United Kingdom V: Son of a beach

[Asura]

Am I seeing a link between the government looking into the BBC licence and the bias BBC reporting during the election or is it just me?

In all seriousness, is the BBC really biased?

I'm gonna get blasted for this, but while they definitely said ****ty things about Labour during the election, they also said ****ty things about other parties too. Has anyone performed an unbiased study?

The BBC always fall back on the rhertoric of that they get loads of complaints, but they get an even number on each side, which means they're impartial... Apparently. Still, I'm curious if anyone has analysed this with a dispassionate eye.

[Brad]

The key point is they get loads of complaints. Their journalism is ****ty in general and littered with errors and inaccuracies

[vanpeebles]

BBC is long past it's sell by date, needs cutting loose.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Laura Kuennsberg revealing secret postal vote intentions two days from election day https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-a9242976.html

BBC reporter saying " If wins the majority that he so deserves” live on air https://dorseteye.com/all-pretence-h...es-a-majority/

BBC editing remembrance day epitaph footage and replacing it with 2016 footage https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50374630

Editing out audience laughter of Boris Johnson during a Question time special https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-a9217141.html

Laura Kuennsberg falsely accusing a member of the public of punching a Tory adviser https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/09/labou...iser-11583590/

BBC dissuading young people from registering to vote on registration deadline day https://twitter.com/patttten/status/...180066818?s=20

Allowing Boris Johnson on the Andrew Marr show after saying they wouldn't https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...drew-marr-show

Broadcasting an under 30's question time with an audience full of leavers despite 70% of the under 30's wanting to remain

https://twitter.com/Femi_Sorry/status/1204143233997180928?s=20

On Question Time, Fiona Bruce incorrectly claimed vote Leave was cleared.

https://leftfootforward.org/2019/11/bbc-question-time-slammed-over-hosts-lie-wrongly-clearing-vote-leave/

[QualityChimp]

[Golgo]

^ why, then, is it the Tory government who are making so many rumblings about changing the fee structure?

[MartyG]

Because people call the BBC bias when someone says something they disagree with.

If you want to see real bias in broadcasting, watch Fox News.

[Cassius_Smoke]

^ why, then, is it the Tory government who are making so many rumblings about changing the fee structure?

My theory is this: The BBC lent towards the Tory party as much as they felt they could get away with during the election to butter them up in the hopes the Tory party leave them alone. The Tory party are unsatisfied with how far the BBC pushed the Tory agenda and are puling them to heel. Nothing has been done yet about the fee and it might not, but its a threat they can use to control the BBC anytime they want.

[QualityChimp]

I suspect that it is related to the stunt they tried to pull the other day where the Government/Johnson/Cummings are trying to shape a Trump-style shaping of who can report their briefings. The Government threatened to take away C4's broadcasting licence during the last election, so I feel it's an effort to shape all news to their liking.

Basically, they invited some news outlets to a briefing, then separated them out to opposite sides of the room with one half comprising of the journalists they wanted there and one half, mainly full of left-leaning outlets, were told they were not invited and had to leave.

Amazingly, this was a step too far and ALL the journalists walked out, including Kuenssberg and THE SUN!

I was curious of the Sun's spin on things, but even they struggled to be positive about this.
I visited The Sun website, so you don't have to. Also, you don't have to read the comments section which mainly applauds No. 10 for "filtering out biased news reporters writing their own versions of briefings."

WARNING: Content from the Sun below

->Open Spoiler<-

ON STRIKE Reporters stage walkout at Downing Street Brexit briefing in protest after No10 refuses entry to media outlets

POLITICAL journalists staged a walk-out in Downing Street today in protest after Number 10 ordered some reporters from media outlets to leave a Brexit briefing.

Selected correspondents were invited for the briefing from officials, but journos from organisations who were not on the hand-picked list also tried to get in.

