BBC must now pay the price for its blatant anti-Conservative bias

Blackleaf

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Why the arrogant, out-of-touch, pompous, left-wing BBC must now pay the price for its blatant anti-Conservative bias,

BBC must now pay the price for its blatant anti-Conservative bias, writes LEO MCKINSTRY


By Leo Mckinstry For The Daily Mail
9 May 2015
Daily Mail

The BBC had a woeful election night. In place of crisp authority, there was an air of incoherence and listlessness.

By giving viewers endless talking heads, it missed most of the extraordinary drama that unfolded miles away from the studio.

With all its resources and experience, the Corporation should have set the gold standard for election coverage.


The BBC had a woeful election night. In place of crisp authority, there was an air of incoherence and listlessness and it missed most of the extraordinary drama of the evening. In fact, more viewers watched election night procceedings on Channel 4

But perhaps its Left-leaning producers were so shaken by the 10pm exit poll which pointed to a large and surprising Tory victory that they were unable to deal with the issues raised.

Nothing highlighted the BBC’s ineptitude more clearly than the decision to give lengthy airtime to that embittered windbag and serial loser Neil Kinnock, whose ramblings were even more disjointed than usual.

At first, former Labour leader Kinnock disputed the official exit poll.

Then, more absurdly, he argued that, if the poll was accurate, voters were guilty of ‘self-delusion’.

And — in the face of an avalanche of positive economic data — he added for good measure that the Tories had destroyed the economy.

This offensive nonsense — which insulted the electorate — was allowed to go virtually unchallenged by David Dimbleby.

No Tory grandee would have been able to get away with such rancid drivel.

But that encapsulates the BBC’s attitude.

It is interesting to note that one of the Corporation’s key executives is James Purnell, a former Labour Cabinet minister.


With all its resources and experience, the Corporation should have set the gold standard for election coverage. Perhaps Left-leaning producers were so shaken by the 10pm exit poll they were unable to deal with anything

Typically, that duplicitous old bully, dodgy dossier compiler and Labour zealot Alastair Campbell was given a front-row seat to spout his partisan views, one of which was the patently false claim that the Tory campaign had ended in failure.

Similarly, viewers caught a glimpse of the incestuous political bubble that operates at Westminster, as correspondents Nick Robinson and Laura Kuenssberg rhapsodised about the wonderful personal qualities of Ed Balls — in reality another bully and social-engineering zealot — after he had lost his seat.

Throughout proceedings Dimbleby, once so sharp, exuded a languid pomposity. Although he began by saying: ‘Results, results, results – that’s what this programme is about,’ this proved to be untrue.

For throughout the rest of its night’s coverage, the BBC — gripped by analysis paralysis — kept missing the exciting big stories, such as Labour’s failure to capture their No 1 target, Warwickshire North.


Throughout the coverage presenter David Dimbleby (pictured) once so sharp, exuded a languid pomposity

As the results filtered through, and the scale of the Tory victory became clear, the BBC seemed to go into official mourning over the phenomenal losses suffered by Labour and the Lib Dems.

It was as if the Corporation, in its despair over the collapse of the Left, believed the whole nation shared its anguish.

Nothing could have been further from the truth, and once more the BBC missed the real story — the remarkable, historic triumph of conservatism.

This abrogation of its responsibility as a public broadcaster will, inevitably, have an effect on its future, as the BBC’s licence fee comes under increasing scrutiny.

Undoubtedly, a new and energised Tory Government will look closely at the issue of whether this Left-leaning, management-heavy behemoth should be subsidised by a compulsory tax on TV viewers.


Cameron and his wife Samantha outside Number 10 yesterday after his surprise election victory


 
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Blackleaf

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Time's up for Election night flat earthers at the BBC: For those who aren't members of the centre-left metropolitan elite, the broadcaster's coverage was surreal, writes TOBY YOUNG


By Toby Young For The Mail On Sunday
10 May 2015
Daily Mail

For those of us who aren’t members of the centre-Left metropolitan elite, it was almost surreal watching the BBC’s army of presenters and so-called ‘experts’ on Thursday night trying to wish away the exit poll that showed Labour and the Lib Dems facing a rout and David Cameron on course to remain in No 10.

They were determined to stick to what they’d already decided was the dominant narrative of the night – the SNP’s success – and ignore the real story unfolding beneath their noses.

Seats that were expected to fall to Labour in what was supposed to be a good night for Ed Miliband’s party were held by Conservative MPs with significant swings in their favour.


Critique and praise: Although Toby Young praises Nick Robinson (above, left) and David Dimbleby (above), he called the BBC's election coverage 'surreal'

It was obvious that something extraordinary was happening, but the BBC had already made up its mind that the Election would see a victory of ‘anti-austerity’ candidates who would join forces to lock David Cameron out of Downing Street.

Anyone relying on the BBC’s coverage of the campaign in the run-up to the Election would have been equally stunned by the exit poll.

For weeks, the expert pollster on BBC's Newsnight, Dr Chris Hanretty, had been confidently predicting a hung parliament and, on Wednesday night, he told viewers the Conservatives would win 281 seats to Labour’s 266.

He even ridiculed Rupert Murdoch on Twitter for predicting the Tories would win 294 seats.

‘I think Rupert had his thumbs on the scales when he read off this forecast,’ he scoffed.


