In a recent post about The Fall of The Wall, I asked the question how has it been for the former communist countries. The press cuttings to yer right seem to answer the question; not that good, from what various academics from these countries have been saying to the press, but at least they now have a free press and right to expression. The newspapers and the media are a funny old beast. Check out the other cuttings were last week one paper went from saying on one day that, Babies born in 1948 were the luckiest generation to telling us on another day how the same generation who are now in their 60’s suffer more illness, doesn’t sound very lucky to me. Another paper reported that 1948 was the most fortunate year to be born, because the launch of the NHS meant ‘cradle to grave’ care. Irony or bullshit? I dunno, but these baby boomers are the cross in the box the political parties wanna get. How they gonna get their support? Through the media of course and people like Rupert Murdoch and his Sun and their ‘free press media empire’ sticking the boot into the BBC. Yeah the presenters, directors etc are often paid obscene amounts of money while licence fee payers struggle to make ends meet. But the same goes for ITV as well, it’s just that people pay in a different way; by buying the shit that the station advertises. If people didn’t buy, companies wouldn’t advertise and ITV would have no money to overpay its presenters. I begrudge paying my licence fee, not because of the BBC’s excesses, but because of ITV’s adverts.
Then there’s the quality. Last nights (17th Nov) leading news story on ITV was about the yacht couple who’ve been kidnapped by pirates and how conditions for them are worsening. I’ve already let my feelings known about this couple of idiots, who ignored advice and sailed into dangerous waters. The BBC however choose to lead with a story about mobile phone companies selling their customers personal data to other businesses. These unfortunate people had no choice. I know which story I find more concerning and news worthy.
We need the BBC otherwise there will be no balance in news reporting and no one to question anything, I mean were are ITV’s Newsnight, Politics Show and Question Time ? A lack of these sort of political debate programs is as dangerous to our Democracy as having a free press was to Communism.
1 comment:
You neglected to mention Channel 4 News, which I have generally found far more enlightening and righteous than any BBC news programme. Comparing ITV news with the BBC is an apples and oranges debate, but I see your general point.
Watched the BBC news last night. They handed over to ‘Our Chief Political Correspondent’. Who In the pecking order presumably comes above ’Our Political Correspondent’, but below ‘Our Deputy Political Editor’, who in tern comes below ‘Our Chief Political Editor’. All of whom are most probably working on the same story and genuflecting to MP’s in the ‘Westminster village‘ as the do so.
The BBC has become way too big, and we are paying through the nose for fawning, overpaid idiots, like these. It’s full of self regarding presenters and journalists, the majority of who have been around way too long, and, if they were in any other job, would have been asked to move on years ago.
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