Communications aide Lee Cain, right, with senior adviser Dominic Cummings, asked some reporters to leave Downing Street today

(Picture)
Communications aide Lee Cain, right, with senior adviser Dominic Cummings, asked some reporters to leave Downing

One of those present described the government's actions as "sinister and sad".

According to those present, when political journos arrived inside they were asked their names and told to stand on opposite sides of the entrance hall.

The Independent's political editor Andy Woodcock said Number 10's director of communications Lee Cain then invited those on one side to enter and told those on the other to leave.

When his actions were questioned he told reporters: "We are welcome to brief whoever we want whenever we want."

The journalists excluded included outlets viewed as left-wing or critical of the Government, but the briefing was due to involve senior civil servants - who are politically impartial.

'SINISTER AND SAD'
In protest at the treatment of colleagues from rival organisations, all the journalists present chose to walk out rather than receive the briefing.

Among those who walked out were the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, ITV's Robert Peston and journalists from newspapers including The Sun.

It is the latest sign of the strained relationship between Number 10 and political journalists.

The Prime Minister's Brexit day "address to the nation" was filmed by Downing Street, rather than a crew from a TV network as would usually be the case - leading to criticism from broadcasters.

Lobby correspondents have also seen their regular briefings moved from Parliament to 9 Downing Street, raising fears about the prospect of reporters being banned.

MASS WALK-OUT
A Number 10 source said the Prime Minister's Europe adviser David Frost was due to speak to "senior, specialist members of the lobby" - a so-called "inner lobby".

The source added: "We reserve the right to brief journalists which we choose whenever we wish to, and that is not something abnormal."

The source said around eight or nine organisations from "across the political spectrum" were invited to the briefing.

They said: "No one is banned - people are invited for an additional briefing, so that sort of language in itself is wrong."

The source insisted that left-leaning publications had been invited in the past and said that to suggest the exclusion of some publications was on political grounds was "clearly nonsense".

Responding to a point of order raised by Ms Brabin, deputy Commons speaker Dame Eleanor Laing said lobby journalists should be "treated with respect".

She said: "Of course I agree with her, everyone will agree with her, that accredited lobby journalists are indeed part of our parliamentary community and so, of course, must be, should be, and normally are treated with respect."

Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said it was a "very alarming incident".

She said: "As ministers are now regularly refusing to be accountable for their actions by boycotting certain programmes and journalists, this represents another very dangerous step.

"Johnson's government must stop this paranoia and engage with all the press, not just their favourites."

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[Cassius_Smoke]

I forgot about that. Tory party cracking the whip on the media, starting with the BBC then.

[Asura]

^ why, then, is it the Tory government who are making so many rumblings about changing the fee structure?

I think this isn't so much about the BBC; it's a vote grab. Some people will do anything to save a tenner a month.

[Brad]

It's all about the BBC for me. Their reporting is awful lately, their radio presenters are largely awful as well, too many massive salaries and basically no content I'm interested in so why should I pay them? So I don't. The kids grumbled initially but within a week we were all getting by just fine without BBC content. What's really objectionable to me is that by not paying their license fee I'm not allowed to watch any broadcast TV, even from sources they have nothign to do with. So, I'm happy for the license fee to be in place but it must only cover the BBC, there must be an option to not pay it and there mustn't be aggressive agencies employed to scare people into paying it.

[Dogg Thang]

I think this isn't so much about the BBC; it's a vote grab. Some people will do anything to save a tenner a month.

They tried to pull the Trump (and fascist) stunt of selecting who they deliver information to and you don’t think they’d attempt to influence and control the BBC over which they have direct financial control?

[MartyG]

WARNING: Content from the Sun below

I think the most telling thing from that is that the most read story on The Sun's website (at that moment) was

LITTLE LURKER Friends spot something creepy in teen’s selfie - can you find it too?

[Hirst]

I don't mind the BBC existing, but I think it should be stripped back from a massive entertainment network and into a basic state broadcaster - national and regional news, education/schools programmes, maybe some limited local sports coverage. I don't see why the fee should be going on things like The One Show and Top Gear.