BBC has spent nearly £100m on 6 Music and Asian Network - Guardian

BBC has spent nearly £100m on 6 Music and Asian Network: "

Spending totals over lives of the two threatened digital stations are £39.9m for 6 Music and £56.8 for Asian Network

The BBC has spent nearly £100m on the two digital radio stations it is proposing to close, BBC 6 Music and the Asian Network.

Spending on 6 Music peaked in 2008/09, the last financial period for which figures are available, with an annual cost of £9m, including £6.5m on content, £2.1m on infrastructure and support and £400,000 on distribution, according to the BBC annual report.

The Asian Network cost £12.1m over the same period, including £9.2m on programmes and other content, down from the high of £13m the BBC spent on it in 2007/08, which included £10.1m on content.

In total, the corporation has spent £39.9m on 6 Music and £56.8m on the Asian Network since 2002, when the two stations were launched on the BBC's national digital audio broadcasting (DAB) multiplex, a total of £96.7m.

6 Music's listenership has grown over the eight-year period, albeit slowly, to a record 695,000 listeners in the final three months of last year.

But the Asian Network's audience at the end of 2009 – a weekly reach of just 360,000 listeners – was its lowest since the end of 2002.

The Asian service peaked with 535,000 listeners at the end of 2004, before falling back in the following quarter and remaining largely static for the next three years, before peaking again with another 535,000 listeners at the beginning of 2008.

Since then its audience suffered another slump, despite a brief blip in the middle of 2009.

Questioned about spending on the two networks by Jeremy Paxman on BBC2's Newsnight on Tuesday, Thompson declined to put a figure on the amount of money the BBC had spent on the two stations.

'All of these services have worked for audiences,' he told Paxman. 'I don't believe any significant money was wasted.'

The proposed closure of the two stations is part of a wide-ranging strategy review by Thompson aimed at freeing up £600m to reinvest in high quality content.

Other proposals include shutting half of the BBC's web pages, cutting spending on foreign shows such as Mad Men, capping investment on sports rights and potentially selling off BBC magazines such as Top Gear.

The BBC committed to spending at least 90% of its licence fee income on 'high quality content and distribution by 2013'.

The proposals are now the subject of a 12-week public consultation by the Trust. Supporters of 6 Music have been urging listeners to make their feelings known to the Trust, whose chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, said it would 'take account' of any 'massive public concern' over the plans.

6 Music will be shut by the end of 2011, according to Thompson's review, while the Asian network will be replaced by a number of regional radio services.

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• 6 Music
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John Plunkett

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"

EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: BBC's Mark Thompson takes his Jeremy Paxman punishment

EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: BBC's Mark Thompson takes his Jeremy Paxman punishment: "
Was there a hint of personal animus in Jeremy Paxman's Newsnight interview with the BBC's Director General, Mark Thompson?"

Is BBC 6 Music actually worth saving? - The Independent

Is BBC 6 Music actually worth saving?: "

I have listened to BBC 6 Music a fair amount over the last eight years and enjoyed the programmes hosted by talented, natural broadcasters like Gideon Coe, Stuart Maconie and Marc Riley, and raconteurs such as Elbow frontman Guy Garvey, Huey Morgan of Fun Lovin' Criminals and, more recently, Jarvis Cocker. But I also cringed when listening to the hapless Jane Gazzo and turned off completely during the dreaded George Lamb's tenure as a 'female-friendly' chatterbox. Somehow, the station never felt distinctive enough to induce much loyalty on my part. I also knew too much about the way 6 Music was run.

"

BBC's new look may never reach our screens - Telegraph

BBC's new look may never reach our screens: "It's easy to catch the headlines, but BBC's new look may never reach our
screens
."

Will the BBC shake-up silence critics? - Telegraph

Will the BBC shake-up silence critics?: "More British programmes, more quality and more chances for struggling rivals
are promised to offer a vibrant alternative."

Radio 2 listeners praise Chris Evans' replacement on BBC breakfast show - Telegraph

Radio 2 listeners praise Chris Evans' replacement on BBC breakfast show: "Listeners to Radio 2 have flooded internet message boards to state their
preference for Chris Evans' less famous stand in."

SNP members to boycott BBC licence fee - Telegraph

SNP members to boycott BBC licence fee: "The row over Alex Salmond's exclusion from a series of televised general
election debates has escalated dramatically after it emerged SNP supporters
are threatening a boycott of the BBC licence fee."