Sky News' former business and politics presenter Jeff Randall described working at the BBC as 'walking into a meeting of the Flat Earth Society'


God knows how much licence-payers’ money the BBC squandered on such crystal-ball gazers. In retrospect, it would have been better off investing in a psychic octopus.

The reason the Election result must have come as such a shock to the high-ups at the BBC is because its coverage of Ed Miliband and Labour has been so sympathetic for the past five years. Scarcely a week passed without a ‘yoof’ documentary on BBC3 about food banks or ‘the bedroom tax’ – in reality, a benefit cut – while the news that two million jobs had been created since 2010 hardly got a look in (indeed, under the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition between 2010 and 2014, Britain created more jobs than the rest of the EU put together).

There are some honourable exceptions – David Dimbleby, Andrew Neil and Nick Robinson are all fantastic broadcasters who take their duty of impartiality seriously.

But it’s all too common for those BBC staffers who aren’t on the North London dinner party circuit to complain about being sidelined. ‘It’s a bit like walking into a Sunday meeting of the Flat Earth Society,’ says Jeff Randall, the former BBC business editor.

‘As they discuss great issues of the day, they discuss them from the point of view that the earth is flat. If someone says, “No, no, no, the earth is round!”, they think this person is an extremist.

‘That’s what it’s like for someone with my right-of-centre views working inside the BBC.’

The Beeb’s Royal Charter is coming up for renewal next year, and that will be a golden opportunity to expose the Flat Earth Society to the commercial realities of the digital age.

It will be interesting to see how many more seats the Tories will win in 2020 if they’re competing on a level playing field.


It may take a while for the BBC to fully recover after the Conservative Party won a shock majority and 331 seats
on Thursday


'For God's Sake!': David Dimbleby loses his cool live on BBC




 
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pgs

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Time's up for Election night flat earthers at the BBC: For those who aren't members of the centre-left metropolitan elite, the broadcaster's coverage was surreal, writes TOBY YOUNG


By Toby Young For The Mail On Sunday
10 May 2015
Daily Mail

For those of us who aren’t members of the centre-Left metropolitan elite, it was almost surreal watching the BBC’s army of presenters and so-called ‘experts’ on Thursday night trying to wish away the exit poll that showed Labour and the Lib Dems facing a rout and David Cameron on course to remain in No 10.

They were determined to stick to what they’d already decided was the dominant narrative of the night – the SNP’s success – and ignore the real story unfolding beneath their noses.

Seats that were expected to fall to Labour in what was supposed to be a good night for Ed Miliband’s party were held by Conservative MPs with significant swings in their favour.


Critique and praise: Although Toby Young praises Nick Robinson (above, left) and David Dimbleby (above), he called the BBC's election coverage 'surreal'

It was obvious that something extraordinary was happening, but the BBC had already made up its mind that the Election would see a victory of ‘anti-austerity’ candidates who would join forces to lock David Cameron out of Downing Street.

Anyone relying on the BBC’s coverage of the campaign in the run-up to the Election would have been equally stunned by the exit poll.

For weeks, the expert pollster on BBC's Newsnight, Dr Chris Hanretty, had been confidently predicting a hung parliament and, on Wednesday night, he told viewers the Conservatives would win 281 seats to Labour’s 266.

He even ridiculed Rupert Murdoch on Twitter for predicting the Tories would win 294 seats.

‘I think Rupert had his thumbs on the scales when he read off this forecast,’ he scoffed.


Sky News' former business and politics presenter Jeff Randall described working at the BBC as 'walking into a meeting of the Flat Earth Society'


God knows how much licence-payers’ money the BBC squandered on such crystal-ball gazers. In retrospect, it would have been better off investing in a psychic octopus.

The reason the Election result must have come as such a shock to the high-ups at the BBC is because its coverage of Ed Miliband and Labour has been so sympathetic for the past five years. Scarcely a week passed without a ‘yoof’ documentary on BBC3 about food banks or ‘the bedroom tax’ – in reality, a benefit cut – while the news that two million jobs had been created since 2010 hardly got a look in (indeed, under the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition between 2010 and 2014, Britain created more jobs than the rest of the EU put together).

There are some honourable exceptions – David Dimbleby, Andrew Neil and Nick Robinson are all fantastic broadcasters who take their duty of impartiality seriously.

But it’s all too common for those BBC staffers who aren’t on the North London dinner party circuit to complain about being sidelined. ‘It’s a bit like walking into a Sunday meeting of the Flat Earth Society,’ says Jeff Randall, the former BBC business editor.

‘As they discuss great issues of the day, they discuss them from the point of view that the earth is flat. If someone says, “No, no, no, the earth is round!”, they think this person is an extremist.

‘That’s what it’s like for someone with my right-of-centre views working inside the BBC.’

The Beeb’s Royal Charter is coming up for renewal next year, and that will be a golden opportunity to expose the Flat Earth Society to the commercial realities of the digital age.

It will be interesting to see how many more seats the Tories will win in 2020 if they’re competing on a level playing field.


It may take a while for the BBC to fully recover after the Conservative Party won a shock majority and 331 seats
on Thursday


'For God's Sake!': David Dimbleby loses his cool live on BBC




Change the names and you will be seeing the same incredulity on CBC after this falls election .