Public Leaning Post

I have spent almost my entire life, believing that on the whole what the BBC reports is pretty much the way it is. I look on most accusations of bias by the Beeb as being biased themselves, seemingly just the author's own dislike of the truth. In general this is still the case. Auntie does not speculate that much - for the sake of not prejudicing legal actions, the more grisly byways of criminal happenings are reported in a simple, matter-of-fact manner so as not to wind up de judge.

However, I have noticed in recent years that the BBC news is beginning to attract a certain pinkish tinge in it's headlines and reporting, a scream of red-top sensationalism here - a bit of editorial idiocy there. It's all so saddening.

The trigger for my ire today was the rather intrusive reporting on the Chinese earthquake which seemed to involve cameras in the faces of the bereaved and long, lingering shots of body parts in the rubble. The reporter in the spot - James Reynolds - is Damien Day from Drop The Dead Donkey. I note that he has form for fake reporting as well. It's all so saddening but of course maybe it is me that has changed - it just all seems different from my early memories of TV news. Driving to work today I almost turned over from Radio 4, thinking that we would all be better off for not hearing as much about what happens in the rest of the world but that would be a cop-out. The world is rapidly returning to black and white after a brief period when it seemed that people were beginning to understand shade. Maybe this predicts the resurgence of extreme right and left in the country.