Right-leaning media watchers have an excellently developed
ability to select facts that bear out their worst fear: that rotten lefties are
taking over our broadcasters, and especially the BBC. So when anyone connected
to a right-leaning paper, or the Tory Party, works for the hated Beeb, this is
either ignored, or classed as “balance”,
while anyone remotely left-leaning is the cue for frothing and ranting.
This has been superbly illustrated as the BBC overhauls its
news gathering and reporting capability: James Harding arriving from the
Murdoch Times as head of news was
virtually ignored. But when Ian Katz became editor of Newsnight – a BBC2 show which frequently garners little more than a
million viewers – his coming from the deeply subversive Guardian was greeted with horror.
Moreover, the presence of Chris Patten at the head of the
BBC Trust, Daily Mail contributor
John Humphrys, and Andrew “Brillo Pad”
Neil, is brushed aside as a mere inconvenience. So the scene was set for Newsnight – yes, it’s that show again – to
announce that its new economics editor was to be Duncan Weldon. The screams
from the right were long and loud.
Why so? Ah well. Weldon had stood as a Labour council
candidate in 2010! He had once advised Harriet Harman! He had been an economist
for the Trades Union Congress! His blog had criticised the Coalition’s economic
policy! He had a beard! OK I made the last one up, but give it time. As Sir
Sean nearly said, I think we got the point. The rant squad went into action.
James Chapman at the Mail
was
as dependable as ever: “a former
Labour adviser with barely any journalistic experience ... Tories expressed
astonishment ... it did little to dispel the impression that there is ‘a
revolving door’ between the Left and the BBC”. Harding did not merit a
mention. Neither did the recent appointment of Kamal Ahmed, former Sunday Telegraph business editor.
So who were the Tories expressing astonishment? These
consisted of one anonymous “source”,
one MP (Andrew Bridgen once again on duty), plus the loathsome Toby Young. So
not much astonishment, then. And the alleged “long line” of left-leaning Newsnight
economics editors appears to consist solely of Paul Mason. That did not stop
the Telegraph joining
in the frothing.
Once again, the right-leaning part of the press plays both
sides of the field: on the one hand, they knock Newsnight for its small audiences, then when the show takes on
board someone they don’t approve of, it becomes one of the most important
programmes broadcast anywhere in the world. This is not only hypocrisy in
action, but also a complete waste of time and effort.
After all, Harding signed off on Weldon’s appointment. Not that they’re telling you.
3 comments:
No comment from Nick Robinson - BBC political editor?
"At university he was President of the Oxford University Conservative Association;[6] in 1986, he spent a year as national chairman of the Young Conservatives,[4] and earned the nickname "Blue Robbo", in reference to Derek Robinson, a trade union spokesman who was known as "Red Robbo" (wikitruths - hah!)
I don't think he is particularly biased in his job but to suggest the BBC is totally left wing is about as comical as a Louise Mensch tweet(damn, forgot I was trying to avoid mentioning shewholikestobenamedandshamed - another Lent fast broken).
I'm fed up with all this. "But... LEFT!" isn't a proper argument. There's never room in these Mail/Telegraph etc. stories to explain precisely why it is so abhorrent, if at all.
@ Darren Leathley 12.40 15th March
Sorry!
Proper argument "contains little more than ad hominem attacks, contradiction, and does not contribute to critical thinking" according to most political circles.
Which is in direct contrast to the definition accorded by Monty Python after the OED viz ""An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition".
Just to add to the comical nature of attacks on the BBC.
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