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Discussion > Alan Kendall's "What should the BBC do to improve its climate change coverage?

Mike, yes agreed, it's a national broadcaster and should remain as such. Suggesting Nigel Farage was, of course, a joke, but the laugh line suggests that we need someone outside of the NottingIslington/Oxbridge Arts mindset to take over the Trust and inject a little more humility into them. Notwithstanding the fact that they must get millions of loony complaints a year they are fearfully arrogant if you complain from my own experience of one complaint. It was about the use of Lord Ron (Scouse) Oxburgh as an expert on energy generation and distribution. I pointed out to the editor of the programme that introducing Ron as a former Chairman of Shell, a post he'd held as an interim measure some years ago was deceptive, because his current position was with a carbon capture and storage company and that was what he should be introduced as to give the listeners clarity on his position.

It's a long story, but I was more or less told to bugger off by the programmes editor, so moved up to the Automatic Refutation of Complaints Department aka the Complaints Department who automatically refuted my complaint. I moved on to the Trust where my complaint, simple as it was, languished for some 6 to 8 months before they responded. They found in my favour saying that I was right to ask that Oxburgh's real role should be made in introducing him as an expert on energy generation and distribution, but refuting my (non-existent and not made) claim of bias.

Oh and by the way each and every step of the complaint was accompanied by the relevant quote from the Charter

3.4.12. We should normally identify on-air and online sources of information and significant contributors, and provide their credentials, so that our audiences can judge their status.

I was clearly put into the "Sir Burton Tufton Ignore" queue as opposed to the "Greenie Fast Track Positive Response" queue.

May 1, 2016 at 9:34 AM | Unregistered Commentergeronimo

Steve Richards. What's wrong with NF? I cannot count the ways.

May 1, 2016 at 9:35 AM | Unregistered CommenterAlan Kendall

M. Courtney: You are quite correct, I'm not saying the BBC isn't biassed, see recent post, but in the big picture they won't read the IPCC reports, or even the SPMs, they'll simply get the information through the soundbites of others. They are also in thrall to the environmental movement as can be seen in 28gate. Having said all that none of the other TV/Radio news outlets are particularly different, which I suspect is because it's easier to go along with the general belief than face the organised uproar from the environmentalists should they step out of line.

May 1, 2016 at 9:42 AM | Unregistered Commentergeronimo

O/T but strange that the BBC finds time for some topics but not for others . There's 8 screens worth about Asexuals being 1% of the population without any source for such an assertion at all ..weird

May 1, 2016 at 10:42 AM | Registered Commenterstewgreen

...refuting denying my (non-existent and not made) claim of bias.

(Refuted means they did prove that your claim was false)

May 1, 2016 at 12:06 PM | Unregistered CommenterMartin A

What's wrong with Nigel Garage?

He's a right wing racist demagogue.

May 1, 2016 at 12:28 PM | Unregistered CommenterEntropic man

Entropic man: that could be construed as an ad hominem attack. Can you provide evidence to back up your assertions?

May 1, 2016 at 2:59 PM | Registered CommenterRadical Rodent

Entropic man et al: I find it strange when people state that UKIP and/or Nigel Farage is racist.

UKIP is THE ONLY UK PARTY that is not racist!

Cons, Labs, Libs and Greens are all racist.

Why?

Because they all support remaining in the EU which insists on the unrestricted free movement of people within the EU 28.

So, to contain numbers all lEU 28 countries limit international immigration. With me so far? This will be complicated for you.

UKIP is the only party proposing an Australian-style points system for ALL immigration.

So, east European migration is fundamentally white, international migration is fundamentally nonwhite.

YOU want to allow white but not none white.

Who is the biggest racist in the room?

You may wish to argue the finer points of my words above, but the gist is spot on. Supporters of the mainstream old parties are a racist. Nigel Farage is not.

May 1, 2016 at 3:27 PM | Unregistered CommenterSteve Richards
May 1, 2016 at 3:30 PM | Unregistered CommenterEntropic man

RR. You question EM's description of Nigel Farage, well let's see

Demagogue : political orator who panders to an audience's fears and emotions: check!
Right wing : check!
Racist : debatable but most people would suggest just a smidgin.

So two and a bit out of three ain't bad EM

May 1, 2016 at 3:33 PM | Unregistered CommenterAlan Kendall

Steve Richards. Re 3.27pm.

Why am I reminded of 1984 and doublethink?

May 1, 2016 at 3:58 PM | Unregistered CommenterAlan Kendall

So, you link to a site that declares Cameron to be “right wing”? Snork!

Mr Farage is a serious challenge to the status quo of the political clique, a clique that many of the media are very comfortable with. Thus, someone who challenges their comfort-zone has to be ridiculed and/or debunked. I am afraid the Telegraph article you linked to is little more than that; the headline should surely have alerted you to that.

Personally, I prefer to make my own assessments of others; I do not like to have others telling me how I should be thinking. Have you actually listened to what Mr Farage is saying? Or do you prefer others to tell you their interpretation of what they think he has said?

May 1, 2016 at 4:48 PM | Registered CommenterRadical Rodent

RR. I'm certainly not in the business of telling you what to think, I wouldn't dare, you're much too scary.

