here's one for you answerbok

[TRINITY]

Who believes that bbc et all give real news that is to say not censored or played with. For example, the latest war shows the west as right in going to war and the news reflects this but is it realistic?

[KEJ2000]

I think the BBC is slightly more down-to-earth and less sensational in its reporting than some of the American news networks, at least. One can watch both the "BBC World News" and the US news programs on TV here in the USA, and I often do, to get the other perspective. You could always also watch Al Jazeera news to see what their perspective is (if you have satellite TV; it isn't regularly broadcast in the USA), but I have the feeling their TV is even more censored and played-with than the Western news. Arab countries were not founded with free speech as an esteemed principle, as ours were.
I'm curious what everyone else thinks, too!

[Quizmonster]

The BBC's coverage of the Hutton Inquiry has been quite hilarious. (I say that whilst recognising the sadness behind the matter.) Despite constantly criticising the Government's "culture of spin", the BBC has spun the daily news from Court 73 like a demented top-master!

Anything that puts the Corporation in a bad light...and there has been plenty of that...has been wildly played down and anything that seems critical of Government just as manically played up. Try to catch the reports of Nicholas Witchell on the 1pm bulletin, for example, once the Hutton nonsense restarts...then decide whether they believe in 'censorship' or 'playing with' the news! (If you're not familiar with his presentation-style, you'll need to get used to listening to someone who speaks in individual words, rather than sentences or even phrases, such as the rest of us do.)

[answerbok]

thx TRINITY, well i would say listen to Michael Meecher [sp] like why spend all that money and effort on Saddam when Mugabe is much worse and deserving of the planet police intervention, but no, he don't got the oil.

[boognish76]

One thing that bothers me about the BBC is the way they often make up 'news'. They will commission a survey and then report on the findings of the survey as if it were an exclusive that their investigative journalists have managed to uncover! I realise that they have multiple 24 hour tv and radio channels to fill but do they think that we don't know the difference between real news and magazine articles?

[Quizmonster]

Today's (Wed 10/9/03) One-o'clock BBC News was a classic of the sort I mentioned in my earlier response! It opened with - and spent 1/3 of the half-hour on - an 'Evening Standard' report that Mr Hoon, the Defence Secretary, had concealed information from a Commons Committee. (The Middle East is in flames, we'd just had the first Prime Minister's Questions of this parliamentary session and the TUC conference is up-in-arms...but were they headlines? Not for the BBC.)

Now, the 'Standard' is known to be a Government-hating newspaper and its report was based on a supposed leak. The Committee's own report is due to be published tomorrow (Thur 11) so was it impossible for the BBC to wait less than 24 hours and see whether the 'Standard' had got it right or wrong?

It may well be that it is true and Mr Hoon really is in trouble, but why the rush to lay blame where possibly none is due?

It is truly appalling from a supposedly unbiased news organisation. What would be really fascinating - for me at least - would be for the newspaper report to be shown tomorrow to be mistaken. Might I then expect ten minutes of grovelling apology from the BBC with footage of a 'relaxed' Defence Secretary instead of an 'embattled' or beleaguered' one, which is how they generally describe him? Some hope!

[TRINITY]

Quizmonster I wholly agree with your train of thought the BBC are to quick to dramatise and belittle real news issues it's like watching eastenders not getting a global persepective of news and happrnings. I dread to think what they are going to say about the WTO summit which began today in Cancun.

[archbishop]

What annoys me about The BBC is that I am forced to pay whether I watch or not. The BBC is supposed to be a public service which it isn't.