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I don't think I implied that UK is in fault, or that EU is in the right here. The problem, in my opinion, is with the way the report it, the time they spend on

I don't think I implied that UK is in fault, or that EU is in the right here. The problem, in my opinion, is with the way the report it, the time they spend on it and the demonization of the EU. Even if EU is 100% in the wrong, do they need to spend half their air-time covering a dispute between AstraZeneca and the EU, arguing how the EU is unreasonable and pretty much the monster that tries to steal the vaccines from the UK people? My disappointment is the with the division, polarization and demonization of the EU they are promoting. After listening to that rhetoric with my (British) wife for 10 minutes straight, I heard heard saying "yeah, fuck these EU assholes".

mike-cardwell 6y ago
That's how you get eyeballs.
- adimitrov 6y ago
  The BBC is publicly funded. The entire idea behind publicly funded news and broadcast is that they shouldn't care about eyeballs, singe they don't need and money.
  - mike-cardwell 6y ago
    The BBC is staffed by humans. Humans who want their programming to be popular and watched widely. If people stopped watching BBC news, you better believe they'd make changes to reverse that, whatever it takes. Their incentives are just different.
  - austhrow743 6y ago
    If no one was watching or reading I can't imagine they wouldn't start facing political pushback as a waste of money. Every entities existence is strengthened by usefulness, profit seeking or otherwise.
string 6y ago
> Even if EU is 100% in the wrong, do they need to spend half their air-time covering a dispute between AstraZeneca and the EU, arguing how the EU is unreasonable and pretty much the monster that tries to steal the vaccines from the UK people? Sounds reasonable. The EU are threatening to block exports of vaccines. It's a huge story over here because people are rightly concerned, especially given the huge number of deaths we've bad, and it's incredibly relevant because it's our first major of contention with the EU after the transition period. If you want to place the blame for increasing divisions, maybe try starting with the organisation who are threatening a trade war during a global pandemic.

mike-cardwell 6y ago

That's how you get eyeballs.

adimitrov 6y ago
The BBC is publicly funded. The entire idea behind publicly funded news and broadcast is that they shouldn't care about eyeballs, singe they don't need and money.
- mike-cardwell 6y ago
  The BBC is staffed by humans. Humans who want their programming to be popular and watched widely. If people stopped watching BBC news, you better believe they'd make changes to reverse that, whatever it takes. Their incentives are just different.
- austhrow743 6y ago
  If no one was watching or reading I can't imagine they wouldn't start facing political pushback as a waste of money. Every entities existence is strengthened by usefulness, profit seeking or otherwise.

string 6y ago

> Even if EU is 100% in the wrong, do they need to spend half their air-time covering a dispute between AstraZeneca and the EU, arguing how the EU is unreasonable and pretty much the monster that tries to steal the vaccines from the UK people? Sounds reasonable. The EU are threatening to block exports of vaccines. It's a huge story over here because people are rightly concerned, especially given the huge number of deaths we've bad, and it's incredibly relevant because it's our first major of contention with the EU after the transition period. If you want to place the blame for increasing divisions, maybe try starting with the organisation who are threatening a trade war during a global pandemic.