Saturday, January 31, 2009

Explaining BBC "neutrality".

It is no consequence that the BBC is often lauded as the best news source on the globe. It is the BBC's organizational structure which derives so much respect for the station all over the world, portraying the BBC as a publicly funded network, independent of the government.

The BBC is funded by the tax payer through TV licensing and Foreign Office funds. According to Wikipedia, "The licence fee represents approximately 75% of the BBC's income with most of the rest coming from the sale of its programming overseas and other business allied to broadcasting such as publishing."

The BBC has to justify receiving public funding, and showing (or pretending to show) neutrality its a primary way of doing so. Failing to do so jeopardizes their justification for charging the British public a TV licensing fee. If BBC bias is brought to widespread public attention, they would face extreme difficulty in procuring continued funds from the public. This is why the BBC spent £200,000 of Tax Payers money to quash independent reports of anti-Israel bias.

This is elaborated by BBC Watch's home page statement:

...the BBC consistently fails to adhere to its legal obligations to produce impartial and accurate reporting. Our systematic, objective and rigorous research points to the firm conclusion that the BBC frequently displays marked and consistent pro-Palestinian bias...

If the BBC were to provide a pro-Hamas charity with free advertising space, it would run the risk of being too anti-Israel to justify its public funding. Furthermore, as a result of not allowing this advertisement, the BBC is enjoying being publicly lambasted by pro-Hamas activists all over the country. Such complaints act as a counterweight against reports showing its consistent anti-Israel bias, and are therefore awarding the BBC with an illusion of neutrality and help justify its continued use of public funds.

On another note...

Israel is still being attacked by Hamas - but the world is silent. The message: Israel can be attacked, but must not fight back.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Middle and high school students in Korea voted miss A’s Suzy and IU as two female celebrities who seem to be bad at math.

On August 17th, K-Stem, an institute that conducts a scholastic ability test in mathematics, announced the result of the survey asking 220 students to vote for the celebrities who seem to be good/bad at math.

For the category asking student to vote for celebrities who seem to be good at math, actress Kim Tae Hee ranked first with Find me a jobfake watchphotographer in BerkshireOyunlarjob tracking softwareOyunlarrolex replicascool t shirtsintercom installationSmall Business For Saleeuro 2012 bettingkitty houseerp softwareCheap Hosted Exchangecash advancetin gasoline signsSolar panels Dundeeromantic giftkitty treeswesternwear store online
43.4% of the votes, and Lee Seung Gi followed with 30.9% of the votes. According to the students, “Lee Seung Gi looks smart and intelligent” and “Kim Tae Hee went to Seoul National University, she is smart for real.”

On the other hand, for celebrities who seem to be bad at math, Boom ranked first with 45.15% of votes, followed by female idols Suzy and IU who received 29.1% and 22.9% of votes respectively.