BBC logs 300 disciplinary cases including bullying and drug abuse - Telegraph

BBC logs 300 disciplinary cases including bullying and drug abuse: "The BBC has logged more than 300 staff disciplinary cases, including
accusations of bullying, theft, and drug abuse, in four years, it has been
disclosed."

There is a little worth saving at the BBC - Telegraph

There is a little worth saving at the BBC: "A drastically reduced BBC would eliminate much of the Leftist influence that
dominates it, write Simon Heffer."

BBC handed celebrities free tickets to top sporting events - Daily Mail

BBC handed celebrities free tickets to top sporting events: "
Lily Allen (pictured wearing a beer hat at The Oval) was among a group of high-earning stars given hundreds of highly sought-after and expensive tickets."

BBC producer who secretly filmed himself in bed with TV and radio presenters is jailed - Daily Mail

BBC producer who secretly filmed himself in bed with TV and radio presenters is jailed: "
Benjamin Wilkins used a camera hidden in a smoke alarm to tape his sexual encounters with a succession of women that he lured back to his flat."

Opposing the digital pogrom - CiF Watch

Opposing the digital pogrom: "

This is a cross-post by Daniel Seaman from an op-ed published yesterday in the Jerusalem Post

Last week, the Foreign Press Association in Israel circulated an e-mail to its members containing a Reuters article entitled “Foreign reporting depicted as stupid and condescending.” The article related to the Ministry for Public Diplomacy’s campaign calling on Israelis to counter anti-Israel prejudice, and complained that the foreign press was personally offended by the videos on the Web site www.masbirim.gov.il.

Surely not, I hear you say. Those foreign journalists – who daily dish out an unhealthy helping of material critical of Israel, denouncing its democratically elected government’s policies, and some accusing its defense forces of war crimes – should certainly be able to take a bit of criticism directed at them.

In all honesty, the videos were in no way meant to offend the press, who I am quite certain are able to recognize satire when they see it. Yet, when they paint a picture so different from the reality in the eyes of Israelis, and with such little regard for their point of view, what do they expect?

Being depicted as “stupid and condescending” as the Reuters article suggests, is not the nicest of punches, but it certainly beats being portrayed as baby eaters, Nazis and ethnic cleansers, as some in the international media has often inferred. Similarly, what of the “gullible European audiences” the article insists are inherent to the sketch? Is the press really decrying the suggestion that they influence those back home to whom they speak?

It is no coincidence that in countries where the media are most hostile to Israel, there is greater anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment in public discourse. Moreover, this becomes even more incongruous when placed in that all-important missing factor – context. The foreign media complain of being offended by Israeli government satire, yet there is a deafening silence on the coercion, threats and violence they face from the Palestinians, especially in Gaza.

It is this lack of context, this blatant disregard for the realities of living in the Middle East, that earns the foreign press the perception of being simplistic and monochromatic.

Why are headlines of war crimes and editorials on UN resolutions run-of the-mill during Israel’s military operations to defend its citizens, yet when other countries’ forces unintentionally kill civilians it is a case of “apology accepted”? The reality of war is brutal anywhere – so why does the media adopt such vastly different approaches?

SADLY, THE issue runs much deeper. Israel today faces an onslaught of propaganda aimed at delegitimizing it. This week is bring “celebrated” as Israeli Apartheid Week on campuses worldwide, spreading lies and slander, promoting incitement and hatred. The media is a key tool – if not a willing accomplice – to this strategy. The manipulation of the rhetoric by human rights groups is all too often typeset in the media, and thus chiseled into history. Massacres are proclaimed where there have been none; terrorists hidden behind civilians remain hidden from the public eye.

These myths become widespread on the blogosphere, with groups on Facebook, threads on Twitter and countless videos on YouTube forming the basis of a digital pogrom against the Jewish narrative, whereby social media and on-line networking are employed to make the demonization of Israel part and parcel of mainstream discourse.

Hence the very purpose of the Masbirim campaign – to open up channels of communication. To overcome the mainstream media’s often one-dimensional approach. To answer those who seek to silence Israel’s narrative with boycotts and arrest warrants. To counter the allegations of those who falsely accuse Israel of breaching international law.

