BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash • Hacker News Board

Re: BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash

#21

Post by ndsipa_pomu » Fri, Mar 10, 2023, 4:46 PM UTC

misssocrates wrote: post #9

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #2

This is worrying as the BBC is supposed to be impartial and yet seems to be moving rightwards. There would seem to be a pattern of events: Richard Sharp made a loan to Boris Johnson and then was made the Chair of the BBC which has been described as "an error of judgement". More recently, there's been the criticism of Gary Lineker for calling out the Home Office's use of language (he compared it to Nazi Germany). Ther…

Can you think of any ways in which the BBC moved leftwards in recent years? And is it bad for them to adjust in either direction to orient toward neutrality?

Nothing springs to mind.

I don't want them to be adjusting their position one way or another politically - I want them to be reporting and investigating facts as far as possible without using loaded language.

However, I do have an axe to grind against the BBC as they are institutionally anti-cyclist and I've made many complaints to them over their cycling/active transport coverage. Usually they sit on the complaint for weeks/months and then adjust the original article which no-one will ever see as it's then too old.

Re: BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash

#22

Post by dsfyu404ed » Fri, Mar 10, 2023, 4:46 PM UTC

Human destruction of nature has been known for hundreds of years. It's not exactly controversial to say on TV in England that humans deforested Europe, drove a bunch of species extinct and covered the place in coal dust. What is it about this episode that's so inflammatory vs the other ones in the series?

Re: BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash

#23

Post by fwlr » Fri, Mar 10, 2023, 4:47 PM UTC

“A BBC spokesperson said: “Wild Isles consists of five episodes: Our Precious Isles, Woodland, Grassland, Freshwater and Ocean. Saving Our Wild Isles is a separate film inspired by the series that was commissioned by the RSPB and WWF. We’ve acquired it for iPlayer.” “

Talk about burying the lede! This is the last line of the article!

Re: BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash

#24

Post by marcusverus » Fri, Mar 10, 2023, 4:48 PM UTC

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #2

This is worrying as the BBC is supposed to be impartial and yet seems to be moving rightwards. There would seem to be a pattern of events: Richard Sharp made a loan to Boris Johnson and then was made the Chair of the BBC which has been described as "an error of judgement". More recently, there's been the criticism of Gary Lineker for calling out the Home Office's use of language (he compared it to Nazi Germany). Ther…

The home office released this milquetoast video about stopping illegal immigration. Watch it. It's only a minute long.[0]

Gary Lineker, who presents on the BBC, responded with hysterical comment "This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the ’30s'".

Tim Davie, a director at the BBC, said "If you want to be an opinionated columnist or a partisan campaigner on social media then that is a valid choice, but you should not be working at the BBC."

If this is the BBC "moving right", it's hard to imagine that such a change is a bad thing.

[0] https://twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/1633022905628884992

Re: BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash

#25

Post by beardyw » Fri, Mar 10, 2023, 4:49 PM UTC

fwlr wrote: post #23

“A BBC spokesperson said: “Wild Isles consists of five episodes: Our Precious Isles, Woodland, Grassland, Freshwater and Ocean. Saving Our Wild Isles is a separate film inspired by the series that was commissioned by the RSPB and WWF. We’ve acquired it for iPlayer.” “ Talk about burying the lede! This is the last line of the article!

Well, to be fair, that's the spokesman's take on it. The truth is probably somewhere between.

Re: BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash

#26

Post by beardyw » Fri, Mar 10, 2023, 4:55 PM UTC

Veen wrote: post #13

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #2

This is worrying as the BBC is supposed to be impartial and yet seems to be moving rightwards. There would seem to be a pattern of events: Richard Sharp made a loan to Boris Johnson and then was made the Chair of the BBC which has been described as "an error of judgement". More recently, there's been the criticism of Gary Lineker for calling out the Home Office's use of language (he compared it to Nazi Germany). Ther…

The Guardian article is misleading to the point of dishonesty. The episode that isn't being broadcast was not intended to be broadcast because it isn't part of the Wild Isles series. It's a companion documentary commissioned by the RSPB and the WWF. And for all the good both these charities do, the BBC should not be broadcasting programs made by what are, in effect, political lobbying organizations (and I say that as…

> The episode that isn't being broadcast was not intended to be broadcast because it isn't part of the Wild Isles series.

