The sorry facts which show the BBC has moved beyond bias, into pure propaganda

[mani1]

The BBC and its political editor Laura Kuenssberg are under fire this week, following local election coverage which has been dismissed as nothing short of propaganda by people across the country. But how did we get here?

Who runs the BBC?

The current abysmal state of BBC News and Politics makes much more sense when you see who has been appointed to plot its editorial course.

The BBC Trust is responsible for granting licenses to all BBC outlets and stations, managing value for money on licence fee payments and ‘the direction of BBC editorial and creative output’. The Trust consists of 12 Trustees and is headed by Rona Fairhead – who also happens to have been a longtime board member of HSBC bank.

As The Canary’s James Wright reported earlier this year:

Fairhead has entrenched ties to the Tory government. In fact, she and Osborne are old friends. Fairhead worked for the Conservative government as a cabinet office member, until being appointed by the previous Conservative culture secretary – Sajid Javid – as the new head of the BBC Trust. She is still business ambassador for David Cameron.

Fairhead has also sat on the board of HSBC directors for a long time. And what is even more shocking than her other Conservative links are claims that she was actually appointed chairwoman of the BBC Trust to keep a lid on Cameron’s involvement in covering up a £1bn fraudulent HSBC scam on British shoppers. Whistle-blower Nicholas Wilson made various freedom of information requests that confirmed that Fairhead’s appointment did not follow proper procedure. She was rushed to the position after the application date closed, with no mention of her on any contemporary media shortlist.

Her appointment does not coincide with the normal process, and many questioned why a business tycoon was right for the job. What it did coincide with was a string of interconnected visits from the BBC, HSBC, the Houses of Parliament and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to Wilson’s website where he details the scam and the FCA and Cameron’s involvement in covering it up.


http://www.thecanary.co/2016/05/06/...bbc-has-moved-beyond-bias-to-pure-propaganda/

 

[s28]

It's incredible how the BBC the State broadcaster has become Tory propaganda vehicle

All of the top people at BBC are now blatant Zionists or Tories and don't feel any need to disguise the fact.

 

[s28]

Petition calling for sacking of BBC Tory Laura Kuennsberg

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sack-laura-kuenssberg?bucket=&source=twitter-share-button

 

[Jadz]

Unfortunate that people cannot refuse to pay the license fee - we are literally paying to be lied to, or manipulated.

 

[street cricketer]

The same biritish media was hailed as the paragon of truth on these boards a few months ago.

 

[Junaids]

I think that the BBC is the greatest cultural item in world history.

Governments always try to knobble it politically. But still the product is unbelievably good and amazingly even-handed.

 

[Usman]

The BBC is usually blasted for its left wing bias - it can't win!

 

[chacha kashmiri]

No one can deny the Zionist link to the bbc from the controllers to the directors

They're also very hegemony in the cultural imperialism they broadcast throughout the world

 

[Robert]

I think that the BBC is the greatest cultural item in world history.

Governments always try to knobble it politically. But still the product is unbelievably good and amazingly even-handed.

Sure. Though the Corporation has usually held a leftist bias, if anything. That's why Thatcher wanted rid of it.

 

[Markhor]

Sure. Though the Corporation has usually held a leftist bias, if anything. That's why Thatcher wanted rid of it.

Socially liberal bias I'd say. The continual right-wing browbeating of the BBC is tiresome, they still do good investigative journalism and I'd much rather pay a license fee so that the BBC is accountable to the public than commercial pressures.

One only has to look across the Atlantic and how mainstream media outlets have become servile to corporate interests and sponsors who bankroll them.

 

[s28]

 

[s28]

 

[s28]

 

[s28]

Lots of Establishment figures came out and said don't be silly the BBC aren't biased...

then a former BBC Chairman admitted it

oops

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sir Michael Lyons: Understands why people worried if senior BBC editorial voices have lost their impartiality <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wato?src=hash">#wato</a> <a href="https://t.co/N9bVieDHRb">pic.twitter.com/N9bVieDHRb</a></p>— The World at One (@BBCWorldatOne) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCWorldatOne/status/730731793360523264">12 May 2016</a></blockquote>
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[s28]

Finally BBC admit that Laura Kuenssberg purveys biased fake news

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...-inaccurate-labour?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet

 

[Robert]

Finally BBC admit that Laura Kuenssberg purveys biased fake news

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...-inaccurate-labour?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet

There is a difference between bias and fake news. Bias is putting a political slant on things that actually happened. Fake News is making stuff up.

