The Biased Broadcasting Corporation

[chrisp65]

Yeah, compare and contrast:

8ft tory in a cape handing out money

Then Corbyn, superimposed on the Kremlin, in a superimposed hat

 

Like the tories themselves, they don’t appear to care anymore.

Just make sure we get a regular funny picture of Johnson at a photo op and we’ll all be happy.

[HanoiVillan]

I just don't understand how, at any point in producing that segment, nobody said 'hang on, the Chancellor in a superhero costume? Are we sure that's a good idea?'

[Xela]

26 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

I just don't understand how, at any point in producing that segment, nobody said 'hang on, the Chancellor in a superhero costume? Are we sure that's a good idea?'

#defundtheBBC

[Davkaus]

5 minutes ago, Xela said:

#defundtheBBC

Their antics over the last few years have ensured that I will not pay the license fee. I do suspect that may be part of the plan, though. 

[bickster]

2 hours ago, Davkaus said:

Their antics over the last few years have ensured that I will not pay the license fee. I do suspect that may be part of the plan, though. 

You are actually doing what the Tory Party want.

I'm as big a critic of the political content of the BBC as anyone, hell I started this topic but at no point have I ever wanted to defund the BBC. What I want is an impartial BBC back. A BBC for everyone. A BBC not run by cronies of any political party

You know like it sort of used to be

[chrisp65]

BBC all over this story about 8 consecutive nights of Israeli bombing in Gaza.

 

[darrenm]

BBC disdain from the politically activated is an interesting one.

The old saying is that if you're getting attacked from both sides then you're doing something right. The left say the BBC is controlled by the Tories and the right say the BBC is full of lefties. I personally think both is true.

I think the BBC political output has been shocking since at least 2017 and they've given the Tories an easy ride over so many things while the Labour left was continuously othered without attempting to understand the causes of the movement. But also, the BBC output can be quite left leaning - they'll always eventually take the politically correct angle on things like equality and racism.

Some of the more excitable left have now really got it in for the BBC and want to stop the licence fee - effectively privatising it - while wanting to take rail and water into public hands.

As Bicks said above, I want to keep the BBC but ensure it's fully impartial.

[chrisp65]

I just thought it was an interesting contrast the Tel Aviv city hall did a light show that had a Lebanese flag, and the BBC TV prime time news saw this as newsworthy and worth a live outside broadcast.

Yet, somehow... eight consecutive nights of bombing not reported. Just struck me as an odd idea on what was newsworthy and what wasn’t. I’ve just double checked, it isn’t even mentioned on the BBC News website on the Middle East News page.

Perhaps it’s just my skewed lefty bias.

[HanoiVillan]

16 minutes ago, darrenm said:

BBC disdain from the politically activated is an interesting one.

The old saying is that if you're getting attacked from both sides then you're doing something right. The left say the BBC is controlled by the Tories and the right say the BBC is full of lefties. I personally think both is true.

I think the BBC political output has been shocking since at least 2017 and they've given the Tories an easy ride over so many things while the Labour left was continuously othered without attempting to understand the causes of the movement. But also, the BBC output can be quite left leaning - they'll always eventually take the politically correct angle on things like equality and racism.

Some of the more excitable left have now really got it in for the BBC and want to stop the licence fee - effectively privatising it - while wanting to take rail and water into public hands.

As Bicks said above, I want to keep the BBC but ensure it's fully impartial.

I think the phrasing you are searching for here is 'the BBC is a thoroughly neoliberal institution'. There is no contradiction between taking the Conservative line on economic policy every time, and also taking a broadly progressive attitude to racial issues. The dominant ideology is still 'the long 1990s', though they have added layers of trolling and professional incompetence on top in recent years.

[blandy]

1 hour ago, HanoiVillan said:

I think the phrasing you are searching for here is 'the BBC is a thoroughly neoliberal institution'. There is no contradiction between taking the Conservative line on economic policy every time, and also taking a broadly progressive attitude to racial issues.

I get what you're saying, but don't (from my perspective) see it as applicable to the Beeb. It seems to me like it mostly, slowly, since Blair, has drifted (in news and current affairs coverage)  towards the Governing party. It started with Alistair Campbell haranguing media and the false stuff about WMDs and all that, and Dr. Kelly's death. The Tories have carried on that squeezing, with bells on - putting Tory people in the key Top positions, using License fee negotiations and all the rest to influence/threaten etc the BBC. And so the News side of it has jumped a little bit when they said jump high. So so far, that supports what you say. But....

