MICHAEL Grade – Baron Grade of Yarmouth – becomes chairman of Ofcom today. He takes over days after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries published Up Next, her White Paper on the future of broadcasting. Main points include that the current BBC licence fee funding regime will eventually come to an end, Channel 4 will be privatised and that ‘TV-like’ content will be subject …
BBC ‘arrogant’ dismissal of Sunday Times
The Sunday Times has a rather feeble (in analytical terms) news story today (February 20) under the heading of What’s Going on at the BBC? by media editor Rosamund Unwin which postulates that because of cuts in staffing levels (leading to poor editorial decisions), standards of BBC journalism are falling, as is evidenced by Amol Rajan’s questionably-handled interview last week …
Dr Campbell Campbell-Jack: Surprise, surprise! Next BBC Religion Editor is yet another Muslim
This post by Dr Campbell Campbell-Jack originally appeared on The Conservative Woman WHAT would any outside observer think of a company which after a ‘competitive recruitment process’ continually appointed individuals from the same socio/cultural/religious grouping? Is it possible to conclude that the company had an agenda? The BBC, after a long delay which caused a former World Service religious affairs correspondent …
News-watch in Freedom of Information battle with BBC
News-watch is battling the Information Commissioner and the BBC about the Corporation’s refusal to release basic information about how it collects data about impartiality and the subjects of complaints made by the public about programmes. The long drawn-out fight was the focus this week (2 February) of an appeal before a first-tier tribunal by News-watch against the Information Commissioner. A …
BBC REPORTS ENERGY BILLS CRISIS – WITHOUT MENTIONING NET ZERO
Today’s lead story (February 3) in much of the media is that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is planning to spend billions of pounds to cushion the impact on householders of a huge rise in domestic heating charges which will take effect from April. According to green policy watchdog Net Zero Watch, the government will make £6 billion of …
Mail on Sunday editorial slams ‘useless’ BBC complaints process
The Mail on Sunday December 26, 2021 The BBC is Silencing the viewers who should be heard THE BBC’s existence is an attempt to answer a series of linked riddles. How can you sustain a national broadcaster to pursue the best in everything, free from commercial pressure? How can the state collect the funds for such a body, without turning …
News-watch finding: GB News more impartial than the BBC on immigration
An in-depth survey by News-watch of the recently-launched television news channel GB News has found that its coverage of sensitive immigration issues was more balanced, detailed and wide-ranging than that of the BBC’s news programmes and BBC News 24. The BBC coverage was weighted very strongly towards those opposed to stricter controls on immigration. By comparison, GB News incorporated that …
Craig Byers: Even Libby Purves is slamming Radio 4
Even former Radio 4 stalwart, ex-Midweek presenter and self-declared ”life-long loyalist and listener” Libby Purves – though in many ways as ‘BBC as can be’ in her outlook – sees that David Blunkett has a point about her favourite channel BBC Radio 4. In her latest Times column she says that the BBC shouldn’t ignore him, and although she thinks it’s ”not …
Craig Byers: “BBC Hit By New Bashir Shame”
“The BBC has a really grim bit of reading in The Mail on Sunday. This is another Martin Bashir-related story. Goes on for pages and pages and it is tough stuff for BBC people to read”, said Andrew Marr this morning. He didn’t elaborate, or mention the story again. This morning’s BBC News Channel paper review also merely mentioned it, …
Jane Kelly: The BBC, where history really is bunk
This post by Jane Kelly originally appeared on The Conservative Woman An eight-part drama about the Nuremberg Trials has started on Radio 4. BBC commissioning editor Rhian Roberts said it was ‘designed to present phenomenal moments of history in a compelling style so we can all continue to understand how our world was shaped by them’. What we got was inexplicable: …