BBC Mock Balance 217


A classic example of BBC mock balance on the news tonight as James Cook devoted apparently equal time to Douglas Alexander and Mhairi Black in Renfrewshire East.

Of Mhairi we were told by Cook that her opponents say that her youth shows, and that she carries fighting talk too far. Well, of Douglas his opponents say that he is a war criminal, and that he stabbed his sister in the back. That was not mentioned.

Whereas the “equal time” allowed the SNP candidate included BBC commentary giving direct personal criticism of her, there was no critical note in the Alexander side of the coverage. An interesting example of how the state propaganda system works.


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217 thoughts on “BBC Mock Balance

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  • John Goss

    I’m surprised to see fellow-poet Benjamin Zephaniah on an allegedly CIA-funded transatlantic PR list together with Lord Robertson and Mandy. Yuk!

  • Ba'al Zevul

    The BAP quotation to engrave on one’s heart is:

    ” “Propaganda that really works…is when you get people to move in directions you want them to for reasons they think are their own.”

    Just so.

  • Villager

    John Goss
    28 Apr, 2015 – 9:38 am

    “I’m surprised to see fellow-poet Benjamin Zephaniah on…..”

    Irresistible! LOL, some peoples self-image, says it all!!

  • Republicofscotland

    Yes I agree the state broadcaster,and unionist propaganda machine,the BBC is continuing on fromm the referendum,take Jackie Bird for example,last night she interviewed, David Coburn (UKIP) she didn’t give him a particularly tough time of it.

    She then went on to interview Patrick Harvey (Greens) where she preceeded to press him on just about everything,and like a dog with a bone,she gnawed at Mr Harvey constantly on the issue of another Scottish referendum,even though it’s not on the agenda this time.

  • Republicofscotland

    No doubt the Ministry of Truth….aka the BBC will give plenty of coverage to the messiahs speech at the University of Glasgow tomorrow.

    Gordon Brown (messiah) is expected to give a substantial speech tomorrow, (whatever that means) when picks up an honoury doctorate at the university.

    Browns speech is thought to be one along the lines of or similar to his vow (lies) that duped people into voting no.

  • Republicofscotland

    Meanwhile Ed Balls was in Glasgow yesterday,as the latest poll showed that only one seat would remain in Labour’s hands after May 7th,that seat belonging to Willie Bain.

    As Balls was questioned on the explotitive zero-hour contracts,someone pointed out that the event today was set up by staff employed on those explotitive contracts,Balls began obsuficating,on the matter.

  • Republicofscotland

    I wonder if the BBC will report that just 23% of English voters, think its fair to exclude the SNP from government,according to a poll conducted by Opinium.

    Meanwhile Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey,was also in Glasgow,and voiced his support on a Labour government working with the SNP.

    Mr McCluskey is no admirer of Jim Murphy and both dodged each on his visit,McCluskey sees Murphy as a Blairite,who has all but killed off Labour in Scotland.

  • A2

    “Whatever happened to Wendy? She got married and had twins… but I find it very hard to believe she has left politics for good. ”

    I would assume doing just that would be a smart move. Unless Scotlab has a massive epiphany, She’ll have plenty more useful things to do with her time.

  • Abe Rene

    I’m not on Twitter or Facebook, but BZ is, and maybe some readers, who could ask him whether he finds the American Empire more conducive than the British one. 🙂

  • Ba'al Zevul

    I’m not on Twitter or Facebook, but BZ is…

    If that’s for me, you’re wrong. And if you could bring yourself to ask me directly instead of telling other people to do so, I’d perhaps reply that empires don’t enthral me that much in general.

  • Mary

    This will make you throw up.

    Former Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander appointed to top Dundee University job
    24 February 2015
    By David Clegg

    WENDY ALEXANDER hasn’t worked in politics since stepping down from the Scottish Parliament in 2011 and is now set to take up her new role at Dundee University in April.

    FORMER Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander has been appointed to a top job at Dundee University.

    The ex-MSP will take up the role of Vice Principal (International) to spearhead the university’s global activities in April.

    Alexander – the sister of Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Douglas has been working in academia since standing down from the Scottish Parliament in 2011.
    /..
    http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/former-scottish-labour-leader-wendy-5222286

    Many of the throw outs from this election will be heading for the groves of Academe, and some to NHS boards and the NHS outfits which have proliferated since the H&SC Act 2012 came in.

    eg from the last election, Jacqui ‘Jackboots’ Smith. Sky also pay her to ‘review’ the papers. Remember her claiming her sister’s home as her main hone, thus claiming that her real home was her second home. £116,000 in expenses and also claimed for her husband’s adult videos? You cannot make these people up yet they pop up with their opinions and views as bold as brass. Pure chutzpah.

