Ha.
Neil and I had a wee chat* about the whole kerfuffle about the BBC (and now, Sky) choosing not to accept an advertisement for a Gaza appeal. I was saying that having watched both the BBC and ABC (i.e. Australia’s independent network), I always had the impression that the news, no matter how hard they tried, always had a lefty slant. In some ways I am a bit of a lefty (does that make me a lefty libertarian — is that possible), so I prefer BBC News over, say, Fox (I tend to watch that in slack-jawed horror for a few minutes before the idiocy compels me to change the channel).
But the point is they try to be independent, so this chest-beating liberalism by actors and what not is stupid. What these protestors are saying is, You can be as independent as you want as long as your independent assessments come down on our side. Plus, once the BBC offers enough money all will be forgiven.
And with people burning their teevee licences, they do know it means they aren’t legally allowed to watch anything on the telly, right? No satellite or anything. No more Dave for you!
* Neil has never felt that the BBC has a lefty bias.
I heard about this a couple of days ago. It’s up to the BBC to decide what they will and won’t air.
I’d also like to know the content of the ad. Maybe that was part of the reason they didn’t want to air it.
Comment by Troy — 28 January 2009 @ 2:13 am
I think part of the reason (aside from real sensitivity about being accused of bias) was that aid was getting into Gaza, so they perceived the need for them to broadcast the appeal as slightly less acute.
Comment by Andrea — 28 January 2009 @ 2:23 pm