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Britain
The media musings of the BBC
2003-04-24
Greg Dyke, director general of the BBC, attacked American television and radio networks for their "shocking" and "gung-ho" coverage of the Iraq conflict yesterday. He also issued a warning against US companies being allowed greater ownership of British media.
"Greg Dyke"? Is he a lesbian?
Mr Dyke said that changes to legislation proposed by the Government would allow American media companies to take a greater share of British television and radio, which could lead to a loss of impartiality in news coverage.
Mr. Dyke explained that by giving people a choice in news coverage, it would be much more difficult for the BBC to effectivly promote its left wing agenda.
"We must ensure that we don't become Americanised," he said.
Because then, who would who would we bash?
Mr Dyke also accused the Government of trying to "manage public opinion"
Which obviously is the BBC's job
and "apply pressure" on the BBC. In his first public comments since the BBC disgraced itself in the war, Mr Dyke said America had "no news operation strong enough or brave enough to stand up against" the White House and Pentagon.
Except for CNN, NPR, the NYT and coutless other left leaning news casts
He said: "Personally, I was shocked while in the United States by how unquestioning the broadcast news media was during this war." Mr Dyke said that since the 11 September terrorist attacks, many American networks had "wrapped themselves in the American flag and swapped impartiality for patriotism".
Mr. Dyke said: "For example, during the London blitz... nobody dared show any sign of pro-british patriotism... How dare those Americans be so darn patriotic."
He said: "We were genuinely shocked when we discovered that the largest radio group in the US was using its airwaves to organise pro-war rallies. We are even more shocked to discover that the same group wants to become a big player in radio in the UK." Mr Dyke attacked Fox News and CNN for what he described as "gung-ho" coverage. In contrast, the BBC was an "800lb gorilla"
(a.k.a monopoly)
that was capable of holding off the Government's attempts to interfere in editorial decisions, he said.
One wonders — actually, maybe two or three wonder — if Mr. Dyke's indignation would have been quite so extreme had the radio stations been organizing anti-war rallies? Beebs does have this little problem with "just the facts, ma'am" news. None of us are free from bias, I guess, but not all of us embrace it.
Posted by:----------<<<<-

#3  the name is pronounced 'dik'. no i'm not a dyke.
Posted by: greg   2003-04-24 22:04:23  

#2  The media should strive for accuracy not impartiality. Should you be impartial between truth and lies, dictators and democrats, etc? As long as there is a multiplicity of media organisations many disparate views can emerge and people can decide.
Posted by: A   2003-04-24 16:42:30  

#1  dont need US ownership of Brit media. Aussie ownership will do just fine :)
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-24 15:58:24  

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