BBCWatch Incompetent BBC Fails Again With Bush Reporting Why Should Our News Be Filtered Through State-Owned Organs? Time to bite the bullet – scrap the BBC and start again The BBC, with its hopelessly biased reporting of President Bush’s visit, is proving yet again that it is corrupt from the neck up. Tuesday’s BBCTV 10 pm news had a report from Royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell, who started his report with the ludicrously wide-of-the-mark thought that the visit of President Bush made him one of the most unwelcome guests ever to have been granted a state visit. Bearing in mind that we have had visits from the likes of blood-thirsty Romanian dictator Nicholae Ceausescu, Robert Mugabe, and the Chinese communist leader whose name escapes me, and a string of leaders of mickey-mouse republics who lock up their citizens without trial when they’re not torturing them or killing them, all without a flicker of criticism from the BBC, it is astonishing that Witchell could say something on a prime-time broadcast which was so obviously loopy. How is it that Witchell and his editor take this view, which is demonstrably not echoed by the British people? Unprofessional Even if Witchell and his ilk have negative thoughts about the United States, surely if they were professional newsmen, they would be able to hide this and report the news in an unbiased way. On Monday evening’s primetime 10 pm BBCTV news another reporter ended his report saying that “the Atlantic Alliance now divides Britain.” These people are completely out of touch with public opinion. They really do believe that the bien pensants they suck up to in London really do reflect generally held views. Their journalist colleagues, all hired from the Guardian’s job pages no doubt, also reinforce this perverted view of what the British people think. Paxman Overexcited On Tuesday evening’s News Night on BBC TV, vicious lefty Jeremy Paxman almost burst a blood vessel when former White House speechwriter David Frum suggested that misreporting by the BBC might be responsible for stirring up hatred against America and President Bush. Anyone watching and listening to the BBC’s axe-grinding reporting of the upcoming visit could have told Paxman that this was the case. Rageh And Andrew, BBC’s Finest BBC reporting generally now is often superficial and biased. Just remember how it reported the Iraq war, with coverage typified by the incompetent Rageh Omar and odious lardo Andrew Gilligan (remember him?). Most sensible British citizens love America and all it stands for, and feel only respect for George Dubya. They remember the American blood spilt in two world wars to defend our freedom. They remember President Ronald Reagan’s (with some help from a certain Margaret Thatcher) efforts in the 1980s to face down the cold war Soviet threat. They remember how the useful idiots of the left did everything they could to undermine this. Take Action, Or Wait To Be Hit? It’s A No Brainer Now, most British voters realise that there are two options in the fight against terrorism in general and the war with Iraq in particular. You can sit back, wring your hands, and say we can do nothing unless a bunch of corrupt dictators at the U.N. say it is OK. These people, like Clare Short and George Galloway, would have us wait for nuclear bombs to land on London before they would concede that action was finally justified. Or you can take pre-emptive action. That’s what the U.S., with help from Britain and the other allies have done. Of course it is risky and unpleasant. But it has to be done if our civilisation is to survive. Break It Up, Sell It Off The BBC is again trying to undermine this generally held view. How can we, the license fee-paying public, insist that the BBC shapes up and reports without bias and with balance? It’s not hard to do. I personally did it for more than 30 years with Reuters, the international news agency. I fear though that the disease at the BBC has gone too far for any tinkering. The only way is end the ludicrous license fee and break up the whole rotten edifice. Break it up and sell it off. Neil Winton, November 20, 2003 Top