The BBC Trust said there was no evidence of bias, and that the Kuenssberg news report was completed in good faith. The BBC Trust said the report was inaccurate.

You have therefore put your own bias on your report of the BBC Trust ruling.

I would argue that much of the Corporation is desperate for Labour to win power again, which is impossible while Mr Corbyn remains Leader, so they want him to go. I disagree with some of their tactics. There was a political reporting programme which lampooned him, which looked to me like political satire such as The Day Today. That was out of order.

It is possible that the BBC is frit, after years of attacks from the Tories.

 

[s28]

I've never known there to be petitions calling for BBC journalists to be sacked before certainly not ones supported by tens of thousands

BBC has jumped the shark

 

[Robert]

and stop lying about the BBC being attacked by Tories it is run by Tories

Every time you start losing, you sling the mud. You do not argue the points, you discredit the source, like Trump. I expect an apology from you for that. I tell the truth, as I see it. I am fair - see my citicism of the Beeb for that reportage on Corbyn.

Here the Indi says that the BBC is facing threats from Government to become more right wing else its fiunding will be cut. That was three years ago.

Interesting to read that Labour did it too. Every Govenment puts pressure on the Beeb. But is is funded publically and that is why we must keep it, else we will have Sky, CNN and so on, which are driven by corporate interests.

 

[s28]

 

[Robert]

Waiting for the apology for calling me a liar @s28.

 

[Slog]

BBC is too liberal and an apologists for immigrants unwilling to assimilate is the feel I get

 

[shaz619]

I think that the BBC is the greatest cultural item in world history.

Governments always try to knobble it politically. But still the product is unbelievably good and amazingly even-handed.

I agree with this point, their programming beyond the news reporting is incredible! be it TV shows, documentaries or sport they are excellent; there has been a surge in them improving the quality of their content thanks to the likes of netflix and amazon which is awesome. I love competition, it just makes everything so much better.

 

[s28]

Wise words from Garry Kasparov

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.</p>— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/808750564284702720">13 December 2016</a></blockquote>
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[PakLFC]

I think the BBC is okay. It gives plenty of time for everyone to express their views. Ultimately, they have to do what is best for the country.

 

[s28]

BBC is just disgusting

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is an awful, awful headline <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCNews">@BBCNews</a> - simply inviting abuse towards a woman who has said she's suffered a vile torrent of it already <a href="https://t.co/qg4cIpzZ2r">https://t.co/qg4cIpzZ2r</a></p>— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) <a href="https://twitter.com/HumzaYousaf/status/824365172093517824">25 January 2017</a></blockquote>
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[Robert]

A thought strikes me. The Beeb want an effective Opposition to the Tories. When Corbyn goes, the nation might get one again.

 

[imrankhannsu]

The BBC in the recent years are going like ITV and Fox. Doing things for ratings IMO and not doing what it used to stand for in the past to act as a source of reliable and intelligent broadcasting

 

[Robert]

The BBC in the recent years are going like ITV and Fox. Doing things for ratings IMO and not doing what it used to stand for in the past to act as a source of reliable and intelligent broadcasting

I think this is fair.

 

[the Great Khan]

the Beeb has always been a typical state tv service wrapped in the garb of partiality and good old british values.whatever the hell they are. Its a myth.

they chair lead the iraq war by simply avoiding to ask questions where it was required, they then were forced into a meek apology after by the Blair govt when they rightly tried to break free of the shackles with a report on the dodgy dossier. They were a disrgace when innocent people were being bombed in the various ops in gaza so much so that tony Benn had to intervene to get a humanitarian message out on their airwaves.