However, why your "snork" about Farage's right wing political positioning? He certainly isn't left wing: are you perhaps suggesting he's on the political fence (snork! Sorry about that; total loss of control).

May 1, 2016 at 6:49 PM | Unregistered CommenterAlan Kendall

Radical Rodent

After many years in Northern Ireland I have become a connoisseur of hate-speech and those who use it. Nigel Garage is a very familiar political type. The English have not had the same exposure, and therefore are more easily fooled.

The Troubles cost 3000 lives, with demagogues like Farage driving it on. I would not wish England to go the same way.

May 1, 2016 at 7:49 PM | Unregistered CommenterEntropic man

Is Nigel Farage a right wing racist demagogue?

It seems hard to prove he's racist. And he doesn't seem like a subtle man, full of guile.

But it's self-evident that Nigel Farage is a right wing, nationalist demagogue.

May 1, 2016 at 8:20 PM | Registered CommenterM Courtney

Mr K., the “snork” was not about Mr Farage being “right wing”, it was the idea of Cameron being “right wing”. Though it is curious to note that the term “right wing” does seem to be unusually derogatory (see what I did there?). There is the strong implication that to be “right wing” is not to be on the side of the angels … whereas to be “left wing” … is? I am sure that the people of North Korea or Venezuela might have other ideas about that (that is if they are allowed to have their own ideas, of course).

May 1, 2016 at 9:23 PM | Registered CommenterRadical Rodent

AK:

"Demagogue : political orator who panders to an audience's fears and emotions: check!
Right wing : check!
Racist : debatable but most people would suggest just a smidgin."

Mr David Cameron fits the above even more closely.

May 1, 2016 at 10:49 PM | Unregistered CommenterSteve Richards

Entropic man

"The Troubles cost 3000 lives,......."

and ruined far more families.

But please, The Troubles were driven on, not by political demagogues, but by religious fanaticism and organised crime and as I am sure you are fully aware they still are.

I am married to a product of an 'across the divide' marriage. Trust me, you would not like to suggest to her that political demagogues such as Farage contributed to The Troubles. Try religious intolerance, difficult I know, but if you do you will find it fits with the same awareness gained by the last piece of a jigsaw. Its over!

Blind faith and belief in unproven deities have always created conflict, one wonders if it is not the reason behind their construct?

May 1, 2016 at 11:46 PM | Registered CommenterGreen Sand

Why do socialists automatically assume that to be "right wing" is an evil thing? What do they think being right wing is?

Martin A, perhaps I should have said "thought they refuted". They did offer arguments in both cases, but the accusation of bias was never made. I've only made one complaint to the BBC, and made great efforts to keep the complaint simple and irrefutable by providing the paragraph from their own charter so when the refuted my complaint they would have to argue against their own charter. Don't stop 'em.

May 2, 2016 at 9:09 AM | Unregistered Commentergeronimo

geronimo - yes, interesting to behold the myopia exhibited by the implication "right wing" = "evil" when clearly what they mean is "right wing" = "holds opinions different from ours" = "evil".

Or, to condense a bit: "them" = "evil"; "us" = "good".

Similarly, "demagogue" = "politician who makes speeches that are received enthusiastically received by people whose opinions we don't like".

May 2, 2016 at 10:23 PM | Registered CommenterMartin A

Martin A: aha! Thanks. That clears a lot up. To summarise: anyone who you might not agree with, don't bother listening to what they may have to say, and thereby formulate a reasonable counter-argument... oooh, that sounds like hard work!. Just give them a contentious label and shout them down whenever they speak, so no-one else can hear them. Who knew politics was so simple?!

May 2, 2016 at 11:34 PM | Unregistered CommenterRadical Rodent

Who knew politics was so simple?!

May 2, 2016 at 11:34 PM | Radical Rodent

Maybe that is why climate scientists and politicians thought they were so well matched. The divorce is looking messy, as one side finds itself without income, and neither side finds public sympathy.

May 3, 2016 at 1:13 AM | Unregistered Commentergolf charlie

Martin A.

Here in the East Anglian prairies, a land of vast Toryism (not tourism as my evil spellchecker demands) or "The Big Blue" as some call it, the equation is different. It's more like
left wing = evil, indolent f***ers.
However, in recent years amongst the big bluites it's become
evil f***ers = UKIP.
The perennial lefty Norwich is of course an unexplained phenomenon, as is the greater evil of its increasing greendom in its town council (= f***ing nutters).

My evil f***ing spellchecker doesn't like "Toryism", perhaps it's socialist or was made in China. It seems to tolerate any number of *******s however; perhaps it's been corrupted.

May 3, 2016 at 6:18 AM | Unregistered CommenterAlan Kendall

I have reluctantly decided to scrap my evil spellc Aaaaahhhhh+=##!***¥^€>>>>>>>

ALAN IS (IN)DE(S)POSED........

May 3, 2016 at 6:42 AM | Unregistered CommenterAlan Kendall

THE EVIL BBC IS CORRUT, BIGITED, FULL OF LEFTY PANSIES AND THOUROWLY BAD IN A BIG WEIGH

SP

May 3, 2016 at 6:48 AM | Unregistered CommenterAlan Kendall