NEWS non-coverage

[The Paper]

Copy of letter sent to BBC Complaints.

19th March 2006

Dear Sir/Madam,

RE: The non-coverage of the March 18th Anti War march in London.

My patience with you has finally snapped. Having attended yesterday’s protests against the occupation of Iraq and the imminent attack on Iran (in which I feel the BBC is unwittingly complicit in building the case) I had to write to you to explain my contempt for the way you covered (read - almost didn’t cover) this peaceful march.

I am sure that should the protest have had a violent edge to it you would have been showing round the clock coverage as you coincidently did with the marches in France (against a sickening new law that will do nothing to make our world a better place.)

I am not surprised at your genuine lack of interest in this story as you have been sucked into the New Labour propaganda machine by giving unprecedented coverage to the loans/honours story, one that was obviously released at this time to divert attention from more pressing issues such as 100’s of people dying every day in a far off country beginning with I.

Also I must bring another point to your attention that I am sure many others have flagged up. BBC News 24 stated that 15,000 people attended the march. Now I feel I am in good position to comment on this as I regularly attend football matches and am used to seeing crowds of anything from 500 - 80,000. I believe I can have a good stab at how many people were there and it was far more than the 15,000 that you quoted as being the official Police figure. I would estimate a very conservative guess at the 40,000 mark were present yesterday probably more. Now this might seem like a pedantic point to yourselves but misrepresenting the figure by only quoting the official police figure is not what I would call journalism. I understand a good journalist to be one who asks many opinions on the subject of their article and represents all of these points of view to give a balanced review.

We both understand the beeb’s reasons for misrepresenting the story; chiefly that a more accurate figure would make the march look more successful, something which you are not possibly allowed to do for fear of others joining the movement and something actually coming of it - maybe the government being brought to account, maybe the withdrawal of British soldiers, maybe the country actually realizing that they’ve had the wool pulled over their eyes by the media.

Oh yes, don’t feel downhearted BBC as you are not alone in this industry wide media black out on certainly the most important new item in this country yesterday. The Independent newspaper (probably regarded as the most left leaning of the mainstream press) also only quoted the police’s 15,000 figure and managed to hide away their only mention of the march in the middle pages of today’s (Sunday) paper. This mention included a large photograph (of demonstrators in Trafalgar square) whose accompanying words said nothing of the march itself other than that of the official police figure as passing comment in a piece entirely about the war itself.

Euronews and Sky News befell a similar fate in their coverage although Sky News did say 15 to 20 thousand and devoted a few seconds more than yourselves, strange coming from the Murderoch company. Of course if the media had done a proper job in the first place they would have been running stories in the preceding weeks that would have resulted in more people knowing about it and thus attending the march. The black out started long before the march did and will continue.

The BBC is the only hope of reversing this, as you don’t need me to tell you (or do you? Ok I will) as the only non-business controlled media group the BBC has a massive obligation to get the truth out.
You are failing miserably, cast off your chains, pull your fingers out and start being journalists (definition above) instead of spewing the press releases you receive from businesses and the government without giving genuine alternative opinions. By that I don’t mean asking a Liberal Democrat to comment on a Labour Party policy. There is a massive amount of opinion out there that you are missing. Start thinking outside the box BBC.

WHERE ARE YOUR BALLS?

www.thepaper.info
_________________
Sick of the media missing the point?

[gilipolla]

Am grateful that you wrote the letter. But any appeal to the BBC to change its ways, I suspect, is a waste of time better spent in using the alternative news network (primarily the Net) to get out the truth.

The BBC is too far gone. It probably always was a government conduit and as for all the nonsense talked about "balanced broadcasting" that's just typical English hypocrisy masquerading as fair-mindedness.

I believe that the recent non-coverage of the London anti-war march by the BBC was deliberate: a snub sent out from the Government to its opposition that it can march as long as it likes but its the Bliar who ultimately controls the TV cameras.

As they say, with good reason, don't expect the revolution to be televised!

[The Paper]

I'm afraid I can't disagree with you there.
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Sick of the media missing the point?

[gcarth]

I sent the following e-mail to Boaden at the beeb but I don't expect an adequate reply.

"Why did BBC only devote about five or six seconds to the anti-war protest on the news on Saturday?
Why did you deliberately underestimate the numbers present?
Even Sky news devoted much more time than you and they actually interviewed Tony Benn. Their film of the crowds also proved there were many thousands more than you seemed to suggest.
You devoted very many minutes to the funeral of Milosevic which could not surely be justified. You also made sure you gave John Reid plenty of time to deliver his usual piffle.
Do you people not realise that these anti-war protests represent the feelings of many millions of people in Britain and the rest of the world.
As I've said before, I don't expect you to support my views above those of any other group (even Reid's bunch of losers) but I do expect some decent coverage of my opinions which are shared by so many. If you don't think many people share my anti-war views, you really need to get out more."

Garth W. Carthy