Image via Wikipediahttp://my.opera.com/oldephartte/blog/2011/05/24/weekly-digest-for-talk-to-action
The malignant influence of the Kochtopus
http://orwellsbastard.blogspot.com/2011/05/malignant-influence-of-kochtopus.html
How The Establishment Closes Ranks Around the BBC
http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-establishment-closes-ranks-around.html
our reader filed a Freedom of Information request to the BBC asking for details of:
* how many complaints/ accusations of bias the BBC received from the public about the BBC’s coverage of climate change
* how many of the complaints received about climate change were upheld by the BBC, i.e. were accepted
* brief details / a list of all the complaints upheld, i.e. the details of the upheld complaint and the BBC’s response (excluding details of the person complaining)
Autonomous Mind
http://autonomousmind.wordpress.com/2011/05/22/how-the-establishment-closes-ranks-around-the-bbc
As a result our commentary concluded:
It would seem obvious that complaints rejected by the BBC are not used to inform the creation or improvement of programmes because they are arguing the complaints are baseless. So, the only possible reason for withholding details of rejected complaints is to hide the extent of viewer and listener dissatisfaction with an editorial line the BBC is determined to pursue.
Our reader was advised that if he disagreed with the decision he could appeal to the Information Commissioner. So he did.
.......................................................................................................................................................
David McNeil, a Complaints Officer and the Information Commissioner’s Office ( precis )
The Commissioner is unable to compel the public authority to provide information outside its obligations under the Act.
The BBC is an unusual public authority because Parliament decided that it should not be required to provide information that was held for the purposes of ‘art, journalism or literature’.
I can confirm that my preliminary verdict is that the BBC was correct that the information was excluded from the Act.
Once it is established that the information sought is held by the BBC for the purposes of journalism, it is effectively exempt from production under FOIA, even if the information is also held by the BBC for other purposes.’
............................................................................................................................................................
This is quite a staggering communication from the ICO, if again completely unsurprising. At the heart of it is the assumption or belief that because the BBC says the complaints material informs their editorial direction they should not be bound to reveal how many complaints they receive.
However at no point is the BBC asked to provide evidence that demonstrates, on the basis of complaints received, they have ever adjusted their editorial approach. We are simply enjoined to accept it without proof.
The only way this can ever be assessed is if the complaints process was made transparent, but they continue to hide behind the Act, with establishment approval, to prevent that happening
Katabasis
If they won’t reveal this information? Well there are other ways to catalogue their bias in an undeniable numerical form, and the more people who join in crowdsourcing the effort, the sooner we’ll be able to establish a complete picture of the BBC’s bias to present to ministers, regulators and journalists.
MISSING CO2
http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com/2011/05/missing-co2.html
The reason why Tata steel is cutting 1,500 jobs from its UK operations could not be clearer. According to this report, Karl-Ulrich Köhler, head of European operations for Tata, said:
“EU carbon legislation threatens to impose huge additional costs on the steel industry. Besides, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about the level of further unilateral carbon cost rises the UK Government is planning. These measures risk undermining our competitiveness and we must make ourselves stronger in preparation for them.”
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