U.K.: BBC IS ANTI-CHRISTIAN & PRO-MOSLEM, IN THEIR OWN WORDS

BBC closes door on newsreaders in muslim veils

Judging by some of the headlines over the past week, there are people out there who think the BBC is dominated by trendy, Left-leaning liberals who are biased against Christianity and in favour of multiculturalism.

Like all the best conspiracy-theorists, though, they don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. But let's put the myths and rumours to one side and take a quick reality check.
The BBC does not object to newsreaders wearing small religious symbols, whether crosses, crescents or Stars of David.

But we do not believe it would be appropriate for a newsreader to wear a veil over the face, not because we favour one religion over another but because we believe it would distract from the presentation of the news.

Some papers argue that the BBC is systematically biased against Christianity and in favour of Islam. Again, it's hard to square that with the facts.

When the controversy blew up over the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, we decided that, without anything like full publication, we had to show enough of the cartoons for our audiences to be able to understand the story.

As a result we showed rather more than any British newspaper did. How did the Press react to this decision? It accused the BBC of 'irresponsibility'.

The BBC has a duty to celebrate and reflect Christian life and belief in this country in programmes from Choral Evensong to The Convent.

Many of those who work for the BBC are practising Christians (I'm one of them). We also have a responsibility to celebrate and reflect other religions and belief systems, including non-religious ones.

To do both requires creativity and fair mindedness, but by enabling audiences to encounter and understand other faiths potentially benefits everyone. But some newspapers purport to see political correctness in all BBC actions and reactions.

When Richard Hammond had his accident, several papers were certain that PC BBC bosses would insist on the immediate cancellation of Top Gear. Do we take health and safety seriously on Top Gear as on other BBC programmes? Of course, and, despite inevitable jokes about form-filling, can you imagine the outcry if we didn't? We are anxious to learn any lessons we can from the enquiries into Richard's crash.

But it's ridiculous to suggest that Top Gear somehow gets broadcast despite the BBC. It's a programme we're incredibly proud of and we know that exhilaration - and yes, risk - are part of the reason for its success.

I've never met a BBC boss who wants to ban Top Gear. And if I ever do, I'll show them the door. As a viewer, I'm not sure I can face life without it.

But a DG who loves Top Gear - or A Seaside Parish for that matter - doesn't fit the stereotype of an utterly politically correct BBC and is therefore air-brushed out of the picture.

So too are Jeremy Clarkson, Libby Purves, John Humphrys, Terry Wogan and Ian Hislop and all the other patently politically incorrect broadcasters with whom the BBC's schedules are full.
The headlines over the past week largely arose from a seminar organised by the BBC's governors. The way it was covered is itself very instructive.

The seminar was an attempt to have as open a dialogue as possible about the question of impartiality and some of the editorial dilemmas which the BBC faces daily.

Several papers insisted the seminar had taken place at a 'secret location' or reported revelations from 'a leaked memo' about its deliberations.

In fact the seminar was open to external participants and many outside guests took part. Far from being secret, it was streamed live on the internet.

The seminar included a number of sessions in which people inside and outside the BBC discussed hypothetical stories and issues. It was a handful of remarks in these 'what if' sessions that sparked the headlines.

But they were just that - off-the-cuff remarks during a free-ranging discussion. They were not, and were never intended to be, a statement of official BBC editorial policy.

...


I post, you decide:

BBC Internal Memo Admits Anti-Christian Bias
Company executives admitted the corporation is dominated by homosexuals
By Gudrun Schultz

LONDON, United Kingdom, October 24, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The British Broadcasting Corporation has admitted to a marked bias against Christianity and a strong inclination to pro-Muslim reporting among the network’s executives and key anchors, in a leaked account of an “impartiality summit.”

The Daily Mail reported Sunday on the secret London meeting of key executives, called by BBC chairman Michael Grade and hosted by veteran broadcaster Sue Lawley. The report revealed that many senior executives are deeply frustrated with the corporation’s commitment to “political correctness” and liberal policies at the expense of journalistic integrity and objectivity.

BBC executives admitted the corporation is dominated by homosexuals. They acknowledged that ethnic minorities held a disproportionate number of positions and said the BBC deliberately encourages multiculturalism and is more careful to avoid offending the Muslim community than Christians, .

Tossing the Bible into a garbage can on a comedy show would be acceptable, they said, but not the Koran, and if possible they would broadcast an interview with Osama Bin Laden, giving him the opportunity to explain his views.

“The BBC is not impartial or neutral,” said Andrew Marr, senior political commentator with the corporation. “It’s a publicly funded, urban organization with a abnormally large number of young people, ethnic minorities and gay people. It has a liberal bias not so much a party-political bias. It is better expressed as a cultural liberal bias.”

Senior executives raised a chorus of complaints against the corporation for bias against the United States and strongly anti-national reporting. Justin Webb, Washington correspondent, said anti-American sentiment runs so deep in the corporation that the U.S. is treated with scorn and derision and given “no moral weight.”

“There was widespread acknowledgement that we may have gone too far in the direction of political correctness,” said one senior executive. “Unfortunately, much of it is so deeply embedded in the BBC’s culture that it is very hard to change it.”

Mary Fitzpatrick, who oversees the corporation’s “diversity” policies, said Muslim women readers for BBC News should be permitted to wear veils while on air, if they choose, after a female newsreader caused a stir by wearing a visible cross on air. Ms. Fitzpatrick also defended the BBC against internal accusations of selective reporting on issues critical of the black community.

Andrew Marr, in an interview with the Mail, said, “The BBC must always try to reflect Britain, which is mostly a provincial, middle-of-the-road country. Britain is not a mirror image of the BBC or the people who work for it.”

During the recent international upheaval over Pope Benedict XVI’s comments on Islam, the BBC was accused by media watchers of deliberately inflaming the Muslim community worldwide through biased and inflammatory coverage. Political commentator David Warren, writing for the Ottawa Citizen, said the BBC was “having a little mischief. The kind of mischief that is likely to end with Catholic priests and faithful butchered around the Muslim world.”

The international uproar led to retaliatory attacks in Israel against Christian churches and clergy, and the murder of a nun in Somalia.

This story comes to you via JihadWatch.org ...

Pertinent Links:

1) BBC closes door on newsreaders in muslim veils

2) BBC Internal Memo Admits Anti-Christian Bias

3) JihadWatch