THE JERUSALEM Post’s Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz, when addressing a meeting in Jerusalem last week, noted that two areas where the issue of boycotting has been most prevalent have been journalism and academia – the two most essential channels of communication and understanding.

Even the most senior journalists are now attacked for being part of Israel’s daily existence or even for simply being Jewish; the harassment of New York Times bureau chief in Israel Ethan Bronner being the most notable, yet not the only, such incident.

This isolation and demonization of Israel as a pariah state or an international outlaw reflects a concerted effort to cast it as being beyond the pale. As the echoes of the past color the dark shadows of the future, we see an attempt to cast the Jewish people into a “virtual” ghetto, ethnically cleansing the Jewish narrative from the legitimate international debate on the Middle East.

This process of delegitimization is an affront to freedom of speech and freedom of the press – fundamental rights in a democracy.

Zionism itself was conceived by a journalist who looked at the world around him and saw that without a new reality, Jews would no longer be able to speak out.

Today Israel has a free press; the government provides services and accreditation for the foreign media – even those who choose to report in the most biased and slanted manner. There are, of course, journalists who carry out their duties in a fully professional way. They give due consideration to both the Israeli and the Palestinian argument, and inform their public accordingly.

However if there are those in the media who feel they are perceived as simplistic or inaccurate, then I would urge them to consider that there is another side to the story; perhaps Israel, as well as their own readers, viewers and listeners, deserves a more accurate contextualized picture of reality.

Otherwise, the historically most enlightened of professions risks being party to the reemergence of humankind’s darkest hatred.

The writer is director of the Israeli Government Press Office.

Tagged: Daniel Seaman "

QUESTION TIME FOR BEGINNERS..! - Biased BBC

QUESTION TIME FOR BEGINNERS..!: "Did anyone catch children's Question Time on BBC 3? A biased BBC reader writes...



'First of all, I've not watched the whole of this (too painful), but from watching a fair chunk of it, it seems like a propaganda excercise for the Labour Party. As usual, the 'impartial' BBC was far from impartial... the panel consisted of...


- David Lammy MP (Labour party)
- Jeremy Hunt MP (Conservative party)
- Julia Goldsworthy MP (Lib dems, i.e.the Labour Party in yellow)
- Rory Bremner (presumably there to add some 'balance'? but renowned Lefty)
- Tim Campbell (works for Alan Sugar who is a massive supporter of the Labour party and has made many donations to them)
- Jamelia (if you listened to her comments, she is clearly pro-Labour)

... so as you can see HEAVY bias towards the Labour party.

Didn't appreciate the (racist?) anti-white comments from David Lammy when he said:
'Parliament is full of old white people'

The most important fact to remember though is that the BBC will stop at nothing to push their socialist-communist propaganda forward even to steep as low as brainwashing young kids.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

SYBILS OF THE MET... - Biased BBC

SYBILS OF THE MET...: "The BBC slavishly reports the findings of the Met Office, even though it is headed by a climate change activist, and even though - with funding of £243m from the government to carry on its climate change mission - its forecasts are totally unreliable, its measurements systems highly questionable, and its overall credentials are totally shot. So the latest report from this august body (published, naturally, by the BBC, its house PR agency, before appearing on its own website), that recent research papers confirm increased man-made warming, is elevated to reverential headline status. No one at the BBC ever seems to even begin to question why it is so partisan; its utterances are treated as sacred, like the Delphic oracle was to Athens.

Thank god, then for people like Richard North, of EU Referendum. From his Bradford semi, he's been toiling and chipping away, working out how much our so-called government is spending on climate change 'research' - those confections that the Met Office seems to think are real evidence rather than agitprop. In a cracking posting today, he points out that in the US, to date, at least $89bn has been spent on climate change measures and hot air; here, by just scratching the surface (as he puts it), he's found that no less than around £500m has been spent purely on funding research projects. And surprise, surprise; they don't bite the hand that feeds them.

Chances of the BBC uttering a word about this national scandal of our money being tipped on to the climate change gravy train? Zero. Yet the research involved from the Sybils of the Met has about as much credibility as that of a paper on human biology by Mengele.

Update:Fascinating post from Joe Bastardi of Accuweather (definitely NOT in the sway of government grants)here about why the Met office gets it wrong every time...

