General News Thread

[fox_up_north]

Having done bits and pieces with BBC journos and other sources over a 4 year period around uni, approx 15 years ago - they do have an air of self importance. They believe they are right and they are the best. They are also considerably stuck in certain ways.

 

This has positives and negatives, of course. However, they are broadly the most reliable because of the trust they have built and the connections that come with it.

 

A state, independent broadcaster, is important. I personally think strip back a lot of it and provide things people can't get elsewhere. Lose things like Match of the Day, where youtube has recaps of all games. Replace it with a focus on lesser covered sports and engagement for people. Their children's output is second to none and so important for combating the Tik Tok generation brainrot stuff. More of that, proper news and regional stuff. 

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, fox_up_north said:

Having done bits and pieces with BBC journos and other sources over a 4 year period around uni, approx 15 years ago - they do have an air of self importance. They believe they are right and they are the best. They are also considerably stuck in certain ways.

 

This has positives and negatives, of course. However, they are broadly the most reliable because of the trust they have built and the connections that come with it.

 

A state, independent broadcaster, is important. I personally think strip back a lot of it and provide things people can't get elsewhere. Lose things like Match of the Day, where youtube has recaps of all games. Replace it with a focus on lesser covered sports and engagement for people. Their children's output is second to none and so important for combating the Tik Tok generation brainrot stuff. More of that, proper news and regional stuff. 

To add to this, their nature/science coverage is absolutely vital and should be treated as such. 

[Super_horns]

45 minutes ago, StanSP said:

People will say defund the BBC then wonder why their favourite programmes start to cease showing up on the guides... 

That is a good point .

 

Or they would get replaced with more repeats or things aimed at a certain demographic but not cater for all ?

 

[danny.]

11 hours ago, splinterdream said:

He said most of the people working there had strong left leaning views yes, this was at the time Corbyn was labour leader. 

IIRC Newsnight photoshopped Corbyn to look very Russian around that time?

 

10 hours ago, st albans fox said:

Said it before 

if the beeb is upsetting everyone then it’s probably doing its job pretty well

100%, I don't like the BBC or watch it (or any TV) but the right moan it's too left and the left moan it's too right, so sounds like it's hitting the spot.

 

10 hours ago, splinterdream said:

People just dont want to be forced to pay for it 

No one is forced to pay for it. I haven't paid a BBC license for well over a decade. You can just cancel it?

[Sampson]

Why are the Mail and Telegraph celebrating a foreign leader attacking our national broadcaster?

Think what you like about the BBC, but it's the British state broadcaster not the American one. The right wing press have become so obsessed with American political culture it's like they want us to become a 51st state and have tied themselves so bizarrely to a foreign leader in Trump that they will happily attack Britain itself and British institutions if it feels like it's pro-Trump to do so. If the Guardian did this with a left-leaning world leader they'd be outcry of a foreign takeover of our press and rightly so.

[Jon the Hat]

19 minutes ago, danny. said:

No one is forced to pay for it. I haven't paid a BBC license for well over a decade. You can just cancel it?

For a lot of people particularly the elderly, the endless bullying postal threats are intimidating.

[ClaphamFox]

23 minutes ago, danny. said:

IIRC Newsnight photoshopped Corbyn to look very Russian around that time?

 

100%, I don't like the BBC or watch it (or any TV) but the right moan it's too left and the left moan it's too right, so sounds like it's hitting the spot.

 

No one is forced to pay for it. I haven't paid a BBC license for well over a decade. You can just cancel it?

This did not happen. That bonkers little scamp Owen Jones claimed it happened, but no evidence was ever produced.

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 hours ago, st albans fox said:

  If farage got in then it will survive but not as we know it. 

State TV (shudders)

[Jon the Hat]

22 minutes ago, Sampson said:

Why are the Mail and Telegraph celebrating a foreign leader attacking our national broadcaster?

