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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-directo

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 the Guardian you are severely deluded.

KineticLensman 4y ago
> 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.
- Veen 4y ago
  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.
  - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
    What's your view on this: https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/an-open-letter-to-the-bbc/ https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/an-open-letter-to-th... particularly: "there is a clear and well-evidenced bias toward panellists from right-leaning media organisations"
- lamp987 4y ago
  The number is meaningless without comparison to others.
- gadders 4y ago
  They need someone to put the Brexit view and he has been the main face of Brexit for at least the last 20 years.
SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
> BBC is anything other than the broadcast media wing of the Guardian Citation needed. Is the BBC run by ex-Guardian people? No: "the controversial appointment of Rishi Sunak’s ex-boss and Conservative Party donor Richard Sharp to the influential role of BBC chair. ... There are also concerns about the appointment of BBC director general Tim Davie, who stood as a councillor for the Conservative Party in 1993 and 1994 and was deputy chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative Party in the 1990s." https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/an-open-letter-to-the-bbc/ https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/an-open-letter-to-th... So, what part of your opinion is grounded in fact?
- gadders 4y ago
  That's not a great article. He doesn't even realise that Rod Liddle is a Social Democrat and was previously in the Labour Party, and Piers Morgan was editor for the Daily Mirror and very much not of the right. However, my point wasn't that there is a sharing of employees between the Guardian and the BBC, more that they both reflect the same bien pensant North London left wing orthodoxy - Brexit bad, immigration good, climate change an apocalypse etc etc.
  - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
    And are you going to address who they do share employees with? It's a party that's not left-wing. That's factual. The rest "not a great article", "North London left wing orthodoxy", and "BBC is insufficiently pro-Brexit" is vague, feelings-based not fact-based.
    - gadders 4y ago
      The BBC also had Gavyn Davies as a chairman.
      - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
        "Gavyn Davies ... is a former Goldman Sachs partner who was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004" > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavyn_Davies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavyn_Davies So this ended 19 years ago. I'm sorry, I don't see the relevance of this historical anecdote to what's currently true?

KineticLensman 4y ago

> 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.

Veen 4y ago
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.
- SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
  What's your view on this: https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/an-open-letter-to-the-bbc/ https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/an-open-letter-to-th... particularly: "there is a clear and well-evidenced bias toward panellists from right-leaning media organisations"
lamp987 4y ago
The number is meaningless without comparison to others.
gadders 4y ago
They need someone to put the Brexit view and he has been the main face of Brexit for at least the last 20 years.

SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago

> BBC is anything other than the broadcast media wing of the Guardian Citation needed. Is the BBC run by ex-Guardian people? No: "the controversial appointment of Rishi Sunak’s ex-boss and Conservative Party donor Richard Sharp to the influential role of BBC chair. ... There are also concerns about the appointment of BBC director general Tim Davie, who stood as a councillor for the Conservative Party in 1993 and 1994 and was deputy chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative Party in the 1990s." https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/an-open-letter-to-the-bbc/ https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/an-open-letter-to-th... So, what part of your opinion is grounded in fact?

gadders 4y ago
That's not a great article. He doesn't even realise that Rod Liddle is a Social Democrat and was previously in the Labour Party, and Piers Morgan was editor for the Daily Mirror and very much not of the right. However, my point wasn't that there is a sharing of employees between the Guardian and the BBC, more that they both reflect the same bien pensant North London left wing orthodoxy - Brexit bad, immigration good, climate change an apocalypse etc etc.
- SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
  And are you going to address who they do share employees with? It's a party that's not left-wing. That's factual. The rest "not a great article", "North London left wing orthodoxy", and "BBC is insufficiently pro-Brexit" is vague, feelings-based not fact-based.
  - gadders 4y ago
    The BBC also had Gavyn Davies as a chairman.
    - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
      "Gavyn Davies ... is a former Goldman Sachs partner who was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004" > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavyn_Davies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavyn_Davies So this ended 19 years ago. I'm sorry, I don't see the relevance of this historical anecdote to what's currently true?