why the bbc is going down the pan

[bluescreen]

It's a piss poor excuse for a WatO subject, is my point. Of course asparagus can do no such thing, any more than that poor octopus could -remember him? It baffles me that anyone can entertain such nonsense, let alone the BBC give it airtime.

Paul the Octopus - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[danny la rouge]

It's a piss poor excuse for a WatO subject, is my point. Of course asparagus can do no such thing, any more than that poor octopus could -remember him? It baffles me that anyone can entertain such nonsense, let alone the BBC give it airtime.

Paul the Octopus - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Indeed. We are in firm agreement.

 

[skyscraper101]

Reporter in the newsroom on the BBC News channel talking about the Southport stabbings. Kept referring to Dunblane in 1996 as one of the 'rare' incidences of mass stabbings.

But that's factually wrong isn't it? Dunblane was a gun massacre. I had to check Wiki to verify amd check I wasn't misremembering, and it makes no mention of stabbings. It bought in huge changes to gun ownership laws in the UK as a result. I'd have thought most journalists would've known this.

 

[Everything Goes]

Obviously an active legal case....

Huw Edwards charged with making indecent images of children

Former BBC presenter charged with three offences after Met police investigation

www.theguardian.com

 

[stavros]

Showing Andy Murray and The Other Bloke on both BBC1 and the Red Button last night, when I wanted to watch the swimming.

 

[emanymton]

TV junk food ads to be banned before 9pm from next year

Labour has confirmed it will implement the ban that the previous Conservative government committed to.

www.bbc.co.uk

Article about a ban on junk food advertising on TV, with an image of a takeaway burger and chips, because local takeaways advertise on TV all the time.

Side note - I now want a take away burger

 

[equationgirl]

Reporter in the newsroom on the BBC News channel talking about the Southport stabbings. Kept referring to Dunblane in 1996 as one of the 'rare' incidences of mass stabbings.

But that's factually wrong isn't it? Dunblane was a gun massacre. I had to check Wiki to verify amd check I wasn't misremembering, and it makes no mention of stabbings. It bought in huge changes to gun ownership laws in the UK as a result. I'd have thought most journalists would've known this.

Dunblane absolutely was a gun massacre.

 

[elbows]

I've always found it pretty hilarious whenever the BBC World Service is discussed by our own news organisations or the BBC themselves, and this is no exception:

BBC boss warns of Russian and Chinese propaganda after World Service cuts

The UK is losing out because of cuts to the World Service, the BBC's director general warns.

www.bbc.co.uk

Hilarious because they want to talk about other countries propaganda and the UK losing out, without explicitly acknowledging this services own function as propaganda. And these sorts of stories usually have government funding as a component. It can be an awkward balancing act to pull this sort of thinking off, and they probably only manage to do so because our media and populations are used to this stuff being in a sort of 'known but unmentionable in polite society' category, laced with euphemisms and the unequal application of standards. We are used to propaganda about our own propaganda not being called propaganda.

They can only manage to write pieces in this way at all because we arent supposed to openly think of the modern form of UK propaganda as being propaganda. Helped by the fact that this type of propaganda relies heavily on building up the credibility of the news organisation over an incredibly long period of time, of being able to claim a high degree of credibility and lack of bias, which you can then use to your advantage. In contrast to the far more vulgar forms of propaganda that we traditionally associate with the likes of the Russia.

The wikipedia article that discusses the origins of the BBC, and the general strike of 1926, offers some stuff of ongoing relevance:

Although Winston Churchill in particular wanted to commandeer the BBC to use it "to the best possible advantage", Reith wrote that Stanley Baldwin's government wanted to be able to say "that they did not commandeer [the BBC], but they know that they can trust us not to be really impartial".[28] Thus the BBC was granted sufficient leeway to pursue the government's objectives largely in a manner of its own choosing. Supporters of the strike nicknamed the BBC the BFC for British Falsehood Company. Reith personally announced the end of the strike which he marked by reciting from Blake's "Jerusalem" signifying that England had been saved.

While the BBC tends to characterise its coverage of the general strike by emphasising the positive impression created by its balanced coverage of the views of government and strikers, Seaton has characterised the episode as the invention of "modern propaganda in its British form".[21]: 117  Reith argued that trust gained by 'authentic impartial news' could then be used. Impartial news was not necessarily an end in itself.

from BBC - Wikipedia

(Seaton being Jean Seaton, Professor of Media History at the University of Westminster and the Official Historian of the BBC)

 

[planetgeli]

I am currently watching a news story about the winner of a Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest. I have no idea who JAW is. The second question was "Did you have to travel to Chicago for the contest or do you live there?". "Did you have to act like JAW or was it just your looks?"

 

[Happy Tree]

I think Steven Spielberg did a biopic of him. I remember something about him wanting a bigger boat.

 

[Serge Forward]

I am currently watching a news story about the winner of a Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest. I have no idea who JAW is. The second question was "Did you have to travel to Chicago for the contest or do you live there?". "Did you have to act like JAW or was it just your looks?"