They have helped villify the Muslim community by the way they have reported issues e.g the Trojan horse hoax setup. Its a vile organisation that is no different to any other state run media propaganda arm. It just does a better job of hiding it and the british are good at hiding their true intentions.

They are totally anti pakistan, if anyone on this forum can find a positive story about Pakistan on any Bbc MEedia platform well Id be happily surprised. They are anti muslim and anti islamic, a good example is the fact they ahve given people like Steve yaxley lennon a platform to air his hate without much of a challenge. They continue to bring anti muslim "experts" from the henry jackson society who are rabid islamaphobes that again have elarnt the art of masking their true intentions. vile org..i feel sullied that i have to pay them a licence fee...I hope God swt can forgive for this..disgraceful.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

the Beeb has always been a typical state tv service wrapped in the garb of partiality and good old british values.whatever the hell they are. Its a myth.

they chair lead the iraq war by simply avoiding to ask questions where it was required, they then were forced into a meek apology after by the Blair govt when they rightly tried to break free of the shackles with a report on the dodgy dossier. They were a disrgace when innocent people were being bombed in the various ops in gaza so much so that tony Benn had to intervene to get a humanitarian message out on their airwaves.

They have helped villify the Muslim community by the way they have reported issues e.g the Trojan horse hoax setup. Its a vile organisation that is no different to any other state run media propaganda arm. It just does a better job of hiding it and the british are good at hiding their true intentions.

They are totally anti pakistan, if anyone on this forum can find a positive story about Pakistan on any Bbc MEedia platform well Id be happily surprised. They are anti muslim and anti islamic, a good example is the fact they ahve given people like Steve yaxley lennon a platform to air his hate without much of a challenge. They continue to bring anti muslim "experts" from the henry jackson society who are rabid islamaphobes that again have elarnt the art of masking their true intentions. vile org..i feel sullied that i have to pay them a licence fee...I hope God swt can forgive for this..disgraceful.

Maybe that's a reaction to previous accusations that the BEEB was too fair and impartial. It is after all a state funded vehicle for news, and I can remember a few years ago there used to be news editorials foaming at the mouth that the BEEB wasn't representing the views of the licence payers.

People want a British news service that reflects their views sometimes, rather than an impartial objective stance.

 

[shaz619]

It felt like -4 degrees outside but BBC weather reported that it was -1 ! Absolutely unacceptable!

 

[James]

Laura K getting a lot of press this evening (of all varieties), for strongly attacking Trump with a challenging question at the Special Relationship press conference.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I agree with this point, their programming beyond the news reporting is incredible! be it TV shows, documentaries or sport they are excellent; there has been a surge in them improving the quality of their content thanks to the likes of netflix and amazon which is awesome. I love competition, it just makes everything so much better.

I'm against being forced to pay for anything but as you mention the quality of programming is above all others. I'm happy just to pay for David Attenborough's salary. The news category is awful, no impartiality and for the last decade has been pro-Zionist.

 

[Markhor]

Surprised at TGK's vitriol. BBC is neither here nor there. It has become exceptionally bland and lags behind the likes of Al Jazeera in terms of investigative journalism and engaging programming.

I haven't noticed them being anti-Pakistan as they hardly ever mention Pakistan-related stories on TV. There is little focus on foreign affairs (with the exception of Trump) generally, even Sky do more international news.

However to compare them to Fox is unfair. Fox are in the entertainment business and don't qualify as serious news.

 

[Markhor]

Question Time definitely has a right wing bias. I've stopped watching now as it makes me far too angry at night.

The audiences are often completely uninformed.

And for heaven's sake, can someone pension off David Dimbleby. If ever there was a man who exemplifies the Oxbridge old boys club. His sneering especially towards left wing panellists and unnecessary interjections makes the show unwatchable.

 

[shaz619]

I'm against being forced to pay for anything but as you mention the quality of programming is above all others. I'm happy just to pay for David Attenborough's salary. The news category is awful, no impartiality and for the last decade has been pro-Zionist.

Their news programming has declined a fair amount but they have not reached the point of absolute bigotry, to be honest I only read the Brum Mail to see what you guys get up to while am away and I absolutely enjoy watching BBC Parliament channel the house of commons is by one of the greatest comedy shows of all time

 

[90MPH]

BBC has definitely declined as a investigative, independent and neutral news organisation.

