General News Thread

[Sly]

So labour are going to break the election pledges then 

 

Call me shocked 

[Sly]

35 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70j7dxjp5wo

 

Magic money tree.

This blows my mind to be honest.

 

We need to stop the leakage at some point and that comes with making difficult decisions.

[CrazyKopCorner]

2 minutes ago, Sly said:

So labour are going to break the election pledges then 

 

Call me shocked 

Er it’s due to Brexit …… er Austerity …… no Trump or Liz Truss of course 

[Sly]

Just now, CrazyKopCorner said:

Er it’s due to Brexit …… er Austerity …… no Trump or Liz Truss of course 

They’re all as bad as each other. 

[leicsmac]

6 minutes ago, Sly said:

They’re all as bad as each other. 

Only some think that a lot of peer reviewed scientific output is to be utterly disregarded in terms of policymaking. 

[splinterdream]

3 hours ago, Lionator said:

This is all clearly a concerted right wing push against the BBC to finish it off once and for all. 
 

It’ll be interesting to see what Starmer does, support a great British institution even if it needs reform to adapt to modern mass media, or suck up to Trump and hand over £1 billion of tax payers money all in the name of the special relationship. 
 

Also the biggest mistake the BBC ever made is pretending that impartiality can be a thing. It simply can’t, you can’t for example impartially report on the Russia Ukraine war because it would be against our national interest to admit that we have some culpability in that situation. 

Do you agree thst the licence fee should be scrapped then?

[CornwallFox]

6 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

Do you agree thst the licence fee should be scrapped then?

I don't.

[leicsmac]

19 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

Do you agree thst the licence fee should be scrapped then?

 

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

And be that as it may (and it's a fair comment), it might still be a good idea not to hamstring one of the best allies that still remain against the loathsome sentiment that people like Trump champion that, if left unchecked, will consume us all. 

This answer stands.

[splinterdream]

10 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

I don't.

The BBC clearly has a left wing bias, this is obvious, and this is fine as long as it's not funded with the licence fee.

@Lionator stated the BBC cant really achieve impartiality and shouldnt pretend to do so, many now dont trust it to be truthful and impartial anymore so i'm not sure how it can continue to demand the licence fee, more people will just refuse to pay it.

[Zear0]

2 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

The BBC clearly has a left wing bias, this is obvious, and this is fine as long as it's not funded with the licence fee.

@Lionator stated the BBC cant really achieve impartiality and shouldnt pretend to do so, many now dont trust it to be truthful and impartial anymore so i'm not sure how it can continue to demand the licence fee, more people will just refuse to pay it.

No it isn't obvious and stop assuming it is to fit your narrative. 

Edited 10 November 2025 by Zear0

[CornwallFox]

6 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

The BBC clearly has a left wing bias, this is obvious, and this is fine as long as it's not funded with the licence fee.

@Lionator stated the BBC cant really achieve impartiality and shouldnt pretend to do so, many now dont trust it to be truthful and impartial anymore so i'm not sure how it can continue to demand the licence fee, more people will just refuse to pay it.

One of the most extensive pieces of content analysis in recent years was conducted for the BBC Trust by Cardiff University. This research, amongst other things, examined the BBC’s coverage of immigration and the EU – two of the most divisive issues in British politics. What researchers found was that conservative perspectives were more prevalent in BBC reporting, and that while the balance between the two major political parties tended to be broadly equal, Conservative featured more regularly than Labour. This rightward leaning reporting has also been confirmed in analyses of guest appearances on programmes like BBC Question Time, and a forthcoming piece of research has confirmed that the right has a slight edge in terms of political guests on BBC programme, and interestingly that the BBC favours right-wing over left-wing Labour MPs, and the right of the Conservative Party over more moderate Tories – not quite the centre ground some have assumed that the BBC adopts. Academic research on the BBC’s coverage of the referendum by Loughborough and Cardiff, meanwhile, has found that while the BBC struck a careful balance between the two sides in the referendum, the whole debate was markedly dominated by the Conservatives and UKIP.

 

When it comes to question time, all of the most seen journalists have been right wingers like Isabella Oakeshott, Julia Hartley-Brewer and very right wing think tank people like Kate Andrews. 

The BBC have had farage on countless times at times when he was polling way behind others or not even in a UK parliament seat. 

[leicsmac]

7 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

No it isn't obvious and stop assuming it is to fit your narrative. 

 

1 minute ago, CornwallFox said:

One of the most extensive pieces of content analysis in recent years was conducted for the BBC Trust by Cardiff University. This research, amongst other things, examined the BBC’s coverage of immigration and the EU – two of the most divisive issues in British politics. What researchers found was that conservative perspectives were more prevalent in BBC reporting, and that while the balance between the two major political parties tended to be broadly equal, Conservative featured more regularly than Labour. This rightward leaning reporting has also been confirmed in analyses of guest appearances on programmes like BBC Question Time, and a forthcoming piece of research has confirmed that the right has a slight edge in terms of political guests on BBC programme, and interestingly that the BBC favours right-wing over left-wing Labour MPs, and the right of the Conservative Party over more moderate Tories – not quite the centre ground some have assumed that the BBC adopts. Academic research on the BBC’s coverage of the referendum by Loughborough and Cardiff, meanwhile, has found that while the BBC struck a careful balance between the two sides in the referendum, the whole debate was markedly dominated by the Conservatives and UKIP.

 

When it comes to question time, all of the most seen journalists have been right wingers like Isabella Oakeshott, Julia Hartley-Brewer and very right wing think tank people like Kate Andrews. 

