BBC Chairman Lord Patten has refused to give evidence to the Commons European Scrutiny Committee about the BBC’s coverage of EU affairs. His refusal follows an earlier Scrutiny Committee hearing in which Newswatch gave evidence that the BBC was failing in its Charter duty to report EU affairs to an extent that allowed audiences to understand properly the issues involved. Scrutiny Committee chairman …
BBC ‘Pays double the rate for their taxis’
BBC staff have slammed their bosses for paying double the going rate for taxi journeys made at the licence fee payers’ expense. A story in the Daily Telegraph reveals that the Corporation pays £10m a year for over 350,000 journeys by staff and guests. To handle this business, the Corporation has a contracted supplier of taxis, which are booked through an internal website. …
A decision by BBC Trustees to reject a complaint about the BBC’s EU coverage was a ‘farce’
A decision by BBC Trustees to reject a complaint about the BBC’s EU coverage was a ‘farce’, leading Eurosceptic MPs Kate Hoey and Philip Hollobone have said. The complaint – based on research by Newswatch – centred on an edition of Newsnight last January which covered David Cameron’s decision to announce a radical overhaul of EU policy to include a referendum …
EU ‘Come-out’ Donor Sykes gets Today Roasting
Newswatch reports show that Today does not give EU ‘come-outers’ the chance to properly air their case. When they do appear they are usually bracketed with ‘Loonies’, or given no chance to explain their support for leaving the EU. Today presenter Evan Davis continued the tradition when he interviewed this week (November 18) Yorkshire businessman Paul Sykes about his decision …
BBC Trustees reject Newsnight EU bias complaint
The BBC Trustees have yet again flatly rejected claims that their EU coverage is biased. Conservative MP Philip Hollobone and Labour’s Kate Hoey filed a complaint about an edition of Newsnight on January 23, when David Cameron announced his policy of holding an ‘in/out’ referendum. The programme contained just one ‘come-outer’ (UKIP’s Nigel Farage) ranged against battery of 17 studio …
BBC ‘Enmeshed in Comic Relief’
A BBC Panorama investigation into Comic Relief has shown that the charity invests in tobacco, arms and alcohol, despite its ‘holier-than-thou’ ethical claims and telling the public that every penny it raises goes to the developing world. The real issue here is not solely Comic Relief’s hypocritical investment policy, but rather the close relationship between the charity and the BBC …
Four out of ten ‘think BBC biased’, says survey
An ICM survey has found that 40% of those questioned thought the BBC was biased in its news coverage. The survey, commissioned by the Sunday Telegraph, also found that 70% of the 2,000 who took part wanted the £145.50 licence fee reduced or scrapped. Fewer than 10% wanted the fee to be increased in line with inflation when the BBC …