But as an Institution - responsible for Radio, TV, Internet covering Comedy, film, Music, Documentaries, Drama, Educational, World-service and all the rest, funded (mostly) by the Licence fee I don't think it's the "thoroughly neo-liberal institution" you say at all. The opposite, in fact. Public Service broadcasting is not neo-liberal, and nor is the provision of it.

One other thing that is low level, but very significant (IMO) in the News and current affairs is the Government routinely "declines to make anyone available". The BBC cannot (and the Gov't know it) treat that as an opportunity to put only one side of the argument. They are bound by the rules to be balanced - so a lot of scrutiny, questioning, criticism of the Gov't, through on-air representatives is not happening - if there's no one there to put the Gov't side, then it can't be "balanced and impartial" so the Gov't quite cynically is able to get way with more via that tactic.

So the Tories continue to try and shape the BBC, and it has some impact, clearly and the BBC becomes a little more undermined, a little less able to resist. A publicly owned, in effect, organisation providing a universal service is being abandoned by people who might defend it on principle, because of the nature of what it is, because it was seen as unhelpful to Jeremy (or whatever). Tory plan working like a dream.

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

Can we do a poll ?

Biased to left / Balanced / Biased Right

I think the results would be quite interesting as long as enough people bothered to vote.

It's a fascinating subject because everyone it seems,  sees different things.

 

[chrisp65]

2 minutes ago, Amsterdam_Neil_D said:

Can we do a poll ?

Biased to left / Balanced / Biased Right

I think the results would be quite interesting as long as enough people bothered to vote.

It's a fascinating subject because everyone it seems,  sees different things.

 

Simply tot up the number of programmes where they assess the monetary value of antiques.

Or whether a painting is ‘real’ and therefore worth more money.

Or where they buy shit cheap and try to sell it at a profit to make money.

Or game shows where there has to be a winner, not just a shared learning experience.

Programmes where people from the south east decide they’d like to live in a village at the expense of locals.

Car programmes where cars are judged on acceleration not environmental footprint.

Then see how many of the history shows are about royalty.

Then see what day in September they all start wearing poppies.

 

Rampant tory cesspit.

[HanoiVillan]

27 minutes ago, blandy said:

I get what you're saying, but don't (from my perspective) see it as applicable to the Beeb. It seems to me like it mostly, slowly, since Blair, has drifted (in news and current affairs coverage)  towards the Governing party.

[...]

One other thing that is low level, but very significant (IMO) in the News and current affairs is the Government routinely "declines to make anyone available". The BBC cannot (and the Gov't know it) treat that as an opportunity to put only one side of the argument. They are bound by the rules to be balanced - so a lot of scrutiny, questioning, criticism of the Gov't, through on-air representatives is not happening - if there's no one there to put the Gov't side, then it can't be "balanced and impartial" so the Gov't quite cynically is able to get way with more via that tactic.

So the Tories continue to try and shape the BBC, and it has some impact, clearly and the BBC becomes a little more undermined, a little less able to resist. A publicly owned, in effect, organisation providing a universal service is being abandoned by people who might defend it on principle, because of the nature of what it is, because it was seen as unhelpful to Jeremy (or whatever). Tory plan working like a dream.

I suspect that the question of the BBC's institutional 'ideology', or leanings, is somewhat separate to the question of its declining support. You (correctly) note that it is both cautious in challenging the party in power, and that it is less likely to be vociferously defended as an institution than it was even 15 years ago, but I doubt that the key difference is being seen by lefties as being unfair to Corbyn. The bigger issue is that the BBC is losing institutional power as a result of its declining share of the attention economy. The more typical complainant is not me, but people - including several on this forum - arguing that non-payment of the licence fee should be decriminalised because they rarely consume BBC product. They are losing viewers and listeners to streaming in huge quantities - consider what the proportion of shows discussed in the TV show thread are broadcast by 'terrestrial' channels versus streaming services. The reason the government can get away with rarely addressing the corporation's audience directly is because they don't need to; they can feed stories to friendly newspaper outlets and then rely on social shares to distribute them. These dynamics are the main fact behind the BBC's institutional defensive crouch; as we have seen through the question of licence fees for the elderly and decriminalising licence fee non-payment, the BBC has a justified fear that it will be forced into institutional retreat through engineered budget crises.

