UPDATED: Having spent the afternoon researching, the evidence tends to support Emma Barnett’s claim that she had been personally unaware that her family’s wealthy lifestyle was funded by the pimping and sex-trafficking activities of her parents. The emails between herself and her father about “whores” referenced by the Manchester Evening News, contained denials by her father to Emma that he remained involved. I therefore have here deleted my earlier entry which suggested the existence of these emails may argue against her claim of ignorance.
But it is the wealth of her background rather than the source of the funds which concerns me here. As a Telegraph and Sunday Times columnist, it is pretty hard to argue that Barnett is not “out” as a wealthy Tory – just like Robinson, Kuenssberg, Paxman, Andrew Neil et al. In choosing a Telegraph columnist to interview Corbyn today for Women’s Hour, the BBC yet again is making no attempt at all to hide the massive Tory bias of its political journalism.
I wear glasses but I see well enough the flagrant bias of the BBC in this Election. I was listening to the lunchtime news bulletin on Radio 3 today. I was doing something else so I only had half an ear on the news. IN one report on the debate on television last night, the news announcer saw fit to add to some anodyne comment about Theresa May, that Jeremy Corbyn had ‘failed’ to answer some question or another.Clearly,the intention was to imply that he was either evasive or dishonest in not doing so. I wasn’;t aware that mind-reading was a necessary element in the training of radio journalists,but maybe I am behind the times.The newscaster could have confined herself to mentioning that Corbyn hadn’t answered the question,and left it to us to draw our own conclusions,but,oh no, we couldn’t be trusted to do that. And they wonder why journalists are held in such universal contempt.
What to do about the BBC?
I ask the question noting that few, if any of us have the least bit of influence.
Over the years I have occasionally complained to them over various subjects; mostly fairly trivial compared to their current and blatantly biased pro government, anti Opposition stance.
However, when I’ve requested a reply, without exception my complaint has been treated with barely concealed arrogance and contempt.
Anybody watching BBC Newswatch or Points of View will frequently see critics receive the same treatment.
The BBC is beyond criticism and is never wrong, the viewer/listener misguided.
The BBC Trust had a poor reputation and its replacement, the Board of the BBC doesn’t inspire confidence either particularly when one sees the likes of James Harding and James Purnell sitting on it.
Save the option of going without TV and cancelling the TV Licence, it seems I am absolutely powerless.
In pursuit of their continued existence via the tax on the viewer, they have gifted their soul to the people who potentially stand to threaten them the most and at the same time offended those people who might have been very vocal in defending them.
As far as my family and I are concerned 90% of their output is utter rubbish and if the Tories donated them to Murdoch tomorrow, nothing would be lost.
At least, then rather more people might know they were being fed lies and propaganda and be spared the cost of paying for it..
I’m sick and tired of journalists grilling politicians about the cost of this or that policy. Do you think when Attlee announced the creation of the welfare state, free education and the NHS that some ghastly journalists hounded him for a ledger by ledger set of accounts? Britain was even more bankrupt then than it was when a bunch of criminal bankers cost the nation a minimum of 460 BILLION POUNDS, but I didn’t notice many questions from journalists just how this banking meltdown was going to be paid for.
The sums accrued in the pursuit of perfectly reasonable policies proposed by Labour are a TINY FRACTION of the banking bailouts. I say again A TINY FRACTION. But I do not recall a single question posed by ANY journalist about the appalling ongoing cost to the nation resulting from the criminal activities of banking CEOs, NOT ONE OF WHICH has yet to be prosecuted.
JC/childcare costing top item on Sky News 10pm and BBC1 10pm ‘news’.