"Unbiased" BBC block investigation into Hinduja Brothers

BillieTheBot

That bastion of unbiased and open news reporting, the BBC, have now taken the step of blocking the screening of an investigation into the Hinduja brothers by Mark Thomas.

No internet link for ths story I can find, but it was in today's Independent if anyone wants to read it.

Basically Thomas did an undercover investigation into the Hinduja brothers selling arms illegally, and was able to obtain various pieces of military kit form them, including military personnel carriers. This was to be screened on the BBC. Twice now Auntie has pulled the programme after "consultation" with the Hindujas and their lawyers, and now the programme will not be screened at all.

And yet the BBC supporters continue to justify its immoral existence with comments about the "impartiality" of the corporation, and how "business interests" don't get in the way of the news. So good to see this theory de-bunked yet again, I feel.

So much for impartiality and news reporting without bias or outside interference.

Former Member

fucking disgrace to the country imo

Former Member

Funnily enough Kermit it's because of critics like you that the BBC is losing its impartiality. The more people like you who bitterly complain about not-terribly-significant raises on the licence fee, the more you demand that the BBC is "dismantled", "privatised" or "sold off", the more you erode the institution, the more power it loses and the more vulnerable it becomes to Government influence.

However you must keep in the mind that for all its faults, including this incident, the BBC remains infinitely more impartial and unbiased than any other broadcaster in the entire world, and most newspapers as well.

And it would be even more impartial if more people would have supported it at times when it needed support, such as during the Dr. Kelly affair and the disgraceful Hutton report. That way we would still have a truly independent chairman and board of directors, instead of an increasingly government-controlled boardroom.

Still, you can rest assured that on the whole the rest of the media world doesn't deserve to kiss the ground the BBC walks on when it comes to unbiased reporting.

Former Member

The BBC has "business interests" with the Hindujas?

Former Member

Well... it could be one or two things: either there has been political influence from the government, in which case Kermit has a valid point (though as I said above I still believe the BBC is infinitely more unbiased than anything else on the planet), or the BBC has simply pulled out the programme because it had become clear they could be sued for libel and lose.

Now, if the second hypothesis is correct then Kermit hasn't got a point at all. I would have thought that as a lawyer Kermit is only too aware of the consequences of making claims you cannot prove beyond reproach and being sued for them. And if the BBC had gone ahead and screened that programme against the advice of lawyers and had to end up paying several million Pounds in compensation, Kermit would be the very first one to complain here about his licence money being wasted in lawsuits due to incompetence.

Former Member

I presume it is the same Mark Thomas who did things for Channel 4, he was hardly objective and unbiased, I would think this is because of the potential libel case.

Not that the BBC is perfect by any means, their coverage does have a slant, its just significantly less slanted than other news outlets.

Former Member

There's a bit of info in this link:
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/pandora/article327321.ece