    Former MP Jacqui Smith gets top job at QE Hospital
    12 September 2013
    Politician who lost her Redditch seat after being embroiled in an expenses scandal is to become chair of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust
    http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/news/former-mp-jacqui-smith-gets-5912320

    ~~~

    That’s the £545m PFI hospital where all the injured from our offensive wars go and where Malala was treated.

    ‘Birmingham’s new Queen Elizabeth Hospital officially opened last year
    1,213 bed hospital is the second biggest in PFI scheme in the NHS
    Replaced the old 840-bed hospital built in the 1930s which closed in 2010
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2296951/Farce-new-545m-NHS-Queen-Elizabeth-Hospital-Birmingham-SMALL.html

    I see Jane Garvey who presents Woman’s Hour, is a non exec director of that trust. Should a BBC presenter have such a role?
    http://www.uhb.nhs.uk/board-of-directors.htm

  • Clark

    Ba’al Zevul, “BZ” = Benjamin Zephaniah I assume. Grief, pressing keys is such a chore. YKNMIP. LOL. BPZNQNMLP.

  • Abe Rene

    @Baal Zevul “If that’s for me, you’re wrong.”
    It’s not for you, it’s for Zephaniah.

  • Ba'al Zevul

    Aaagh. Fell into the trap there.

    I’d think he’d want to stay clear of coconuthood too…

    The coconuts have got the jobs.
    The race industry is a growth industry.
    We despairing, they careering.
    We want more peace they want more police.
    The Uncle Toms are getting paid.
    The race industry is a growth industry.
    We say sisters and brothers don’t fear.
    They will do anything for the Mayor.
    The coconuts have got the jobs.
    The race industry is a growth industry.
    They’re looking for victims and poets to rent.
    They represent me without my consent.
    The Uncle Toms are getting paid.
    The race industry is a growth industry.
    In suits they dither in fear of anarchy.
    They take our sufferings and earn a salary.
    Steal our souls and make their documentaries.
    Inform daily on our community.
    Without Black suffering they’d have no jobs.
    Without our dead they’d have no office.
    Without our tears they’d have no drink.
    If they stopped sucking we could get justice.
    The coconuts are getting paid.
    Men, women and Brixton are being betrayed.
    (The other BZ)

    Gets a mention here, though…

    http://ddj.rs/zp/A%20Century%20of%20Spin%20How%20Public%20Relations%20Became%20the%20Cutting%20Edge%20of%20Corporate%20Power.pdf

  • Republicofscotland

    It’s got robots though , that’s obviously a bad thing.
    _______________________________

    A2.

    The House of Lords is full of robots,sleeping robots to be precise, come to think of it maybe Fritz Lang and his wife based their film Metropolis,on the House of Lords.

    Made in Germany during the Weimar Period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city’s ruler, and Maria, a poor worker, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes of their city.

    Sound familiar?

  • lysias

    The German equivalent, Atlantik-Brücke, is discussed at length in veteran journalikst Udo Ulfkotte’s book Gekaufte Journalisten [Bought Journalists]. Ulfkotte claims the organization plays a key role in distorting government policy and media coverage in the German-speaking world in a pro-American direction.

  • YouKnowMyName

    There’s more context on Udo Ulfkotte here: http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/04/23/weaponizing-information/

    I was a bit worried that counterpunch might potentially be somehow seen as a partial to Putin news-source, so I checked at length on the BBC website for a rebuttal, and in the Daily Telegraph news archive – but strangely, Udo Ulfkotte doesn’t seem to exist since his conversion on the road to Damascus, as it were.

  • Ba'al Zevul

    Standard riposte to all who think that Putin’s a cuddly bunny because he jumps on cuddly bandwagons…

    “Propaganda that really works…is when you get people to move in directions you want them to for reasons they think are their own.”

    It’s politer than fuck off and die, retard cunts, if nothing else.

  • lysias

    I knew about Ulfkotte because I had seen him interviewed on RT, so I ordered and read his book.

  • ------------·´`·.¸¸.¸¸.··.¸¸Node

    “Standard riposte to all who think that Putin’s a cuddly bunny because he jumps on cuddly bandwagons…

    “Propaganda that really works…is when you get people to move in directions you want them to for reasons they think are their own.”

    It’s politer than fuck off and die, retard cunts, if nothing else.”

    Mightn’t the Putin-cuddlers equally use it to explain your behaviour?

  • lysias

    Mightn’t the Putin-cuddlers equally use it to explain your behaviour?

    It certainly applies to the media in the Western so-called democracies.

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