Corporate Media

The most embarrassing news interview ever

If anyone wonders what’s wrong with the mainstream media and why we at BSNews have devoted so much of our lives to shouting about it, just have a gander at Kirsty Wark interviewing Glen Greenwald on Newsnight about the Snowden revelations. Have a wild guess at why Greenwald is so obviously filled with contempt for her ‘ludicrous’ line of questioning. And dwell on the question: why did Glen have to remind Kirsty several times that, as a journalist, it’s not a good idea to blindly accept government statements as fact.

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UK Media Helps Pave Road to War on Syria

The BBC reported again on Monday 6 May that ‘Western powers have said their own investigations have found evidence that government forces have used chemical weapons’. Again, this is simply not the case. ‘Western powers’, regardless of their true intentions, have in fact been very cautious in public about how precisely they present their claims, underscoring the lack of conclusive evidence they have found and that there exists the possibility that chemical weapons had been used by the Syrian government. This misrepresentation by the BBC emerges in a context in which the use of chemical weapons has been signified by the UK and US as the point at which they may become militarily involved in the Syrian conflict. As such these details, so easily misrepresented by the BBC, are of high consequence.

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The Guardian of What?: The Media and War Propaganda

The Guardian sells itself as the global beacon of liberal opinion. It is liberal on social issues and alongside the chatterers, it has some excellent political correspondents and commentators, notably Gary Younge and Seamas Milne. As liberals themselves, its readers around the world must think they are on safe ground when quoting from the Guardian but if so, where the Middle East is concerned, they are deluding themselves.

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A note from Roger Waters: To My Colleagues in Rock and Roll

Nigel Kennedy the virtuoso British violinist and violist, at The Recent Promenade Concerts at The Albert Hall in London, mentioned that Israel is apartheid. Nothing unusual there you might think, then one Baroness Deech, (Nee Fraenkel) disputed the fact that Israel is an apartheid state and prevailed upon the BBC to censor Kennedy’s performance by removing his statement. Baroness Deech produced not one shred of evidence to support her claim and yet the BBC, non political, supposedly, acting solely on Baroness Deech’s say so, suddenly went all 1984 on us.

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Sun newspaper criticised for “comedy” reporting of animal abuse in UK zoo

“The mistreatment of animals can all-too-often be normalised in our society and we regularly see newspapers reporting “cute” or “funny” stories about animals in which the individual animal’s welfare may be compromised. I must say, though, I have never read a news report which takes a clear example of animal abuse, and a potential breach of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and twists it into an attempt to gain cheap laughs from its readership. A person punching, hitting or otherwise attacking an animal is never funny. I am surprised and saddened that a newspaper like the Sun, which has strongly supported animal protection campaigns in the past, has chosen to highlight a serious incident in this thoughtless manner”

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Baby arrival – royal commands and media expectations

By John Hilley (Zen Politics) A ‘royal baby’ has, apparently, arrived. So announce the BBC, head media midwife, delivering the news that ‘really matters’. And with it, chief royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell’s truly excruciating ‘welcome to baby Cambridge’: “As baby Cambridge’s life progresses, he will need to do what his father, grandfather and great-grandmother have all attempted to do – that is to earn respect […]

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The Guardian UK: Guardian of the Truth, or, Guardian of the Establishment?

It is not easy to be the one who bears bad news, questions what’s beneath glitzy packaging, or the one who throws cold water on seemingly good news. Trust me it isn’t. We all want to feel good. It is much easier to cheer than to question and criticize. We want heroes. We like pedestals and figures to worship. I don’t know why but it is what it is, and I am who I am- daring to be unpopular with questions that need to be asked and answers that have to be sought.

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Snowden Der Spiegel Interview

Shortly before he became a household name around the world as a whistleblower, Edward Snowden answered a comprehensive list of questions. They originated from Jacob Appelbaum, 30, a developer of encryption and security software. Appelbaum provides training to international human rights groups and journalists on how to use the Internet anonymously.

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Rewriting History – 
Iraq and the BBC Glove Puppets

I watched the first part of the BBC’s ‘History of the Iraq War‘ series, and I have no intention of watching any more, because it won’t do my blood pressure any good by Matt Carr I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a shallow and essentially reverential piece of telehistory. Within ten minutes I was ready to scream with frustration […]

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