Has the BBC become a Tory tool?

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Going to stick my neck out here and suggest that if the BBC are upsetting both left / right and pro/ anti brexit then they are probably getting things about right - if everyone thinks your biased then you are probably doing a good job of finding the middle ground. Always mystifies me when people think refunding/axeing the been would make things better. The Murdochs of the world would step in to fill the gap.

 

[The perfect fumble]

Going to stick my neck out here and suggest that if the BBC are upsetting both left / right and pro/ anti brexit then they are probably getting things about right - if everyone thinks your biased then you are probably doing a good job of finding the middle ground. Always mystifies me when people think refunding/axeing the been would make things better. The Murdochs of the world would step in to fill the gap.

That's bollocks.

"JOURNALISM 101....

If someone says it's raining and another person says it is dry, it is NOT your job to quote them both. It's your job to look out of the window and see which is the truth!!!"

 

[hcblue95]

Going to stick my neck out here and suggest that if the BBC are upsetting both left / right and pro/ anti brexit then they are probably getting things about right - if everyone thinks your biased then you are probably doing a good job of finding the middle ground. Always mystifies me when people think refunding/axeing the been would make things better. The Murdochs of the world would step in to fill the gap.

Yep that's bollocks.

BBC news is undoubtedly right wing. Most leadership roles are taken up by tory donors.

The TV shows such as comedy / sitcoms etc. are generally left wing because creatives and comedians are most often left wing.

 

[domalino]

Of course but look at this forum, are the opinions of people on here really shaped by the news? I spend more time on here than on any news site. It seems to me that actually news is just secondary or rather it just takes advantage of the bigger issue which is that people love to argue with each other. Social media facilitates that but the news doesn't so which is the greater threat?

Look at the title of this thread, it has nothing to do with the news but rather it's solely about the political contents of the output of the BBC. The energy behind that attracts debate but ultimately what the BBC actually does or doesn't do or the opinions it puts out are irrelevant because everyone will all always disagree on what's right.

It all just reminds me of Talksport, if city lose then after the game they will say how crap city were and then people get angry and ring up. Are they shaping the opinion that city are crap or are they just trying to get people to ring up at £1.50 a minute?

It's really easy money to be honest. Look at GB News - identify a group, start a news channel, drip-feed them with what they want to hear, show advertisements... Profit! Who's at fault though for the opinions of the viewers? That's a different kettle of fish that I'm sorry goes far beyond blaming Rupert Murdoch for everything.

Of course opinion is shaped by news.

Look at the recent elections in the USA. Crime has not moved significantly in the last 2 years, and yet it was one of the biggest topics in the election! As stated in exit polls, it was the second biggest voter issue. Why? Because Fox News (and all their hundreds of sattelite broadcasters) kept speaking about it again, and again and again until they create a story.

They did exactly the same with immigration in 2018. There were thousands of segments about a convoy of illegal immigrants marching on the USA's borders. As soon as the election was over it was never mentioned again because it wasn't real.

If you tell people something enough times, they believe it's true.

 

[hcblue95]

One of the first things Starmer should do when he gets in is replace the tory donor director and chair of the BBC with left wingers or centrist.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

That's bollocks.

"JOURNALISM 101....

If someone says it's raining and another person says it is dry, it is NOT your job to quote them both. It's your job to look out of the window and see which is the truth!!!"

Possibly, but that assumes the journalist is best placed to judge. When it's a case of looking out the window to see if it's raining then that's straightforward, but a lot of newsworthy issues are more complicated than that and require expert knowledge/ input. As soon as you import that knowledge you also import any bias that comes with it.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Yep that's bollocks.

BBC news is undoubtedly right wing. Most leadership roles are taken up by tory donors.

The TV shows such as comedy / sitcoms etc. are generally left wing because creatives and comedians are most often left wing.

Comedians are generally left wing whether on the BBC or not so I'm not sure that is a stick to beat the beeb with. I'm not sure the BBC are biased in terms of the Tories, but I do believe that in the last couple of decades they have become increasingly subject to pressure and threats to funding from the govt of the day - which at present is of course the Tories. This actually started with Blair/ Mandelson who were less than happy with the BBC not towing the line on Iraq/ Afghanistan and Dr David Kelly, and Blair also obviously owed Murdoch a few favours. That's the first time I recall a sitting govt threatening to 'review' the previously sacred cow of the license fee. Murdoch and his influence over who gets / stays in power probably coerces the govt into leaning on the BBC hence what you perceive now as Tory bias

 

[bluethrunthru]

Comedians are generally left wing whether on the BBC or not so I'm not sure that is a stick to beat the beeb with. I'm not sure the BBC are biased in terms of the Tories, but I do believe that in the last couple of decades they have become increasingly subject to pressure and threats to funding from the govt of the day - which at present is of course the Tories. This actually started with Blair/ Mandelson who were less than happy with the BBC not towing the line on Iraq/ Afghanistan and Dr David Kelly, and Blair also obviously owed Murdoch a few favours. That's the first time I recall a sitting govt threatening to 'review' the previously sacred cow of the license fee. Murdoch and his influence over who gets / stays in power probably coerces the govt into leaning on the BBC hence what you perceive now as Tory bias

When it comes to comedians there is simply more to be funny with and about if you come from the Left. Look how long Private Eye has been going and how ribbing the "establishment" has been a winner - even down to the fact that its modern roots are the the formation of the eponymous Establishment Club by Peter Cook which was ironically also quite popular with members of the actual establishment out of whom they were ripping the piss. I can't see there is any right wing comedian that has enjoyed enduring popularity because their "targets" are much harder to mock. Frankie Boyle can mock Tories over the need for food or warm banks - Alexi Sayle can say that austerity was born of the Tories need to make sure there were not too many libraries in Wolverhampton. On the other hand Geoff Norcott has his work cut out taking the piss out of lefty do gooders who want to see that kids don't go hungry in the school holidays or mocking the fact that the North's rail infrastructure is in a mess. You can't generate laughs about things that just aren't funny.

As for the Beeb itself there has been a definite harder edged shift when the Govt effectively said the license fee was being reviewed then they appointed Tim Davie - a supporter and large donor - to run the thing. I don't think Fiona Bruce would still be QT host and Kuenessberg would probably be on Times TV by now if it was more centre/centre left led

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

One of the first things Starmer should do when he gets in is replace the tory donor director and chair of the BBC with left wingers or centrist.

Or ideally someone who is professional (apolitical)

 

[Vic]

Yep that's bollocks.

BBC news is undoubtedly right wing. Most leadership roles are taken up by tory donors.

The TV shows such as comedy / sitcoms etc. are generally left wing because creatives and comedians are most often left wing.

What about Alan B'Stard? He was right wing.