The BBC - Impartial or not?

Uh-huh. On what basis do you claim that "it takes pains to actually report" factually? I suspect the BBC could say, for instance, that "civil war" had broken out in Iraq, or have their Middle East reporters cry for Yasser Arafat, or pretend that Bush hadnt pleaded with Blanco to let the National Guard into Louisiana days before Katrina and you would still swallow it.

Lets play a game. I bet I can find more cases of out and out BBC inaccuracy and bias than you can from CNN.

I'm not missing the point at all, Vienna. These comments reflect his personal political beliefs, he is human and like most humans he has his own beliefs.

There is no evidence I have seen that he reports in a significantly bias way. There is a difference between 'reporting' and writing an 'editorial', a distinction I think you need to understand.

If you click on a link which takes you to the "Personal reflections by BBC correspondents around the world", then you shouldn't expect impartiality.

Following an enlightening discussion with several BNP supporters in the thread: 'UK whites will be minority by 2100' , it emerged that any material I quoted from the BBC was branded as being worthless since "the BBC is not impartial". Now this really puzzled me because it is an independently funded news source, and one of the most reliable and respected I find.

So just out of interest what do you think of the BBC and why...

Lets play a game. I bet I can find more cases of out and out BBC inaccuracy and bias than you can from CNN.

You see I would argue that the quality of reporting done by the BBC was higher than CNN by a mile. Since CNN is owned by AOLTimeWarner, it has to make a profit as all news programmes in America are expected to by their networks, as they compete for audience ratings.

Because CNN News has to make a profit, it must appeal to a wider audience to do this. Therefore it becomes more and more populist and succumbs to the sort of "Daily Mail" reporting syndrome, where the appeal is based on telling the public what they want to hear, not what the need to know.

Now, I suspect that you believe the BBC to be unimpartial simply because it takes pains to actually report on "Camp X-ray" and extaordinary rendition as well as the hugely unequal distribution of wealth in US society, and you are not at ease with this because you feel that it portrays the US in a bad light, unlike CNN however that only tells you what you want to hear.

Its now clear you are missing the point

"These comments reflect his personal political beliefs"

Erm, which comments? The comment in question is this one...

"I know that is how it is portrayed because I have done my bit to paint that picture..."

So he can hold whatever opinions he likes in private or even in a personal capacity, but when he "does his bit", as a BBC News reporter, to portray that picture of the US, then he ceases to be impartial.

Well it is clear at the very least that you haven't completely understood my post; did you not read it, or are you incapable of assimilating the fact that populist news-reporting serves to increase profits for the network at the expense of quality?I shall paraphrase it just for you. I believe the BBC takes pains to report on potentially uncomfortable situations because it can; because of the unique way that it is funded.

Just excatly how would we prove that the BBC or CNN are publishing 'out and out' innacuracies hmm?

This is in no way evidence of impartiality.

The U.S. has indeed done some rather 'ignorant' things, and he is merely saying in this editorial that he has 'done his bit' by reporting on them. Theres nothing wrong with saying that at all.

Besides, the opinions of one reporter for a massive news corporation hardly warrant sweeping accusations of impartiality.

"America is often portrayed as an ignorant, unsophisticated sort of place, full of bible bashers and ruled to a dangerous extent by trashy television, superstition and religious bigotry, a place lacking in respect for evidence based knowledge."

That it is an impartial portrayal of the US?

He says he did his bit to portray America "as an ignorant, unsophisticated sort of place, full of bible bashers and ruled to a dangerous extent by trashy television, superstition and religious bigotry, a place lacking in respect for evidence based knowledge."

There's nothing wrong with a BBC reporter portraying that?

It is yes, but as I have already made quite clear, it is an editorial and nothing more. Have you read an editorial before? This really is amateur stuff.

In a nutshell, Justin Webb admits his own mistakes (and impartiallity) in reporting on the US. I happen to think that is brave of him, as most reporters never admit any hindsight on thier part.

There was also some controversy on a statement he made regarding america, where he actually defended some of the things they did, and furious listeners called back, acusing him od being a "fox news broadcaster".

Um, CNNI , MSNBC, and other use a combo of AP, AFP, And Rueters news feeds, as well as reporters on the ground....they can't play the same game the Daily Mail or the SUN would. Too many people watching on satalitte actually. Al Jazeera International (when it gets on the air) will find themselves not being more populist, but more objective....they know that they are responsible to a worlwide audience as a whole, not just Qatar and surrounding companies.... the more globalized the channel gets, the more responsible the channel has to be. But BBC can get away with anything, as long as no large group in the UK object...becuase guess who funds the whole thing. ^o)

I'm actually suprised you guys don't know about this stuff....I mean, to me, it's fairly obvious...the BBC just sells people what they want in the end...and if that means perpetuating negative stereotypes.......then they give the rest of the world what it wants.

It has a fairly low base of supprt in the US hisorically, so what does it have to lose? Nothing.

Andrew Graham Acting Master and Fellow in Economics at Balliol College, Oxford, and a board member of Channel 4 Television.

Just before you all start moaning that he's probably on the beeb's payroll or something...

Yes he does sound a bit dim...