[Peace-discuss] BBC and war

[Alfred Kagan]

There is a big difference between the radio and TV BBC.  I think Lisa 
and I were referred to the radio.  My limited experience with BBC TV 
corresponds with this analysis.


At 11:02 PM -0500 8/24/03, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>[Some skepticism was evinced at the AWARE meeting tonight when I mentioned
>the generally pro-war stance of the BBC.  Here's some evidence.  --CGE]
>
>Study deals a blow to claims of anti-war bias in BBC news
>
>Matt Wells, media correspondent
>Friday July 4, 2003
>The Guardian
>
>Downing Street's complaints about anti-war bias within the BBC appear to
>be disproved by an academic analysis that shows the corporation displayed
>the most "pro-war" agenda of any broadcaster.
>
>A detailed study of peak-time television news bulletins during the course
>of the Iraq war shows that the BBC was more reliant than any of its rivals
>on government and military sources.
>
>The findings, by academics at Cardiff University, give little support to
>the deep-rooted suspicions in government circles that lie at the heart of
>the row with the BBC. Instead, ahead of the report by the foreign affairs
>select committee into the government's use of intelligence, they give
>comfort to the corporation.
>
>Over the three weeks of conflict, 11% of the sources quoted by the BBC
>were of coalition government or military origin, the highest proportion of
>all the main television broadcasters. The BBC was the least likely to
>quote official Iraqi sources, and less likely than Sky, ITV or Channel 4
>News to use independent (and often sceptical) sources such as the Red
>Cross.
>
>The study found the BBC placed least emphasis on Iraqi casualties, which
>were mentioned in 22% of its stories about the Iraqi people. Casualties
>received most prominence on Channel 4 News, figuring in 40% of its reports
>about Iraqis. The corporation was least likely to report on the
>unhappiness of Iraqis about the invasion.
>
>The research, funded by Cardiff University, covers the BBC1 news at 6pm,
>the ITV Evening News at 6.30pm, Channel 4 News at 7pm and Sky News at 9pm.
>Channel 4 News was the most questioning of the coalition line, while ITV
>News used the lowest proportion of coalition sources.
>
>Presenting the findings in the Guardian today, Justin Lewis, deputy head
>of the school of journalism, media and cultural studies at Cardiff
>University, says: "Far from revealing an anti-war BBC, our findings tend
>to give credence to those who criticised the BBC for being too sympathetic
>to the government's pro-war stance. Either way, to accuse the BBC of an
>anti-war bias fails to stand up to any serious or sustained analysis."
>
>The BBC says it received a stream of complaints about its war coverage.
>Richard Sambrook, the director of news, said in a letter to Alastair
>Campbell, the director of communications at Downing Street, at the height
>of the row: "It is our firm view that No 10 tried to intimidate the BBC in
>its reporting of events leading up to the war and during the course of the
>war itself."
>
>Mr Campbell chose to fight a public battle on the subject of a BBC story
>that reported a claim he had "sexed up" an intelligence dossier about
>Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. He told the foreign affairs select
>committee two weeks ago that the claim in the BBC report was "a lie".
>Later in the week, he dismissed the BBC's response as a combination of
>"weasel words and sophistry".
>
>But the Guardian understands that Mr Campbell had an equally heated row on
>the eve of war when 139 rebel Labour MPs voted against the government in a
>Commons vote on the case for the conflict.
>
>He was furious that the BBC presented the result as a "record rebellion" -
>which it was - instead of a significant victory for Tony Blair because the
>rebels did not win the vote.
>
>Some commentators sympathetic with Downing Street's case have supported
>the claim that the BBC was anti-war: this week the Sun ran a story
>claiming that senior BBC journalists Jeremy Paxman, John Simpson, Peter
>Sissons and David Dimbleby were "alarmed" about the effect the row may
>have on the BBC's reputation for impartiality.
>
>Yesterday, the four sent an open letter to the Sun, attacking its
>political editor for failing to contact them before running the story.
>They wrote: "Neither Trevor Kavanagh, nor anyone else from the Sun, has
>ever sought our opinions on this matter. Had they done so, they would know
>that we don't indulge in private comment on matters of public debate."
>
>MediaGuardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
>
>
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-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu