The BBC, IDS, Leveson and Media Bias

I quite like one Conservative politician, and the one I quite like is Iain Duncan-Smith.

"Bloody BBC - They can't even supply a piano!"

In my defence, he's not a proper Tory. He's a sort of reforming, liberal, socialist Tory, really, although I doubt he'd thank me for describing him thus. Why on earth the Cameronian-Osbornites continue to give him a seat at cabinet is beyond me, unless it's just to have someone to blame, like they're waiting to blame Hague for everything because he's from Yorkshire and is rumoured to have once drunk pints of keg bitter in a mis-spent youth at Rotherham; shortly after he sucked up to Thatcher but before he messed up as the party leader and was photographed trying to look cool in a baseball cap with a boy.

IDS, however, has a near uniqueness around the cabinet (and shadow cabinet) table in that he once had a proper job. He was a soldier. OK, it was in the posh Scots Guards for only six years and he was an aide-de-camp to a General after he got his commission from Sandhurst. His was not a hugely distinguished military career but it was, at least, a proper job. And his other, and definitely unique quality as a member of our government, is that he is 'Yonsei', which I learn is a fourth generation Nikkei (his great grandmother was Japanese). And he's not to keen on the Frogs and Krauts, apparently.

The evil Flanders grooms her next, unsuspecting victim....

Now IDS, despite his "quiet man" epithet, can sometimes cause a ripple or two. He could never be described as the sort of chap that people might think as someone who might get a bit cross, but he has. Last week, he "went off one one" about the BBC. And with good reason, too. He's complained (formally) to the BBC's Director of News, Helen Boaden. Hers is an unfortunate job title, as it might suggest that she "directs" the news, rather than ensures that it is 'reported". She is not an editor, although there are plenty of job titles within the BBC News department that are so described. IDS's complaint is that the BBC has not been impartial - as its charter requires. IDS has singled out certain hacks within the BBC, such as Stephanie Flanders, for "dumping on" the government by highlighting all the crap stuff and then spinning any "good news" to make it sound bad, because the BBC hates the Tories and does not support their coalition with that other party, led by that other bloke. And he's right to complain that the BBC does this, because that's not their job - it's mine! I have freedom of speech, thankfully, and so does the rest of the Fourth Estate and we should be grateful for that. But the BBC is supposedly funded by those diminishing numbers of people in the UK that are required to pay a fee for the privilege of watching television. And that means that the BBC must remain impartial. Sky, ITN, Fox News, MSNBC and all the others can do what the hell they like...and they do. And IDS's point is that the BBC seems to be joining the ranks of a populist, political media that has "agendas".

Mark Thompson, the out-going DG of the BBC, has done nothing to stem the tide of partial reporting at the BBC during his term of office and, like many other observers, I doubt that George Entwistle will perform any differently. The news bulletins from the BBC, on the 'prima-facie' of it, do report the 'news'. But scratch the surface and the partiality becomes obvious. As well as partial reporting, there are some BBC hacks that are so prone to schadenfreude that it's embarrassing. I'm sure that Nick Robinson is a very clever bloke but doesn't he just love it when a politician screws up? Paxman has changed from a respected 'Grand Inquisitor' into a circus side-show, late in the evening with rapidly disappearing viewing numbers, reduced to being expected excoriate junior ministers for no other reason than...he can (and that his editor told him to, maybe). The current crop of political 'editors' and journos at the Beeb are beginning to make John Humphreys' interviews appear balanced.

"Bloody BBC - They can't even supply an I-pad!"

Naturally, nothing will come of IDS's complaint, because MPs (even the cabinet minister variety) are so reviled by the general public, the media and by institutions like the BBC that they aren't allowed to complain about anything anymore, even if they have good reason. And that revulsion has largely come about because of the parliamentary 'expenses scandal'; the one that involved only a few MPs (and not IDS) and was so long ago now that it doesn't matter anymore. It's paradoxical that some elements of the public and most of the media get more agitated about an MP claiming a few quid for a duck-house or an HD TV than they do about parliament sanctioning multi-billions of pounds being spent on extra debt and nuclear weapons. Perhaps it's because they'd like a free telly themselves rather than a plutonium warhead.