***Update: The Met office throws in the towel and admits it can't see three months in advance with any certainty. But still, it - and its press officers, the BBC - claim to be right about what will happen fifty years hence.

*****Update: For the sort of debunking of Met office hot air that BBC journalists ought to be pursuing - instead of pushing their propaganda - take a look at this. I quote from the conclusion:

So the work of the Met Office is just about propaganda. It's not science. It's about their attempts to intimidate people by suggesting that there are hundreds of people who may disagree with you if you disagree with AGW. But none of them actually has any argument that would be ready for a detailed promotion in isolation. It's only the quantity, the brute force of the people who have a vested interest for the panic to continue.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

POOR LITTLE RICH KID.... - Biased BBC

POOR LITTLE RICH KID....: "When a spoiled little rich kid called David de Rothschild decides to blow millions on world-saving fantasies , the BBC immediately elevate him to being an 'eco-warrior' and devote acres of web space to what amounts to hero-worship. Dear David - whose banking ancestors helped fund Britain's great industrial expansion - has seeemingly spent his life on a guilt-trip drawing attention to the follies of the West, and of course, in the BBC's eyes, that makes him a candidate for sainthood. Especially as his main activity is listed as Adventure Ecology, a fanatical 'expedition group' raising awareness about climate change.

Our Dave's philosopy, uncannily like the BBC 's, is outlined on one of his websites, this one about his failed mission to traverse the Arctic in 2006:

'Now that I’m back at home safely it’s crystal clear in my mind what I left behind is a rapidly dying ecosystem. Over the last 100 days I’ve had the unique privilege to call the Arctic Ocean my home. This opportunity has given me a first hand glimpse at the truly devastating effects of global warming and climate change. It's fair to say that most eco systems are usually very capable of maintaining themselves but like everything in life there is always a breaking point when you push things too far, the same applies to the Arctic.

'Prior to this expedition I don't think I had truly grasped the sensitivity of our climate systems. The bottom line is they are littered with a multitude of tipping points and feedback loops which when crossed replace the so called 'slow creep' of environmental decay with a sudden and self perpetuating collapse.'

With a grasp of science like that, no wonder the BBC thinks he's a true eco-warrior!

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

THOSE INVISIBLE WILDERS GAINS.. - Biased BBC

THOSE INVISIBLE WILDERS GAINS..: "Must have been some sort of oversight but the BBC seems oddly subdued about the fantastic gains Geert Wilders has made in the local elections in the Netherlands. One might have thought this merited some prime time discussion ahead of weighty topics such as "political protest songs" but apparently not. Ah well - the BBC has tough editorial decisions to make all the time.....

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

HAIL TO THE CHIEF - Biased BBC

HAIL TO THE CHIEF: "

Concerning BBC coverage of South Africa's Jacob Zuma.

BBC world affairs correspondent Peter Biles says Mr Zuma - a polygamist who has married at least five times - is renowned for his charm.

So, here is the 'charming' Zuma sharing some of his thoughts on Blighty in the Indie....

'I am very clear on these issues,' he said. 'I've not looked down upon any culture of anyone, and no one has been given an authority to judge others. The British have done that before, as they colonised us, and they continue to do this, and it's an unfortunate thing.'

The BBC seemed curiously reticent to explore Zuma's political personality in any depth, but perhaps like Peter Biles they were just simply charmed off their feet?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

THE FALLUJAH HORROR - Biased BBC

THE FALLUJAH HORROR: "I see the BBC has opened up a new front in Iraq by claiming that those bad Americans are responsible for a rise in the number of birth defects amongst the children born in Fallujah. Yes, John Simpson has been spearheading this investigation and we all know John is a very unbiased kind of guy. This is a great story that the BBC has created since it will then disseminate these unfounded allegations until they become presented as being fact. I look forward to future questions of Question Time when learned members of the audience shout out 'What about the Fallujah deformities.' The BBC - always keen to attack US Armed forces.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE - Biased BBC

ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE: "I'm just hoping that the BBC will afford Lady Thatcher the same warmth of tribute as that afforded to Michael Foot, who, as you know, has passed away aged 96. Today has been running a series of tributes to him this morning and whilst I fully understand that it is civilised to not speak ill of the dead, I look forward to the same standard being applied to the former Conservative leader when that sad moment arrives. That would be fair, wouldn't it?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Question Time 4th March 2010 - Biased BBC

Question Time 4th March 2010: "

Question Time this week comes from London; soon to be the first city in the world to host the Summer Olympics three times. So don't expect any questions on how much money that will lose.