The BBC have had farage on countless times at times when he was polling way behind others or not even in a UK parliament seat. 

And thus we circle back around to the entire idea of truth being subverted, as discussed earlier.

 

There are people who simply believe as they wish, and not even the most exacting scientific peer-reviewed research will convince them otherwise - in fact, they consider that entire process to also be corrupt.

 

That entire disregard of the best method of divining truth (by far) in the name of "freedom of thought/opinion" when applied to action, particularly policy action, has never ended well before and will end worse in the future.

[splinterdream]

Just now, Zear0 said:

No it isn't obvious and stop assuming it is to fit your narrative. 

I'm not assuming anything to fit my narrative, its my viewpoint based on what i see and when I talk to others. I also have a brother that worked at the BBC.

For example Tim Davie stated he wanted to address the left wing comedy bias at the BBC, so even he thought there was an issue.

 

[Zear0]

5 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

I'm not assuming anything to fit my narrative, its my viewpoint based on what i see and when I talk to others. I also have a brother that worked at the BBC.

For example Tim Davie stated he wanted to address the left wing comedy bias at the BBC, so even he thought there was an issue.

 

So it isn't "clearly" left wing then, it's just your viewpoint.

[CornwallFox]

6 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

I'm not assuming anything to fit my narrative, its my viewpoint based on what i see and when I talk to others. I also have a brother that worked at the BBC.

For example Tim Davie stated he wanted to address the left wing comedy bias at the BBC, so even he thought there was an issue.

 

It's as if my post doesn't exist though. That's the point. You've chosen to ignore the post that sets out the research into this.

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, CornwallFox said:

It's as if my post doesn't exist though. That's the point. You've chosen to ignore the post that sets out the research into this.

Lot of that going around in a lot of different areas.

 

With consequences.

[splinterdream]

14 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

One of the most extensive pieces of content analysis in recent years was conducted for the BBC Trust by Cardiff University. This research, amongst other things, examined the BBC’s coverage of immigration and the EU – two of the most divisive issues in British politics. What researchers found was that conservative perspectives were more prevalent in BBC reporting, and that while the balance between the two major political parties tended to be broadly equal, Conservative featured more regularly than Labour. This rightward leaning reporting has also been confirmed in analyses of guest appearances on programmes like BBC Question Time, and a forthcoming piece of research has confirmed that the right has a slight edge in terms of political guests on BBC programme, and interestingly that the BBC favours right-wing over left-wing Labour MPs, and the right of the Conservative Party over more moderate Tories – not quite the centre ground some have assumed that the BBC adopts. Academic research on the BBC’s coverage of the referendum by Loughborough and Cardiff, meanwhile, has found that while the BBC struck a careful balance between the two sides in the referendum, the whole debate was markedly dominated by the Conservatives and UKIP.

 

When it comes to question time, all of the most seen journalists have been right wingers like Isabella Oakeshott, Julia Hartley-Brewer and very right wing think tank people like Kate Andrews. 

The BBC have had farage on countless times at times when he was polling way behind others or not even in a UK parliament seat. 

I used to be an avid question time fan, it always seemed to me that any conservative voice was brought on to be the panto villain.

I cant comment on the study as ive not seen how it was conducted and wouldnt be interested in arguing against its findings. 

What would be interesting is the overall viewpoint of the public, or should that not matter? 

[splinterdream]

3 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

It's as if my post doesn't exist though. That's the point. You've chosen to ignore the post that sets out the research into this.

I've not seen your post about research. I only replied to @Lionator as I saw his post

[StanSP]

28 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

The BBC clearly has a left wing bias, this is obvious,

'clearly' 

 

Sorry but wtf

 

[splinterdream]

6 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

So it isn't "clearly" left wing then, it's just your viewpoint.

And the viewpoint of others, and Tim Davie when it came to comedy, and my brother that worked there.

[StanSP]

Just now, splinterdream said:

And the viewpoint of others, and Tim Davie when it came to comedy, and my brother that worked there.

So just because there's 'left wing' comedy, that must mean there's a left wing bias? 

 

Maybe there's not a right wing bias because their comedy is shit and not worth a slot on the TV... 

[splinterdream]

3 minutes ago, StanSP said:

So just because there's 'left wing' comedy, that must mean there's a left wing bias? 

 

Maybe there's not a right wing bias because their comedy is shit and not worth a slot on the TV... 

Tim Davie said it, not me.

[splinterdream]

10 minutes ago, StanSP said:

'clearly' 

 

Sorry but wtf

 

It seems clear to me and thats why I stated clearly. Its fine if you dont agree, I dont care really, thought I'd ask ChatGPT to see what that thinks, and it seems to agree that there appears a slight left wing bias.

[Zear0]

3 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

It seems clear to me and thats why I stated clearly. Its fine if you dont agree, I dont care really, thought I'd ask ChatGPT to see what that thinks, and it seems to agree that there appears a slight left wing bias.

Errr

[StanSP]

9 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

It seems clear to me and thats why I stated clearly. Its fine if you dont agree, I dont care really, thought I'd ask ChatGPT to see what that thinks, and it seems to agree that there appears a slight left wing bias.

Clear to you, but even your own 'source' says 'no, the evidence does not support the idea that the BBC is strongly or uniformly left-wing'

 

And 'bias depends on a lot of the viewer's own political standpoint'. 

 

Done yourself over a bit there. 

 

Edited 10 November 2025 by StanSP