So what's worse: deliberately misinforming the public or hacking a phone to expose something naughty that just might actually be in the public interest? I know it's not that simple. But, as governments seem to be unable to do their job without every tiniest action being media-examined to death for whiffs of intrigue, manifesto u-turns or plain stupidity, isn't it only right and proper that governments can challenge the reporters on the grounds of ensuring fairness and reasonableness? Apparently not. The Press Complaints Commission has been shown to be as toothless as Paul Dacre wishes it to be and the DCMS's Regulatory Framework is equally useless. The BBC is required to act on complaints, provided that enough people complain. So, as IDS is probably a lone voice from the green benches...well, draw your own conclusions. Let's see what La Boaden comes up with. That's only fair and reasonable, too.

Leveson's wish to censure the press has been trailed by the Indy editor, Chris Blackhurst. The "Rule 13" letter that Lord Justice Leveson has sent to all of the national newspapers is, apparently, one hundred pages of criticism of the Fourth Estate that Blackhurst sees as the judge simply loading the gun that he'll fire when the report is out. If Blackhurst is to be believed, then Leveson has produced a "damning indictment" of the industry and has done so without balancing his pronouncements with all of the good things about the papers. Petards come to mind, I suppose.

"Here's my Rule 13 Letter, in this tube...
and I'm going to deliver it Mr Blackhurst dressed
like this! It's great being a Lord Justice!"

Everyone involved, from critics, judges, hacks and the public all seem to agree on one fundamental point, however, which is that a 'Free Press' is important and one of the hallmarks of a democracy. One only has to look at Russia, North Korea, China and Burma to see the truth of that.

Maybe the BBC should start a new rolling news outlet; "Wiki-Beeb"? Just stick the news out there on its web-pages and we can all change the news to suit our prejudices or just to make it more fun; even IDS, should he choose to.

Today's BBC News webpages have some headlines that I've altered through adding/deleting/changing one letter of one word, and have run the articles as I see them...

Sport: Swansea accept new Sinclair bit:
Swansea FC have taken delivery of a new bit of Scott Sinclair. It seems that this important bit had gone missing somewhere in the closed season and the Premiership club was delighted to have got it back, as it will immeasurably increase the player's sale value as the transfer-window closes.

Astro-Physics: Millions of black moles spotted:
Nasa has announced that a large proportion of outer space is made up of moles; millions of them. This came as a surprise to Professor Brian Cox, who said that, "...whilst the night sky is often poetically described as being a 'velvet dome', I think that Nasa might have got this a bit wrong". Professor Cox has re-formed D-ream and their new single is out now, entitled, 'Things Can Only Get Batter', a New-Romantic homage to fish 'n' chips.

Health: Chocolate may be 'strike shield':
Andrew Lansley has announced that industrial action within the health service can be avoided by giving all members of Unison and PCS bars of chocolate. "This is a major breakthrough in industrial relations", he said, adding, "who'd have thought that the humble flavonoid could have such an impact. If only Mrs Thatcher had known this in the seventies..."

Justice: Could babies' faeces reduce crime?
Justice Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, has come up with a remarkable approach to crime-fighting. Instead of protecting property with expensive alarm systems and G4S security guards (other security companies are available - more so than G4S anyway), studies from Lithuania have shown that smearing nappy contents over everything will deter even the most determined criminals. "Not only that," Clarke enthused, "but think of the land-fill benefits!" Mr Clarke is 98, and should have retired years ago.

Financial: How Eurozone crisps affect you:
The Germa Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has issued some stern warnings on crisps that have been manufactured in the Eurozone. She has asked all Europeans to avoid crisps that have been made from Russian potatoes as they may contain nano-bots. Mrs Merkel, while on a visit to China this week, examined their potatoes and declared them "bot-free vegetables" Mrs Merkel's carer is on holiday.

City News: Barclays faces UFO investigation:
New Barclays CEO, Antony Jenkins, has dismissed Bob Diamond's claim that the Libor scandal only occurred because aliens told him to do it. Jenkins welcomed the UFO investigation saying that it was about time that banks stopped blaming aliens for everything. Jenkins is expected to remain in post for about three days. Chancellor George Osborne was unavailable for comment, having been abducted to the mother-ship for a rectal probing session (to locate brain and voice-box).

"Oooh! Now that's a much better probe!"