The panel is Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the improbably named Lord Adonis, BBC favourite Shirley Williams, AllSeeingEye's childhood fantasy Carol Vorderman and the mind-numbingly smug Will Self.

For those who wish to take part in the Biased-BBC Buzzword Bingo, we will be playing by the 'One Foot In The Grave Rules' meaning that anyone with 'Hero', 'Principled' or 'Idealism' on any line will win a guided tour of Broadcasting House by an impartial newsreader of your choice, and those with 'Ashcroft' in any corner should play their Joker early. Players must be fully domiciled in the UK for tax purposes unless they support Labour.



TheEye will be joined again by the excellent David Mosque in the Moderators' Box, and we look forward to the pleasure of your company at 10:30pm UK time.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Vested Interests Defended - Biased BBC

Vested Interests Defended: "In his latest column for the commie Morning Star our new friend Chris T-T stands up for 'performers from within the left-wing diaspora' against 'anti-BBC wonks'. Bless.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Battle of the First Night Stand-Ups - Biased BBC

Battle of the First Night Stand-Ups: "Richard Bacon (Radio Five Live, August 27, 2009) vs Sarah Palin (Tonight Show, March 2, 2010)

Varying levels of cringe arise from both first-time efforts (and, yes, some people in Palin's Leno crowd seem overly keen to express their support, though no more so than your average please-reinforce-our-worldview Now Show audience) but I think she wins with the better gags and snappier delivery. The self-obsessed BBC presenter (and renowned Palin-hater) is simply dire. One-nil to the Barracuda?

Richard Bacon:



Sarah Palin:

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Shhhh - Biased BBC

Shhhh: "I’ve been busy recently, but yesterday I started to write this:

*****

What with the election, the fuss about Lord Ashcroft, and the BBC falling apart, you’d think they would tell us about this.
The infiltration of the IFE into the British political system - I hear it’s not just Labour, -- that’s news, isn’t it?
I mean it’s as significant and deeply troubling, if not more so, than this, wouldn’t you say?

*****

I didn't post it then but having read this, I thought I'd better have another go.

Also, I was waiting for something to appear on the BBC, even a review of C4 Despatches, or some oblique mention, but so far nothing comes up when I search the BBC website. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

Even if I'm only a bit right, I am surprised and disappointed that the BBC has made little or nothing of this issue.
It may be that Andrew Gilligan is not the BBC’s favourite person, who knows, but the problem he lays before us is not something to be brushed under the carpet by our state broadcaster.
The BBC is in trouble at the moment I know, and its future is in flux.
But if, as they pledge, the quality of journalism is to be upgraded, how can they ignore something so central to the democratic political system we're supposed to be so proud of?
Can things be so bad that they are afraid to tackle the subject?

In sharp contrast, they have chosen to promote, quite heavily, a long-awaited declaration by a Muslim leader that violence and terrorism are not quite the ticket. The obvious response would be ‘too little too late.’ It is a start, but the orchestrated political infiltration into the UK major political parties by an Islamist outfit is more pressing; a worrying trend that is beginning to look like another nail in Britain’s coffin.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

NO GLOBAL WARMING! - Biased BBC

NO GLOBAL WARMING!: "Bishop Hill has a clip from BBC Radio 5 Live in which presenter Peter Allen tells a phone-in listener that he is not allowed to question global warming. I wonder which department issued that diktat?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Naughtie: Can I Plump Your Pillows, Lady Ashton? - Biased BBC

Naughtie: Can I Plump Your Pillows, Lady Ashton?: "Jim Naughtie to Baroness Ashton this morning:

You're a hundred days into the new job now. I mean, this is the kind of long term work that you have to do. Do you feel at all drained by some of the arguments that have been erupting in Europe about the settlement after the Lisbon Treaty was ratified and the way the appointments were made and so on?

