the BBC. That’s an opinion that you hold varian because you loathe Nigel Farage. I don’t like Alistair Campbell and he has been on the BBC quite often over the Brexit situation, but I would never say he has been relentlessly promoted by the BBC just because I don’t like him. Supporters of both sides of the argument have been given air time on the BBC.

How can anyone possibly excuse the BBC inviting Farage onto QT 29 times before the referendum . Hannan once and not inviting one single MEP from any other party?

varian Sun 04-Aug-19 11:41:38
"I do not put the blame for the relentless promotion of Farage by the BBC onto any or all of these right wing commentators."
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Excuse me. How on earth do you work that one out!

Why did you state:-

"Commentators like Andrew Neil, Nick Robinson, Laura Kuennsberg and John Humphries are all Conservatives and the relentless promotion of Farage and his ilk has been an utter disgrace."????

These are two separate things POGS. There is a right-wing bias amongst the political staff of the BBC and there has also been a relentless promotion of Farage and his ilk over many years.

I do not hold individual Tories on the staff responsible, but the ethos has been so pro-brexit, not just from the moment David Dimbleby announced "that's it, We're out" but for years before that.

varian Sun 04-Aug-19 14:30:25

"How can anyone possibly excuse the BBC inviting Farage onto QT 29 times before the referendum ."
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Before the referendum and dating back to to 2010?

Happy to be corrected.

"These are two separate things POGS."

How?

You have been extremely precise in what you say varian.

It is again your belief that 'everybody' who does not agree with you must by default therefore read the right wing press. It is a form of self - conceit and refuses to accept that others who do not agree with you have a brain and will read comments/articles etc. from left and right media sources to make their assessments. Not everybody is indoctrinated by their left/right wing political opinions.

Thanks for that POGS. Spot on.

The political bias of the BBC in particular is easy to discern. Along with Sky and Channel4 I have noted reporters giving us their views of the news. They are prone to give their opinions rather than report what happens and at times one or two have almost rejoiced in belittling Conservative politicians and Farage. They are biased in favour of Remain too, so add fuel to the Project Fear fire with every gloomy pronouncement and as much self-satisfied anti-Brexit spin as they can get away with.

Are you suggesting that the BBC had Farage on QT 29 times in the years before the referendum because they were pro-EU and thought Farage would turn voters against leaving the EU?

The figures speak for themselves
m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/question-time-ukip-nigel-farage_uk_58d95295e4b03787d35ae186

varian

"How can anyone possibly excuse the BBC inviting Farage onto QT 29 times before the referendum ."
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I am not 'suggesting' anything.

You gave the impression Farage had been on Question Time 29 times prior to the Referendum as though it were an advantage to promote the UKIP party and sway the referendum result.

I am reminding those who did not see the original Huffington Post article it was a number gained by delving back 6 years earlier to 2010.

It puts a different slant on things because using the referendum is a tad disengenuous as it was 6 years after the Huffington Post collected it's data.

Happy to be corrected.

This Huffington post reference,which I assume you mean, shows the excessive representation of Farage and UKIP over the years from 2010 onwards. It was published in 2017.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/question-time-ukip-nigel-farage_uk_58d95295e4b03787d35ae186

I hear an echo.

It was during the years leading up to the fraudulent referendum of 2016, particularly the years 2010 - 2016 that the constant promotion of liar Farage by the BBC had the most effect.

During these years not one pro-EU MEP was ever invited onto Question Time.

There were no Liberal Democrats (not even Sir Graham Watson, leader, then president of the ALDE, the large influential group of Liberals in the European Parliament, who is a brilliant speaker.)

There were no Greens.

There were no Labour MEPs.

There were no SNP or Plaid Cymru MEPS.

There were no Conservative MEPs apart from the brexiereemist Daniel Hannan who appeared once.

Just Farage, Farage and more Farage to make sure that everyone who ever watched QT got a dose of the Farage lies.

The Brexit Broadcasting Corporation does indeed have a lot to answer for.

Oh dear (sigh)

Echo, echo, echo.

The Brexit Broadcasting Corporation has on its website a handy guide to brexit jargon, eg

Withdrawal agreement
No deal Customs union
Political declaration
Backstop plan
Irish border

It's called "our guide to Brexit jargon" and suggests you enter the word or phrase you are looking for.

I entered "Revoke Article 50", but that drew a blank so I just entered "Revoke" and yet again I got-

Search
No terms found.


www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49427007

Boris Johnson is a “known liar” who is copying Vladimir Putin’s approach to the media, according to Channel 4’s head of news and current affairs, who called on broadcasters to aggressively challenge the prime minister’s falsehoods.

Dorothy Byrne said Johnson’s shift towards publishing his own videos on Facebook rather than giving sit-down interviews to journalists reminded her of the Russian president, “who also likes to talk directly to the nation”.

She also said television producers should be more willing to directly accuse political leaders of lying. “If we continue to be so polite, how will our viewers know that politicians are lying?” Byrne asked.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/21/boris-johnson-media-strategy-vladimir-putin-channel-4-news-chief-dorothy-byrne

You can listen to Dorothy Byrne's witty and hard-hitting MacTaggart Lecture here-

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XIEFKEw4co

(She describes herself as the first "old lady" to be invited to deliver the prestigious lecture at the Edinburgh Festival. She doesn't look that old to me!)