However I don't think it's as bad as some are saying. Certainly not as awful as Fox News. It's also still better than CNN.

Newsnight is a decent programme that I always watch daily for a good analysis of the days news.

 

[s28]

The bias is incredible and then you have on This Week straight after right wing Tory Andrew Neil talking to former Tory minister Portillo and a rep for the Labour Right (Alan Johnson or Liz Kendall )

Question Time definitely has a right wing bias. I've stopped watching now as it makes me far too angry at night.

The audiences are often completely uninformed.

And for heaven's sake, can someone pension off David Dimbleby. If ever there was a man who exemplifies the Oxbridge old boys club. His sneering especially towards left wing panellists and unnecessary interjections makes the show unwatchable.

 

[Robert]

Laura K getting a lot of press this evening (of all varieties), for strongly attacking Trump with a challenging question at the Special Relationship press conference.

Yep. In my opinion she should have gone harder. American journos are too deferential - I would love to see Paxman go after Trump. The Right voters on Twitter are going nuts. I say good for Laura. Now do the same to Erdogan!

 

[MenInG]

The BBC is objecting to a new label describing it as "government funded media" on its main Twitter account.

The corporation has contacted the social media giant over the designation on the @BBC account to resolve the issue "as soon as possible".

"The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee," it said.

Elon Musk said he believed the BBC was one of the "least biased" outlets.

When BBC News highlighted to the Twitter boss that the corporation was licence fee-funded, Mr Musk responded in an email, asking: "Is the Twitter label accurate?"

He also appeared to suggest he was considering providing a label that would link to "exact funding sources".

It is not clear whether this would apply to other media outlets too.

In a separate email seeking to clarify his earlier comments, Mr Musk wrote: "We are aiming for maximum transparency and accuracy. Linking to ownership and source of funds probably makes sense. I do think media organizations should be self-aware and not falsely claim the complete absence of bias.

"All organizations have bias, some obviously much more than others. I should note that I follow BBC News on Twitter, because I think it is among the least biased."

The level of the £159 ($197) annual licence fee - which is required by law to watch live TV broadcasts or live streaming in the UK - is set by the government, but paid for by individual UK households.

While the @BBC account, which has 2.2m followers, has been given the label, much larger accounts associated with the BBC's news and sport output are not currently being described in the same way.

The account primarily shares updates about BBC-produced TV programmes, radio shows, podcasts and other non-news material.

The label links through to a page on Twitter's help website which says "state-affiliated media accounts" are defined as "outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution".

As the UK's national broadcaster, the BBC operates through a Royal Charter agreed with the government.

The BBC Charter states the corporation "must be independent", particularly over "editorial and creative decisions, the times and manner in which its output and services are supplied, and in the management of its affairs".

Twitter's new labelling of the BBC's account comes after it did the same to US public broadcaster NPR's handle.

Initially the social media firm described NPR as "state-affiliated media" - a label given to outlets including Russia's RT and China's Xinhua News.

The designation was later changed to the same "government funded media" tag now applied to the @BBC account. NPR had said it would stop tweeting from the account unless it was amended.

The licence fee raised £3.8bn ($4.7bn) in 2022 for the BBC, accounting for about 71% of the BBC's total income of £5.3bn - with the rest coming from its commercial and other activities like grants, royalties and rental income.

The BBC also receives more than £90m per year from the government to support the BBC World Service, which predominantly serves non-UK audiences.

The national broadcaster's output is also paid for through the work of commercial subsidiaries like BBC Studios, as well as through advertising on services offered to audiences outside of the UK

By law, each household in the UK has to pay the licence fee (with some exemptions) if they:

watch or record programmes as they're being shown on any TV channel
watch or stream programmes live on any online TV service - for instance, All 4, YouTube, or Amazon Prime Video
download or watch any BBC programmes on BBC iPlayer
Collection of the the licence fee and enforcement of non-payment is carried out by private companies contracted by the corporation, not the UK government.

