“If
you’re not careful the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being
oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing” (Malcolm
X)
“The mass media serve as a system for
communicating messages and symbols to the general populace. It is their
function to amuse, entertain, and inform, and to inculcate individuals with the
values, beliefs, and codes of behavior that will integrate them into the
institutional structures of the larger society. In a world of concentrated
wealth and major conflicts of class interest, to fulfil this role requires
systematic propaganda.” (Edward S.
Herman and Noam Chomsky (1995) Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media)
Like many, many people I
complained to the BBC following a Newsnight edition in mid-March during the days following the Sailsbury poisoning. I’ve complained about BBC TV and radio before. This time I kept it short:
Biased and offensive representation of LOTO Jeremy Corbyn re
current concerns over Russia, spy poisoning and Russian money in UK. Inaccurate
representation of Corbyn’s response, lack of serious attention given to the
Conservatives' monetary relationship with Russia. Bias all heightened with
backdrop and photo shopping of Corbyn's hat. Disgraceful.
The BBC's reply to me – the same as to every complainer and the one also printed on the BBC website – included:
Newsnight is a late night current affairs programme with a
distinctive style and the picture sat firmly within its long-running tradition
of arresting graphics, applied to all types of stories. The backdrop was used
earlier in the year, when the Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, was
similarly superimposed. Mr Corbyn has been photographed wearing this particular
hat and coat many times, and they were not in any way altered or ‘photoshopped’
to appear ‘more Russian.’
After reading on twitter that those who
wrote back, insisting that this generic response did not satisfy their concerns,
once again received a one-size-fits-all dismissive reply, I wrote:
I am not satisfied with your response to my original complaint
or with the general response on your website. The backdrop was obviously used
differently in this case than when used with Gavin Williamson MP. Why not a
picture of Mr Corbyn in a suit and tie? Why was his image redenned? If his hat
was not 'photoshopped' which I find hard to believe why was not more care taken
with the image? Additionally the analysis was hardly unbiased, particularly the
introduction by Andrew Neil. I know, as
this has already happened to me and others following other similar complaints,
that you will not take this seriously and will send me a 'we have nothing to
add' response. Please prove me wrong before my dwindling respect for a once
valued broadcasting company falls even further.
BUT of course I received the
same reply as everyone else:
We have explained in as much detail as we can at this stage of
the complaints process, and we have nothing to add to our previous response. (emphasis added)
Laugh, I nearly chocked on a mouth full of propaganda and hypocrisy.
For some days before and in the days that have
followed the mainstream media (TV and print) attacks on Jeremy Corbyn have been
relentless. Everything he says and does is dissected and analysed, lots of
things he has not done or has not said are nevertheless attributed to him and dissected
and analysed. There is little space for alternative voices and views. I have no wish to give any more energy to such pieces but I'll reference one, plus a couple of twitter responses, to demonstrate just how hysterical and ridiculous some of the coverage has become. The headline:
How on Earth did we our civilization get from
Jesus Christ to Jeremy Corbyn (Charles Moore, The Telegraph 30th March 2018)
And the responses:
And the responses:
David Schneider (actor, writer,
director) @davidschneider: . . . there really isn’t much
of a journey from a man who stood up for the poor and oppressed to a man who
stands up for the poor and oppressed.
IanB #NHSLove @ijbrads66: … give me strength, the absolute
state of this. A man whose (sic) spent his whole life promoting justice,
equality and peace is now the anti-Christ.
Aggressive mainstream media attacks on Mr Corbyn and Labour are not new of course. And there has been already been a fulsome critique. For example see:
AND
And see this piece I wrote
in the run up to the General Election in June 2017:
http://arwenackcerebrals.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/whats-propaganda-got-to-do-with-it-turn.html
http://arwenackcerebrals.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/whats-propaganda-got-to-do-with-it-turn.html
And yet here we are again.
Whilst the attention is all on Labour and its Leader there are many, many other things being pushed down or off the ‘news’ agenda. Just now and not least:
- Aggregate IQ was doing similar work for the Vote Leave campaign,
according to campaign finance reports first published by BuzzFeed in the aftermath of the referendum. Christopher
Wylie, a former research director for Cambridge Analytica who has become a
whistleblower, testified before the British Parliament’s media committee that
he helped set up Aggregate IQ and that it mixed funding and work for Vote Leave
and BeLeave in violation of election laws. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/did-brexit-campaigners-cheat-and-if-they-did-what-does-that-mean/2018/03/30/5aae90aa-329f-11e8-b6bd-0084a1666987_story.html?utm_term=.2b0c67efb981
-
Palestinian
officials say 15 people have now been killed [risen to 18 on 2.4.18] in a day of
protest on the Gaza border, with nine shot dead by Israeli army fire and a
farmer killed in a separate incident involving pre-dawn tank fire. In what was the deadliest day for
the ongoing conflict since clashes in Gaza last autumn, the Palestinian health
ministry said at least another 1,000 Palestinians were injured by a combination
of tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and live rounds. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/farmer-killed-israel-latest-gaza-strip-west-bank-hamas-protests-mass-sit-ins-benjamin-netanyahu-a8281116.html
-
Theresa
May has dropped or shelved 40% of her party’s 2017 election manifesto,
prompting accusations that she has become the “do nothing” prime minister. Analysis by the Labour Party
reveals that of the 447 commitments in the Tory manifesto, 181 have been
ditched or kicked into the long grass — the equivalent of four promises a week
since it was published last May. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/do-nothing-pm-dodges-181-election-vows-says-labour-cmlq00nkp
-
Malnourished pupils with grey skin are "filling
their pockets" with food from school canteens in poor areas due to
poverty, head teachers say. The
heads, from various parts of England and Wales, described differences in the
appearance of some pupils. One head
said: "My children have grey skin, poor teeth, poor hair; they are thinner." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-43611527
- Boris Johnson is facing questions over a
conversation he recounted with Porton Down officials about the Salisbury
attack. The Foreign Secretary was urged
to explain the answer he gave when asked why he was certain the novichok nerve
agent originated in Russia. On Tuesday, Britain's military research unit revealed to Sky News it was not yet able to establish where the substance used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal was made. Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, said
scientists had not "identified the precise source". (AND SEE BELOW*)
As I have written previously (with both social research
and the media in mind):
There is nothing wrong with politically committed journalism, be it in
comment or reportage, legacy media or new. The point is to be open and
honest with one’s audience about those commitments. (added
emphasis)
http://arwenackcerebrals.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/bias-truth-trust-what-media-can-learn.html
http://arwenackcerebrals.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/bias-truth-trust-what-media-can-learn.html
Sadly, miserably, print and TV (including the BBC) media openness and
honesty seems to be in short supply at the moment. Just last night a main story (yet again) on the BBC news was the activities of Mr Corbyn. This time his attendance at a Jewish group's Passover celebrations. The newsreader reported that Jewdas 'has argued that there is no problem of antisemitism in Labour'. As several people have pointed this is not true which given the importance and sensitivity of the current debate is unforgivable. I've written another complaint:
I wonder (ha!) what the BBC response will be this time ....
*PS: And then last evening this happened
Inaccurate
reporting of the values of Jewdas. It is very easy to find out that they have
not as reported by you 'argued that there is no problem of antisemitism in
Labour'. This is not only inaccurate reporting but also deeply insensitive and
insulting. Unforgivable BBC. Please apologise.
I wonder (ha!) what the BBC response will be this time ....
*PS: And then last evening this happened
EXCLUSIVE ‘SMOKING GUN’ VIDEO: BBC TRYING TO HELP BORIS JOHNSON KEEP HIS JOB #SACKBORISJOHNSON
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