The BBC gets criticised by left wing groups for being too pro establishment and from right wrong groups for being too leftie. I seem to recall John Simpson saying that when there's a war in the middle east pretty much all sides slate the BBC for biased reporting. I'd say it's doing a pretty good job then really!
The BBC commissioned an internal inquiry into reported anti-Israel bias in its news and current affairs programmes. The findings of the "Balen Report" have been kept a closely guarded secret for almost a decade and the BBC has spent countless hundreds of thousands of pounds of public license fee-payers money fighting High Court injunctions to release the report.
I think nutcases claim it's left wing because the other broadcasters of news available to them (commercial like Sky, ITN and the American networks) are so outrageously right wing. If the BBC is left wing, why the **** was there a programme specifically about how the Queen feels about horses on it??? In fact, when was the last time the BBC said anything remotely Republican? The last couple of years have been a Royal Felchfest yet nutters still claim they're left wing.
Guess what? Muslims think the Balen Report would prove that the BBC are pro-Israel https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/bbc_pro_israel_bias_and_balen_re Ties in nicely with what Dan said. Would you rather they were more like Murdoch's channel?
It is populist - and the Royal Family are populist, as is Will-I-Am (I want to stab something every time I write that name). I don't know enough about the BBC's content to side on whether it is mostly left or right wing (as I seldom watch). I just know that a tax funded organisation which is in direct competition with commercial rivals is justified through some tenets of the left.
Yes, it is. However, the alternative, which is to have entirely commercial channels giving you your news fully aware that their content could cause advertisers to withdraw their support means you get news channels like America. American News Networks are absolute brain damage. When comparing the two, I would suggest that the commercial channels are more populist than the BBC, they have no obligation to be neutral or educational and I would hate news in this country to become anything like CBS, Fox or NBC - all helicopter chases and black suspects. **** that.
The mandate to be neutral is a fair point and I struggle to think of how the market could replicate that. In saying this my annoyance at a TV license man rapping my door over some channels I never watch is greater than my desire for the public to have neutral television. Personally I've mostly given up on television, I'll watch live sports and maybe the news but the death of the documentary channels (replaced by reality tv channels) has ended most of my interest. I astounded a colleague the other week by saying that I have never heard of Pointless...
Also HBO in America has no adverts and produces some of the best quality television I watch (download ).
HBO doesn't have any adverts? How do they get their income? Do they sell a lot of their programmes or something? I thought just about all channels in America had adverts.
They charge a monthly fee, bit like the TV license, only it's optional, and it produces really high quality television.
It's only £150 or thereabouts and for that you get BBC's 1, 2, 3 and 4 plus news channel and about 10 national radio stations a load more local TV and radio stations. It's really good value. One day I may actually pay it.
The BBC are so left wing as proved by the minuscule coverage they give to parties like UKIP and even the BNP
I really wish they would have someone from the Daily Mail or David Starkey on Question Time once in a while. They never seem to have anyone on it. I've noticed that Question Time hardly ever has questions about immigration, UKIP or Europe as their first question either. Leftie pinko bastards