What touching concern for her 'long term work' and the wearisome distractions she has had to endure, the poor never-elected thing.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

BLACK AND PEW.... - Biased BBC

BLACK AND PEW....: "Behind the BBC's warming fanaticism are a series of financially-driven motives. Richard Black, as readers of this site will know, is the BBC's web environment correspondent. He - like many of his BBC colleagues - also makes a tidy income from chairing conferences. Back in 2008, for example, he was a lead facilitator at a Pew Symposium in Tokyo which considered the likely impact on whales of climate change (!), a role for which he is likely to have been paid several thousand pounds. The conference was funded and organised by the Pew Charitable Trusts, a US body which, like the BBC is an ardent believer in climate change. Their website leads its relevant section with this:

The world’s leading scientists agree that the planet is warming and that human activities—especially the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of forests—are a big part of the cause.

Indeed, Pew is so focused on forcing the world to adopt carbon trading and the like that it has its own climate change centre.

Somebody else who works for Pew is a public relations consultant called Kate Moffat, whose employer is PR outfit Luther Pendragon, who say on their website that they specialise in the environment and also have on their books those with vested interests in the climate change scam. Ms Moffat handles the Pew Charitable Trusts account on behalf of Luther Pendragon, and in that role, she has just been appointed to the so-called independent committee that is looking into the leaked emails from the University of East Anglia. Bishop Hill notes today that the committee appears increasingly to be heading towards carefully-orchestrated conclusion through the guidance of Ms Moffat (and anbother PR sidekick).

So, Mr Black and Ms Moffat are both firmly within the paid orbit of Pew, one of the little-known but hugely influential bodies that pull the strings of the climate change debate. It shows yet again, in the world of climate science, the more you scatch the surface, the more there is evidence of strange linkages and vested interests at work; and that BBC employees are well and truly in bed with those shadowy forces.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Greg Dyke: BBC director general Mark Thompson 'overpaid and out of touch' - Telegraph

Greg Dyke: BBC director general Mark Thompson 'overpaid and out of touch': "Mark Thompson, the BBC director general, has been accused of being overpaid
and out of touch with staff by his predecessor."

How the BBC review will affect TV and radio output - Telegraph

How the BBC review will affect TV and radio output: "The BBC has published its strategic review of services which will have a huge
effect on output, budgets and staffing."

BBC staff revolt after spending cuts announced - Telegraph

BBC staff revolt after spending cuts announced: "Staff react angrily to proposed cuts, including closure of BBC 6 Music and the
Asian Network, outlined in strategy review."

Conservative Party will force BBC to reveal salaries of stars - Telegraph

Conservative Party will force BBC to reveal salaries of stars: "Presenters earning more than the PM will be 'named and shamed' within weeks as
centrepiece of measures to cut the broadcaster's costs, The Daily Telegraph
can disclose."

BBC presenter died 'as sex game went wrong': Colleague weeps as he lays a floral tribute for Kristian Digby - Daily Mail

BBC presenter died 'as sex game went wrong': Colleague weeps as he lays a floral tribute for Kristian Digby: "
Kristian Digby, host of BBC1's To Buy Or Not To Buy, is thought to have accidentally suffocated while attempting auto-erotic asphyxiation."

BBC wields (a very small) axe as bosses boast of £600m 'cuts' ... but the corporation STILL won't be shrinking - Daily Mail

BBC wields (a very small) axe as bosses boast of £600m 'cuts' ... but the corporation STILL won't be shrinking: "
Director General Mark Thompson set out plans in an attempt to placate mounting public and political anger over the size of the Corporation."

More on that Now Show Green thing - Biased BBC

More on that Now Show Green thing: "As the John Hathorne character in the ongoing witch-hunt against the poor, voiceless, victimised comedians of The Now Show it would be remiss of me not to note (with ignorant sadistic crypto-fascist foam-flecked glee, naturally) that the Tory candidate for Brighton Pavilion is asking the BBC for a bit of clarification.

Update. Brigstocke: 'we had to be very careful to ensure that The Green Party were not hosting or organising it'

Update 2. It's getting weirder. In the comments to the original blog post Brighton-based musician Chris T-T (no, me neither) is demanding money for use of a photo freely available via Twitter. Happy to give him credit - but not money - for the photo. Mr T-T, who apparently played at the Green Party benefit gig on Saturday, is also a columnist for the Communist Party of Britain's house rag The Morning Star.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

Another Twitter Genius - Biased BBC

Another Twitter Genius: "One more from Twitter:



Piotr M. Kaczynski works for the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), a think tank which claims 'high standards of academic excellence' through 'quality research'. Roughly a third of its funding comes from EU institutions and national governments, and one of its main research areas is climate change (it gave a number of presentations at Copenhagen).