Apart from the statement by the BBC spokesman do you have any evidence of that?

Re: BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash

#27

Post by Veen » Fri, Mar 10, 2023, 4:55 PM UTC

KineticLensman wrote: post #16

gadders wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BBC presenters are supposed to be politically neutral, so Lineker was right to be criticised (quite apart from the fact he was talking rubbish). The ex-director general of the BBC Mark Thompson joined that hotbed of right wing activism, the New York Times. You also have ex-Labour minister James Purnell who had a senior role in the BBC. Frankly if you think the BBC is anything other than the broadcast media wing of th…

> Frankly if you think the BBC is anything other than the broadcast media wing of the Guardian you are severely deluded. The extensive airtime given to Nigel Farage on BBC Question Time (> 30 appearances) contradicts this statement.

Of the nine people who have appeared on Question Time most often, two might be considered right-wing: Farage and Ken Clarke. The remainder are Labour or Lib Dem MPs: Shirley Williams, Menzies Campbell, Harriet Harman, Charles Kennedy, Clare Short, Paddy Ashdown, and Roy Hattersley. Of these, Farage is the only Brexiteer; Clarke is a right-wing Remainer.

Just this year, it has featured the following left-wing politicians and journalists: Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Bridget Phillipson, Ash Sarkar (a libertarian communist), Wes Streeting, Tracy Brabin, Jenny Gilruth, Ian Murray, India Willoughby, Lisa Nandy, Stephen Kinnock, Thangam Debbonaire, and Sarah Jones.

I think perhaps your issue is with right-wing people getting any airtime at all.

Re: BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash

#28

Post by nyc_data_geek1 » Fri, Mar 10, 2023, 4:56 PM UTC

stakhanov wrote: post #20

When I'm in a certain kind of mood, I often long for something that's a bit "slow TV", a bit "feelgood", a bit escapist, etc. I then frequently turn to a nature documentary and really enjoy the breathtaking imagery of the deep sea or Yellowstone wildlife or whatever. Then, after about 5mins, the guilttripping starts. And I'm like "...while all that may be accurate, I've had a tough day at work, and reflecting upon wh…

What if the point of a nature documentary isn't to make you feel good, but to present an accurate depiction of the state of the world?

Re: BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash

#29

Post by Steven420 » Fri, Mar 10, 2023, 4:56 PM UTC

Veen wrote: post #13

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #2

This is worrying as the BBC is supposed to be impartial and yet seems to be moving rightwards. There would seem to be a pattern of events: Richard Sharp made a loan to Boris Johnson and then was made the Chair of the BBC which has been described as "an error of judgement". More recently, there's been the criticism of Gary Lineker for calling out the Home Office's use of language (he compared it to Nazi Germany). Ther…

The Guardian article is misleading to the point of dishonesty. The episode that isn't being broadcast was not intended to be broadcast because it isn't part of the Wild Isles series. It's a companion documentary commissioned by the RSPB and the WWF. And for all the good both these charities do, the BBC should not be broadcasting programs made by what are, in effect, political lobbying organizations (and I say that as…

Thanks for pointing that out. The last paragraph offers some much needed context. This article is just anti right wing propaganda

Re: BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of rightwing backlash

#30

Post by lamp987 » Fri, Mar 10, 2023, 4:58 PM UTC

warning26 wrote: post #5

But I was told that only the left cancels things they disagree with!

Nobody cancelled anyone. How can the alleged "rightwing" viewers or commentators cancel BBC? Can they fire the directors and ensure they dont get employed? Or what are you talking about?

Corrupt BBC managers decided this on their own.