When I refer to it as a neoliberal institution, I am more referring to two separate but related matters. The first is how it is run, and specifically the institutional changes that came from the Birt reforms of the 1990s, which have led to more contracting of outside production companies, people moving off the BBC payroll to become contractors, and increased prominence and importance for the BBC's commercial arms. The BBC has shifted from being the biggest producer in the market to being one bidder among many. These reforms were impeccably neoliberal in nature - using market forces to 'discipline' the institution. The second matter is the organisation's revealed 'ideology' through which issues they will cover, and what perspectives they will prioritise. Just for one example, it hasn't escaped my attention that, even at a time when neither the government nor the opposition are talking about the cost of coronavirus economic support - and when financial support is literally inevitable and interest rates on government bonds are almost non-existent - the BBC has begun pushing the 'how will we pay for it all' angle. Whether intentional or not, it is revealing that that is the framework through which the institution focuses on large numbers.

[Follyfoot]

26 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

Simply tot up the number of programmes where they assess the monetary value of antiques.

Or whether a painting is ‘real’ and therefore worth more money.

Or where they buy shit cheap and try to sell it at a profit to make money.

Or game shows where there has to be a winner, not just a shared learning experience.

Programmes where people from the south east decide they’d like to live in a village at the expense of locals.

Car programmes where cars are judged on acceleration not environmental footprint.

Then see how many of the history shows are about royalty.

Then see what day in September they all start wearing poppies.

 

Rampant tory cesspit.

This makes sense now, always wondered why they cancelled Full Swing so quickly

[blandy]

1 hour ago, chrisp65 said:

Simply tot up the number of programmes where they assess the monetary value of antiques. 1

Or whether a painting is ‘real’ and therefore worth more money. 1

Or where they buy shit cheap and try to sell it at a profit to make money. 1 ??

Or game shows where there has to be a winner, not just a shared learning experience. 1

Programmes where people from the south east decide they’d like to live in a village at the expense of locals.1

Car programmes where cars are judged on acceleration not environmental footprint.1 (max)

Then see how many of the history shows are about royalty. 1

Then see what day in September they all start wearing poppies.1

 

Rampant tory cesspit.

I make that a (conservative [of course]) 7 - what's the prize, a bag of free-range Nicaraguan lentils?

But seriously, If I don't win I'll console myself with only a few days to go till Poppymas. I can't wait.

[chrisp65]

2 minutes ago, blandy said:

I make that a (conservative [of course]) 7 - what's the prize, a bag of free-range Nicaraguan lentils?

But seriously, If I don't win I'll console myself with only a few days to go till Poppymas. I can't wait.

This year’s big competition, who will spot the first poppy face mask?

 

[blandy]

4 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

This year’s big competition, who will spot the first poppy face mask?

Whichever lady wins, I'm sure the Gov't will be lauding the Poppy heroin. 

[HanoiVillan]

On 19/08/2020 at 15:34, HanoiVillan said:

even at a time when neither the government nor the opposition are talking about the cost of coronavirus economic support - and when financial support is literally inevitable and interest rates on government bonds are almost non-existent - the BBC has begun pushing the 'how will we pay for it all' angle. Whether intentional or not, it is revealing that that is the framework through which the institution focuses on large numbers.

Another example of this here:

 

[TreeVillan]

On 19/08/2020 at 15:10, Amsterdam_Neil_D said:

Can we do a poll ?

Biased to left / Balanced / Biased Right

I think the results would be quite interesting as long as enough people bothered to vote.

It's a fascinating subject because everyone it seems,  sees different things.

 

A poll on VillaTalk regarding this would 100% say the BBC is biased in favour of the Tories.

It's not but that's what the poll would say. 

Edited August 21, 2020 by TreeVillan

[chrisp65]

33 minutes ago, TreeVillan said:

A poll on VillaTalk regarding this would 100% say the BBC is biased in favour of the Tories.

It's not but that's what the poll would say. 

So you would vote that it was biased, even though you think it isn’t?