Think what you like about the BBC, but it's the British state broadcaster not the American one. The right wing press have become so obsessed with American political culture it's like they want us to become a 51st state and have tied themselves so bizarrely to a foreign leader in Trump that they will happily attack Britain itself and British institutions if it feels like it's pro-Trump to do so. If the Guardian did this with a left-leaning world leader they'd be outcry of a foreign takeover of our press and rightly so.

I think it is because they are massive unmitigated arseholes.  Could be wrong.

[leicsmac]

21 minutes ago, Sampson said:

Why are the Mail and Telegraph celebrating a foreign leader attacking our national broadcaster?

Think what you like about the BBC, but it's the British state broadcaster not the American one. The right wing press have become so obsessed with American political culture it's like they want us to become a 51st state and have tied themselves so bizarrely to a foreign leader in Trump that they will happily attack Britain itself and British institutions if it feels like it's pro-Trump to do so. If the Guardian did this with a left-leaning world leader they'd be outcry of a foreign takeover of our press and rightly so.

As per above, I really want an answer regarding this from those decrying to Beeb right now.

 

The dichotomy appears to be between them and Trump-style media. Which do you prefer and why? And if that dichotomy is false, why exactly is it?

 

There's far too little explanation of position in the bigger picture going on here. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

29 minutes ago, danny. said:

IIRC Newsnight photoshopped Corbyn to look very Russian around that time

They put a fur hat on his head and a Spartak Moscow shirt on his torso whilst drinking from a bottle of Smirnoff at a Tchaikovsky symphony concert?

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, Jon the Hat said:

I think it is because they are massive unmitigated arseholes.  Could be wrong.

I think that's 100% accurate, funnily enough. 

 

But it's problematic that enough people with voting power appear to align with their viewpoint. 

[Jon the Hat]

1 minute ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

They put a fur hat on his head and a Spartak Moscow shirt on his torso whilst drinking from a bottle of Smirnoff at a Tchaikovsky symphony concert?

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, Jon the Hat said:

Right about the ushanka then 

[Jon the Hat]

5 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Right about the ushanka then 

 

OK putting the Kremlin behind him was suggestive, but they were talking about his response to the Salisbury Poisonings, and his love of the UKs enemies was almost comedic.

[danny.]

20 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

This did not happen. That bonkers little scamp Owen Jones claimed it happened, but no evidence was ever produced.

I saw it myself, and someone has since posted it, you don't think that's been shopped to look more Russian?!

 

25 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

For a lot of people particularly the elderly, the endless bullying postal threats are intimidating.

Agreed, but it's one call every 2 years to stop them. Still doesn't mean anyone has to pay, though. And if someone is 75 and over they get one for free. 

[MaidstoneFox]

1 hour ago, fox_up_north said:

Having done bits and pieces with BBC journos and other sources over a 4 year period around uni, approx 15 years ago - they do have an air of self importance. They believe they are right and they are the best. They are also considerably stuck in certain ways.

 

This has positives and negatives, of course. However, they are broadly the most reliable because of the trust they have built and the connections that come with it.

 

A state, independent broadcaster, is important. I personally think strip back a lot of it and provide things people can't get elsewhere. Lose things like Match of the Day, where youtube has recaps of all games. Replace it with a focus on lesser covered sports and engagement for people. Their children's output is second to none and so important for combating the Tik Tok generation brainrot stuff. More of that, proper news and regional stuff. 

Part of their remit though is to produce popular programming and it also helps justify the licence fee. It's partly why they are still very successful at making the last remaining popular shows that families watch together,  such as Traitors, Strictly etc. Also in terms of sport, there are lots of people who won't or can't pay for subscriptions and this gives them access to major sporting events. Cricket going behind a paywall in 2006 has seen a big fall-off in participation, so they are offering some access with their highlights packages there. I agree about their children's programming, which is high quality and I should add in BBC Bitesize as well which has been providing brilliant educational resources for quite some time.