Looked him up and he was in the US version of Shameless. Only ever saw the Mancunian original though, so lost on me. He was in other US programmes which I've also never seen. Maybe afficionados of US telly will know him but I doubt he's a household name over here. So how the fuck is this News? I suspect a jolly.

 

[Lurdan]

Seems to be a 'human interest' story. The actor is apparently in some popular show on Disney+.
Jeremy Allen White lookalike crowned in Chicago - BBC News

As a prize, Mr Shabad received $50 and a pack of cigarettes – a nod to Berzatto’s heavy smoking in the series. (...) The lookalike competition was organised by Chicago roommates Kelsey Cassaro and Taylor Vaske. The pair were inspired by the success of similar events in recent weeks for other celebrities including Dev Patel and Paul Mescal. (..) It appears the celebrity doppelganger craze is not yet over, with Saturday's event just the latest in a string of competitions across the country.

Don't really see how this is an example of the BBC going down the drain. Did they not give us the skateboarding duck?

 

[krtek a houby]

Looked him up and he was in the US version of Shameless. Only ever saw the Mancunian original though, so lost on me. He was in other US programmes which I've also never seen. Maybe afficionados of US telly will know him but I doubt he's a household name over here. So how the fuck is this News? I suspect a jolly.

He's excellent in The Bear and he's playing Springsteen in a new biopic.

Surprised some people don't know about him, or The Bear but then again, we all have different life experiences. Someone once expressed anger that I wasn't entirely knowledgeable about Italian antifascist history, another was surprised that I didn't know who Sappho was.

I do know that JAW isn't a poet or partisan. Possibly

 

[Serge Forward]

He's excellent in The Bear and he's playing Springsteen in a new biopic.

Surprised some people don't know about him, or The Bear but then again, we all have different life experiences. Someone once expressed anger that I wasn't entirely knowledgeable about Italian antifascist history, another was surprised that I didn't know who Sappho was.

I do know that JAW isn't a poet or partisan. Possibly

Fair enough. That said, I for one am DISGUSTED that you can't wax lyrical on ancient Greek lyric poetry and know little about gli Arditi del Popolo

 

[skyscraper101]

Small boat Channel crossings hit 20,000 under Labour

The Conservatives argue the figures show the need to reinstate their Rwanda deportation scheme.

www.bbc.co.uk

This really irritates me

Latest figures, updated on Monday, show 122 people arrived in two small boats on Sunday, bringing the total since 5 July - when Sir Keir entered Downing Street after Labour's election victory - to 20,110.

"Sir Kier" - can we do without all this forelock-tugging first name shite. Call him Starmer or Kier Starmer FFS. It's like people saying 'Boris' or 'Rishi' just fuck off.

 

[Cerv]

can you imagine the volume of complaint mail they'd get from disgusted of tumbridge wells if they stopped following the centuries old style of address rules?
sir forename, lord surname, etc

 

[skyscraper101]

can you imagine the volume of complaint mail they'd get from disgusted of tumbridge wells if they stopped following the centuries old style of address rules?
sir forename, lord surname, etc

If they must do it then they can at least use the full name. It would bother me a lot less. 'Sir Kier' just sounds a bit overly friendly. Let's just use their full name.

 

[Cloud]

Most viewed article today is the new jaguar.
Headline article is a Elon Musk hit piece.
I rarely look anymore but it seems they are as disengenuinous as ever.

 

[Elpenor]

Anyone taking the Sir title is endorsing all the other wronguns who share that honour

 

[Santino]

Headline article is a Elon Musk hit piece.

Elon Musk the President of South Korea?

 

[Dystopiary]

Spoiler: alt text

[bolded] The dark fandom behind healthcare CEO murder suspect

They came in hoodies, they came in masks

Basically, there were a few young people having a CEO shooter lookalike contest.

It was sparsely attended and seen as a joke by those who did turn up, said Talia Jane, a journalist who was there.

But it underlined an obsession with a murder suspect that has gripped social media since the killing on 4 December, fuelled by latent anger directed at America's private health insurers.

(Bold mine.)

Apparently it's an obsession cos lots of people are glad that CEO guy's dead.

The dark fandom behind CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione

 

[Elpenor]

Trump's original suggestion in 2019 that the US acquire Greenland, which is the world's largest island, led to a similarly sharp rebuke from leaders there.

The then Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederickson, who still holds the role, described the idea as "absurd", leading Trump to cancel a state trip to the country.

Surely the bit in bold could just say “the Danish prime minister Mette Frederickson” as it seems there haven’t been any other prime ministers of Denmark since 2019. it seems redundant to call her both the then prime minister and the current occupant?

Greenland tells Trump it is not for sale

It comes after the US president-elect repeated comments he made in 2019 that he would like to purchase the territory.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[stavros]

We're on our fifth since then, so it's probably worth clarifying stability is possible in a modern European democracy.