91ȱ in the news, Sunday
| 10:16 UK time, Monday, 19 February 2007
The Independent on Sunday: Former Five Live assistant editor Tim Luckhurst asks whether the station is “becoming just a populist, lavishly funded competitor to commercial chat radio”. ()
Sunday Mirror: “The 91ȱ's Shipping Forecast is being released - as a dance track.” ()
Mail on Sunday: Excerpts from former 91ȱ journalist Robin Aitken's book on being a Tory working at the corporation. ()
Comments
Aren't you ashamed by what Robin Aitken has to say?
Unfortunately it all rings uncomfortably true.
The 91ȱ sounds like a terrifying place to work. Very supportive of personal development and creativity as long as you think along the right lines and say the right things.
A great article, what a shame the 91ȱ fails to follow the charter it was set out to do.
How the 91ȱ can call itself impartial when it seems to be another Whitehall department staffed by either ex-labour employees is beyond me.
David,
Why should the 91ȱ be ashamed of what one disgruntled ex-employee has to say about it?
Once again a rightwinger accuses the 91ȱ of bias with nothing but hearsay as evidence.
When will the paranoid Right get a grip with reality and concede there is no bias at the 91ȱ?
After all they've been whining about it for years without once uncovering that one single shattering example that would prove their case once and for all. This is a miserable failure given the thousands and thousands of hours of broadcasting on the Beeb.
Time for conservatives to give the tedious, unfounded charge of "bias" a rest (they won't, but here's hoping).
I fear that Robin Aitken will not get the public debate he is after. Public debates will only happen if the 91ȱ – with its 50% share of broadcast media – wants to have one. Where is the public debate about the Balen report, for instance? If another public body was found not to be doing its job properly over many years the 91ȱ would be the first to shout.
Take today, the 91ȱ campaign against Scotland Yard means that they have stooped so low as to repeat – almost word for word – the story of Cressida Dick’s promotion. A story that dates from last September – and palm it off as today’s front page news. This is not news – this is a campaign.
When John Major’s government was in power the 91ȱ were trawling Westminster, rounding up all the anti-Majors in the Conservative party they could get their hands on and parading them on tv and radio. Supportive Conservative voices were not allowed on the airwaves. Contrast that with the retirement of Labour MP Alan Simpson yesterday. Apparently he was one of Tony Blair’s fiercest critics. Trouble is, hardly anyone has heard of him. The last time the 91ȱ referred to him was in a piece about PMQs back in December 2006, where, as it turned about, he stood up for the PM.
I shudder to think what effect the 91ȱ’s bias of the 1980s and 1990s has had on our politics. One thing is for certain, though: Robin Aitken’s book will receive about the same coverage as Alan Simpson’s whole career as an MP.
BenM#,
So you don't think the 91ȱ is biased well perhaps you should have read the article from Andrew Marr who I think you will find was the 91ȱ's political editor who actually admitted that the 91ȱ was left wing and Biased.
It is not the paranoid right who need to get a grip of reality it is people like YOU, you mention the tedious complaints about left wing bias, why do you think people complain about it?, why do you think that the left never complain?...oh hang on could it be because the 91ȱ is biased towards left wing views?.
I am amazed you feel the need to defend the 91ȱ, I would have thought that if this entire topic was so tedious you would have better things to do with your oh so precious time?.
One last thing BenM, on the post 'is the 91ȱ biased'?, 332 different people said yes, 1 did not, so BenM, looks like you are in the minority, mind you that has never stopped the loony left trying to dictate your antiquated polices on to us all.
So BenM feels that people who think the 91ȱ is left leaning should stop wasting his time with tedious remarks!.
Well BenM, I suggest you read the article on Religion on the blogs to the left, you will note that the Editor of that blog also admits to his left wing PC agenda!.
As Coln in his comments rightly points out, the left never complain about the 91ȱ being biased because it never atacks the left, it is as simple as that.
Also BenM, who did the 91ȱ want as the next Chairman of the 91ȱ?, I think you will find it was that Labour enobled Peer Lord Putman, the same chap who attacked the police for arresting Ruth Turner, who as I recall made his attack jointly with 3 Labour Ministers.
It must be great to be so sure that your opinions are correct and that anyone who opposes them is a 'paronoid right winger', perhaps it is you who is paranoid worrying that the British public has woken up to the fact that the 91ȱ is staffed full of ex labour and ex Guardian employees?.