And one of its leading 'thinkers' believes that the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile were caused by climate change.

But remember, it's the sceptics who need educating.

Update. Piotr responds in the comments - unconvincingly but (and please note) very politely.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

The Trials of The Diaspora and Other Stories - Biased BBC

The Trials of The Diaspora and Other Stories: "When Melanie Phillips went to Australia she thought she had died and gone to heaven. She discovered that down under, unlike here in Blighty, supporting Israel does not have to be done in private, by consenting adults.

For your information, Melanie Phillips is “known to be an extremist Zionist insane warmongering Islamophobe” who must be treated with circumspection and labelled “Mad Mel” by all liberal-leaning followers of the BBC. She does appear on the BBC from time to time, but as her views are deemed insane the listeners and viewers are allowed to snigger, knowingly.

Start The Week.
Good grief. Anthony Julius is on!
There’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that Andrew Marr was unsettled by Anthony Julius’s book, and the bad news is that Marr and guests still seemed to think anti-Semitism (in the UK) is understandable because of the actions of Israel.
Or do I mean anti-Zionism.
“We could go on talking about this for ages” said Marr. But we won’t. There was an elephant in the studio somewhere, too.

It might be time to get my coat.

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

MITCH BENN RETIRES HURT... - Biased BBC

MITCH BENN RETIRES HURT...: "The comedian Mitch Benn, having been fingered as an active Greenie by taking part in a Green party fund-raising event, attempted to justify in a series of responses to this post his partisan approach. I suppose I sort of congratulate him for at least making an effort; but his foray into what he clearly regarded as enemy territory ended in tears - he departed waspishly calling all the contributors to this site right-wing ranting bigots. His stance yet again illustrates all that is wrong with the BBC mindset. Like all of them, Mitch, talented as he may be, regards any view that is not suitably trendy and liberal as right-wing thuggery, flat-earthism or racism.

And his justification for taking part in the show was totally bizarre. He claimed he was not a green, but thought he would join in because as a struggling party, it deserved a shot in the arm; sadly, he couldn't do the same for BNP because they were racist thugs. That's as may be. But I'm afraid, Mitch, that turning up to take part in a gig which had the sole aim of trying to get a Green party candidate elected in Brighton is partisanship, however it is presented.

One further thought. Isn't it strange that all the comedians who appear on BBC comedy show seem to support the same views? I can't see Brigstocke et al turning up to do a fund-raiser in John Bercow's seat to support Nigel Farage of UKIP. Can you?

Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

"

OMG Global Warming!!! - Biased BBC

OMG Global Warming!!!: "BBC environment correspondent Richard Black, quoted by Robin Horbury yesterday:

I'm not surprised at the level of UK scepticism as the main impacts of climate change are decades away and in other places. The problem is poor science awareness. We need to improve science education so people properly understand climate science.

So it's the sceptics who need educating is it?



http://twitter.com/alexporter82/statuses/9733582968
http://twitter.com/Meggyyyyy/statuses/9733330327
http://twitter.com/JamesG29803/statuses/9731734871
http://twitter.com/shine2u/statuses/9742357989
http://twitter.com/A_n_gel/statuses/9743615199
http://twitter.com/RexRayFan/statuses/9752321618
http://twitter.com/justthemo/statuses/9746625752
http://twitter.com/MichelleMichie/status/9746011386
http://twitter.com/Penguinchic1/statuses/9770095174
http://twitter.com/IshaSG/statuses/9768322179
http://twitter.com/Bibhuti_Bhusan/status/9765934744
http://twitter.com/iamanushka/statuses/9765786835
http://twitter.com/rjscheiwillerr/statuses/9765581299
http://twitter.com/hdnyc/statuses/9765292555
http://twitter.com/senoritamayra/statuses/9764404410
http://twitter.com/bineshbharath/statuses/9752728734
http://twitter.com/VitoFun/status/9740331086
http://twitter.com/camillabraine/statuses/9750411050
http://twitter.com/EllissaP/status/9749480794

There's lots, lots more like that. At least they're not uneducated idiots like those sceptics.

Update 17.30. Let's not overlook the fact that it's probably all about oil too.

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