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

To add to this, their nature/science coverage is absolutely vital and should be treated as such. 

This is fantastic and something we should be proud of as a nation as it's highly regarded throughout the world. But the BBC produces or co-produces all sorts of quality content, some of which is very lucrative such as its dramas that are sold around the world, The BBC news website is one of the most visited news websites in the world.

[ClaphamFox]

3 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Right about the ushanka then 

 

Just now, danny. said:

I saw it myself, and someone has since posted it, you don't think that's been shopped to look more Russian?!

 

Agreed, but it's one call every 2 years to stop them. Still doesn't mean anyone has to pay, though. And if someone is 75 and over they get one for free. 

Jones claimed they manipulated the hat to make it look more Russian, whereas they'd just used the image below on their curved background screen, which made it look a bit taller. Obviously they chose to project him onto a very Russian background, but that was because the story they were covering was the UK's response to the Salisbury poisonings. They'd previously projected Gavin Williamson onto the same picture when covering the same story. In other words, they neither manipulated the hat nor choose the background specifically for Corbyn—it was just their template background for the Salisbury poisonings story.

 

 

[Jon the Hat]

5 minutes ago, danny. said:

I saw it myself, and someone has since posted it, you don't think that's been shopped to look more Russian?!

If you mean have they put him in front of Red Square, then yes.  

[leicsmac]

7 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

 

OK putting the Kremlin behind him was suggestive, but they were talking about his response to the Salisbury Poisonings, and his love of the UKs enemies was almost comedic.

 

Just now, ClaphamFox said:

 

Jones claimed they manipulated the hat to make it look more Russian, whereas they'd just used the image below on their curved background screen, which made it look a bit taller. Obviously they chose to project him onto a very Russian background, but that was because the story they were covering was the UK's response to the Salisbury poisonings. They'd previously projected Gavin Williamson onto the same picture when covering the same story. In other words, they neither manipulated the hat nor choose the background specifically for Corbyn—it was just their template background for the Salisbury poisonings story.

 

 

Fair enough, no horse in that particular race either way. 

[Jon the Hat]

1 minute ago, ClaphamFox said:

 

Ohhhh Gavin is Trot, a Trot a Trot!

[danny.]

3 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

 

Jones claimed they manipulated the hat to make it look more Russian, whereas they'd just used the image below on their curved background screen, which made it look a bit taller. Obviously they chose to project him onto a very Russian background, but that was because the story they were covering was the UK's response to the Salisbury poisonings. They'd previously projected Gavin Williamson onto the same picture when covering the same story. In other words, they neither manipulated the hat nor choose the background specifically for Corbyn—it was just their template background for the Salisbury poisonings story.

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

If you mean have they put him in front of Red Square, then yes.  

And changed the levels to make him red and completely change the look of his hat, there is much more post processing there than pasting a cut out into a backdrop of Red Square

 

They didn't do this with Williamson which WAS just a trimming path/copy/paste job

Edited 11 November 2025 by danny.

[Jon the Hat]

I do think the BBC, particularly news, is so bloody huge it is impossible to manage.  How can you possibly have editorial control over 5,500 odd journalists?

[leicsmac]

7 minutes ago, MaidstoneFox said:

 

This is fantastic and something we should be proud of as a nation as it's highly regarded throughout the world. But the BBC produces or co-produces all sorts of quality content, some of which is very lucrative such as its dramas that are sold around the world, The BBC news website is one of the most visited news websites in the world.

Agreed. 

 

I do think, however, that scientific and nature based programming that is educational in origin really shouldn't be subject to market forces, as it is of critical importance to our future. 

[Sampson]

1 minute ago, Jon the Hat said:

I do think the BBC, particularly news, is so bloody huge it is impossible to manage.  How can you possibly have editorial control over 5,500 odd journalists?

You can't. Which is why it's ridiculous the DG and head of news have resigned over 10 seconds in an externally made programme that it took anyone over a year to recognise there was anything wrong with.