20 January 2007

Ruth Turner Arrest - BBC Response

Yesterday, a day when news of national and international significance broke, the BBC's Newsnight programme devoted more time to an obscure story on a Conservative councillor. On the main news they devoted more time to wind than Ruth Turner and on the BBC website Nick Robinson gave this turgid response titled "range of possibilities" to the breaking news.

They spent more energy on the recent Blears and Kelly storms in teacups than this massive new development where a senior Blair aide has been arrested in connection with an allegation of perverting the course of justice - a crime which has a maximum punishment of a life sentence. I call it soft-pedalling and doing it breaches the trust with the license fee payer.

The government has lurched from one crisis to another brassing it out with the support of a pliant BBC. If you are upset with the quality of their coverage and reporting, complaining to the BBC is easy.

To complain

Update

Saturday morning and in respect of the arrest the BBC's website leads with Labour anger. They are feeding us pure and unadulterated obfuscation.

1 comment:

Andreas Paterson said...

Couldn't this all be due to the fact that there was not enough information beyond the fact that she'd been arrested.

With so little information, is it that much of a surprise that bad weather causing several deaths, huge amounts of property damage and sad expressions on the faces of underwriters everywhere took precedence.