TV licence evasion itself is not an imprisonable offence. However, non-payment of a fine, following a criminal conviction, could lead to a risk of imprisonment - "a last resort" after other methods of enforcement have failed.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65226481

 

[MenInG]

BBC chairman Richard Sharp has resigned after a report found he did not disclose potential perceived conflicts of interest during his appointment.

It looked at whether he was transparent about his role in the facilitation of a loan to Boris Johnson.

Mr Sharp apologised, saying he did not want to be a distraction for the BBC.

The chairman, who was appointed by the then prime minister, has been under pressure to quit since claims about his involvement emerged in January.

They prompted an investigation led by barrister Adam Heppinstall which was published on Friday.

The report found that he had failed to disclose two potential perceived conflicts of interest: first, by telling Mr Johnson he wanted to apply for the BBC role before doing so; and second, by telling the PM he intended to set up a meeting between Mr Blyth and Mr Case.

It notes that Mr Sharp does not accept the first conclusion, but he has apologised for the second.

Mr Sharp called the breach of public appointment rules "inadvertent and not material".

He has previously accepted that he arranged a meeting between the country's most senior civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, and Sam Blyth, a distant cousin of Mr Johnson who had offered to provide financial assistance to the then PM in late 2020.

At the time of that meeting, Mr Sharp, an ex-investment banker and Conservative Party donor, had already applied for the senior BBC job.

The investigation was set up by the Commissioner of Public Appointments to investigate claims which first appeared in the Sunday Times.

The report found "there is a risk of a perception that Mr Sharp was recommended for appointment" because he sought to assist the PM in a private financial matter "and/or that he influenced the former Prime Minister to recommend him by informing him of his application before he submitted it".

The report did not make a judgement "on whether Mr Sharp had any intention of seeking to influence the former Prime Minister in this manner".

Mr Sharp has previously insisted he believed flagging his BBC application with Mr Case and agreeing to have no further involvement in any loan discussions resolved any conflict of interest issues, and therefore they did not need to be further disclosed - but the report disagreed with his position.

It also said the breach did not necessarily invalidate his appointment, but Mr Sharp said he was quitting in order to "prioritise the interests of the BBC".

Mr Sharp said he did not play "any part whatsoever in the facilitation, arrangement, or financing of a loan for the former prime minister".

But he said with hindsight he should have disclosed his role in setting up a meeting between Mr Case and Mr Blyth to the appointments panel during the scrutiny process ahead of him taking up the senior role.

He said not doing so was an "oversight" and apologised for it.

BBC

 

[MenInG]

In the face of a fierce backlash, The Guardian has apologised and removed Martin Rowson's drawing posted on its website as it "did not meet our editorial standards".

Also apologising, Mr Rowson said through "carelessness and thoughtlessness I screwed up pretty badly".

Critics argued the depiction of Mr Sharp, who is Jewish, would not have looked out of place in Nazi-era propaganda sheets.

The row comes after Mr Sharp resigned from the top BBC job on Friday after being found to have broken the rules by failing to disclose he played a role in getting the then prime minister Boris Johnson an £800,000 loan guarantee.

The cartoon showed a heavily-featured Mr Sharp departing with a box marked Goldman Sachs, the investment bank where he used to work, containing a squid and what appears to be a puppet of Rishi Sunak.

The Jewish "puppet master", secretly controlling the economic and political world order, has been a long-standing narrative and antisemitic trope used by conspiracy theorists.

Next to Mr Sharp, sitting on a pile of dung is a naked Mr Johnson, shouting to him: "Cheer up matey. I put you down for a peerage in my resignation honours list."

Author Dave Rich, who has written on antisemitism, wrote on Twitter the cartoon "falls squarely into an antisemitic tradition of depicting Jews with outsized, grotesque features, often in conjunction with money and power".

He pointed out such caricatures had been used by both the Nazis and in the Soviet Union.

Highlighting the symbolism within the cartoon, on the squid, Mr Rich said: "Yes, Sharp worked for Goldman Sachs, which was famously described in @RollingStone as 'a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money'".

SKY