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| Britain |
| Impartiality training for BBC reporters |
| 2004-04-24 |
| BBC reporters are receiving training in impartial journalism following criticisms made by the Hutton Report into the death of Dr David Kelly. The ’impartiality seminars’ aim to encourage reporters and producers at BBC News to think outside of the ’left-leaning liberal’ mentality traditionally associated with the corporation. That should be good for a laugh The two-hour seminars will include discussions about the dangers of not being neutral in reports, and about the nature of impartiality and how to encourage it. In an e-mail to staff, Richard Sambrook, director of BBC News, told workers that audiences were increasingly sceptical of the service they provided and the challenge was to "restate the case for our journalism and to articulate it in a multi-channel world". The Hutton Report criticised the BBC for the way it handled a radio report on the Today Programme about the Government’s policy on Iraq, which ultimately led to the resignation of chairman Gavyn Davies and director-general Greg Dyke. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #8 REPEAT AFTER ME... This is a conservative. He is friendly. He does not drool. He does not kick dogs. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4052 2004-04-25 1:26:42 AM |
| #7 This is akin to making a serial rapist attend a sexual harassment seminar. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-04-24 5:27:53 PM |
| #6 The two-hour seminars will include discussions about the dangers of not being neutral in reports, and about the nature of impartiality and how to encourage it. Oh goody. Two hours of discussion and encouragement to counter years of education, culture and group-think. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-04-24 12:26:33 PM |
| #5 What a load of horse manure. Propagandists have to be trained to insert bias, not to be impartial. The devices of misleading half-truth, strawman, emotionally loaded connotation, and invited inference have to be learned. Mass comm schools teach this, along with all the other devices of manipulation. What we need to do, and I recognize that it is almost a hopeless task, is to educate the public in recognizing these devices and avoiding the false conclusions they invite. Ignorance that one is being manipulated is one thing, the concious choice to be manipulated is something else. A lot of media propaganda is designed to indoctrinate those who choose to conform, not to persuade those who have not yet made a choice. The media culture is glamorous, it is an outlet for the boredom, despair, and futility that fill many lives. The biases we see are very often so crude and transparent that they wouldn't persuade even the most naive viewer of anything, they are simply a way of cuing the conformists: this is what you will believe if you want to conform and vicariously bring the perceived elitism of media culture into your life. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-04-24 8:34:09 AM |
| #4 'Impartiality' Training for BBC 'Reporters' There. Now the headline looks right. |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-04-24 8:11:27 AM |
| #3 'rewards and punishment' behavior modification? Cooool! Can I work the cattle prod this time? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-04-24 6:58:19 AM |
| #2 Uhhh, I think there is a typo in the headline. Shouldn't it say "Impartiality straining for BBC reporters"? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2004-04-24 3:15:07 AM |
| #1 They're already impartial. I don't get it? How could they be biased? This is the BBC! They're too professional to allow their personal issues affect their reporting. The BBC reporters are so professional that even to suggest that they're like other, lesser humans is simply offensive. |
| Posted by: Gromky 2004-04-24 2:00:20 AM |