But for how long? On 19 May, the Tory motion to freeze any increase in the BBC licence fee was defeated by 334 to 150 votes in the House of Commons. The compulsory tax of £11.62 per month on every household with a TV or radio, enforced by highly democratic ‘we know where you live’ [...]
Tag Archives: BBC
Israel lobby victorious as BBC refuses to help with humanitarian appeal
January 25, 2009 – 6:21 pm
In a display of lip-curling spinelessness, the BBC has refused to air the non-aligned Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Humanitarian Aid to the victims of the Gaza conflict. Other UK (commercial) TV channels, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, have agreed to air the appeal. Sky Television is considering its position. (UPDATE: unsurprisingly, Sky has [...]
Update: Israeli reservists move in for the endgame as Gaza leaves the front pages
January 12, 2009 – 12:51 pm
Tony Blair has come back from yet another much-needed holiday and New Year at his multi-million pound country seat, formerly owned by that other consummate actor, Sir John Geilgud, to go through the motions with beacon of democracy, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, earning his corn with insights such as: ”I am hopeful we can put [...]
I know nothing at first hand about Gaza so I should stop commenting . . . . . . .
January 8, 2009 – 9:56 am
. . .and it would be a good idea if other people did the same. However, I do know a bit about media. It is pointless of Israel to complain about the possible bias of quoted ’sources in Gaza’ from the world’s news gatherers if they employ totalitarian tactics (selectively used by the US in [...]
Credit crunch contrition from the commentariat
This morning an Editorial Intelligence (EI) briefing on ‘The Credit Crunch Commentariat‘ debated whether the media had talked us into recession or had downplayed the crisis and thus exacerbated its impact. “What, pray, is all the fuss about?” wrote Ex Economist editor, Bill Emmott, in the Guardian in August 2008. “Unemployment is down, the economy is [...]