It’s emerged that the BBC’s Chief Executive Mark Thompson has had a discreet meeting with David Cameron’s senior aides about the BBC’s current and forthcoming coverage of the Government’s spending.
According to the Telegraph article the need for a meeting seems to stem from Government aides and Ministers being furious with the BBC’s coverage so far and wanting the licence fee scrapped or at least frozen and the BBC taking a more proactive line in terms of its future.
It states ‘The unusual private meeting appears to have been Mr Thompson’s latest attempt to assure senior Conservative figures that the BBC is not biased against the Government. It is understood that he had no similar meetings about editorial content with Gordon Brown or his officials.
The secret meeting took place amid growing Government indications that the BBC licence fee should be reduced. Against this background, Mr Thompson may face accusations that he was unwise to discuss editorial content – a task normally left to more junior figures or reporters.
Senior Conservative Cabinet ministers are privately furious at the alleged bias of the BBC when reporting the Coalition’s public spending plans.
However, details of the secret meeting will spark allegations that the BBC is seeking to "cosy up" to Mr Cameron in an attempt to avoid the swingeing cuts facing the rest of the public sector.'
The article goes on to talk about this and other meetings between Government officials and the BBC over what look like ongoing concerns ‘A BBC spokesman said: "The director-general has made it repeatedly clear that the impartiality of the BBC is paramount.
"In the meeting today the director-general in his role as editor-in-chief discussed the possible participation of a number of members of the Government in the BBC's coverage of the spending review this autumn.
"The BBC has regular meetings with both government and opposition parties. Both he and colleagues will also be talking to all the main political parties on this issue."
Details of the meeting emerged after Mr Thompson was photographed in Downing Street holding a briefing note prepared for the meeting. He was arriving to meet Steve Hilton, Mr Cameron’s director of strategy.
The briefing note discloses that Andy Coulson, Mr Cameron’s communications director, was "concerned" that a forthcoming series of reports on the Government’s public spending review had the correct "context".
Mr Coulson made his concerns known to Helen Boaden, the BBC’s head of news, at a recent lunch meeting. Miss Boaden is understood to have "reassured" Mr Coulson over his concerns.
In the note for Mr Thompson, Miss Boaden provided Mr Thompson with a detailed list of all the positive news coverage that the BBC was planning, or had already broadcast.’
So Rupert Murdoch is not the only media big wig with special access to Prime Minister's and 10 Downing Street and we can assume that this applies to BBC Wales TV and Radio spending cuts coverage as well.
If so has anyone given any thought as to the consequences of surrendering of Editorial freedom will have on the Welsh media in the months and years ahead, no i didn't think so either.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
New York Times challenges Andy Coulson’s selective memory
The New York Times has a lengthy piece of the murky world of how journalists from Rupert Murdoch’s UK’s tabloid newspapers sourced and collected stories, and why does this matter you say, because David Cameron’s Media Chief Andy Coulson was the former News of the World Editor during this period and claimed in a Parliamentary inquiry that he knew nothing about the illegal practice of phone hacking that his staff were up to getting stories about Celebrities, Politicians and the Royal Family.
Here are a few quotes ‘But interviews with more than a dozen former reporters and editors at NOTW described a frantic, sometimes degrading atmosphere in which some reporters openly pursued hacking or other improper tactics to satisfy demanding editors. Andy Coulson, the top editor at the time, had imposed a hypercompetitive ethos, even by tabloid standards. One former reporter called it a “do whatever it takes” mentality. The reporter was one of two people who said Coulson was present during discussions about phone hacking. Coulson ultimately resigned but denied any knowledge of hacking.
Around the newsroom, some reporters were getting stories by surreptitiously accessing phone messages, according to former editors and reporters. Often, all it took was a standard four-digit security code, like 1111 or 4444, which many users did not bother to change after buying their mobile phones. If they did, the paper’s private investigators found ways to trick phone companies into revealing personal codes. Reporters called one method of hacking “double screwing” because it required two simultaneous calls to the same number. The first would engage the phone line, forcing the second call into voice mail. A reporter then punched in the code to hear messages, often deleting them to prevent access by rival papers. A dozen former reporters said in interviews that hacking was pervasive at News of the World. “Everyone knew,” one longtime reporter said. “The office cat knew.”
One former editor said Coulson talked freely with colleagues about the dark arts, including hacking. “I’ve been to dozens if not hundreds of meetings with Andy” when the subject came up, said the former editor, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The editor added that when Coulson would ask where a story came from, editors would reply, “We’ve pulled the phone records” or “I’ve listened to the phone messages.”
Sean Hoare, a former reporter and onetime close friend of Coulson’s, also recalled discussing hacking. The two men first worked together at The Sun, where, Hoare said, he played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson. At News of the World, Hoare said he continued to inform Coulson of his pursuits. Coulson “actively encouraged me to do it,” Hoare said.
For the News of the World the events that summer seemed auspicious, Goodman and Mulcaire were no longer at the paper, evidence remained filed away at Scotland Yard and countless people had no idea their phone messages might have been hacked. But like the many secrets News of the World famously exposed, the paper’s own would not stay hidden. Less than six months later, in early 2008, trouble was reignited by a lawyer for Gordon Taylor, the soccer association executive whose phone Mulcaire had admitted to hacking. The lawyer, Mark Lewis, said he believed that he could explicitly link the eavesdropping to an article the paper had prepared a year earlier alleging an affair between Taylor and his assistant. Both Taylor and the woman had adamantly denied the affair, but News of the World claimed it obtained the story through “proper journalistic inquiry.” Lewis ultimately persuaded the paper to kill the story, but the phrase stuck with him. He now suspected “improper” was a more fitting description.'
Here are a few quotes ‘But interviews with more than a dozen former reporters and editors at NOTW described a frantic, sometimes degrading atmosphere in which some reporters openly pursued hacking or other improper tactics to satisfy demanding editors. Andy Coulson, the top editor at the time, had imposed a hypercompetitive ethos, even by tabloid standards. One former reporter called it a “do whatever it takes” mentality. The reporter was one of two people who said Coulson was present during discussions about phone hacking. Coulson ultimately resigned but denied any knowledge of hacking.
Around the newsroom, some reporters were getting stories by surreptitiously accessing phone messages, according to former editors and reporters. Often, all it took was a standard four-digit security code, like 1111 or 4444, which many users did not bother to change after buying their mobile phones. If they did, the paper’s private investigators found ways to trick phone companies into revealing personal codes. Reporters called one method of hacking “double screwing” because it required two simultaneous calls to the same number. The first would engage the phone line, forcing the second call into voice mail. A reporter then punched in the code to hear messages, often deleting them to prevent access by rival papers. A dozen former reporters said in interviews that hacking was pervasive at News of the World. “Everyone knew,” one longtime reporter said. “The office cat knew.”
One former editor said Coulson talked freely with colleagues about the dark arts, including hacking. “I’ve been to dozens if not hundreds of meetings with Andy” when the subject came up, said the former editor, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The editor added that when Coulson would ask where a story came from, editors would reply, “We’ve pulled the phone records” or “I’ve listened to the phone messages.”
Sean Hoare, a former reporter and onetime close friend of Coulson’s, also recalled discussing hacking. The two men first worked together at The Sun, where, Hoare said, he played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson. At News of the World, Hoare said he continued to inform Coulson of his pursuits. Coulson “actively encouraged me to do it,” Hoare said.
For the News of the World the events that summer seemed auspicious, Goodman and Mulcaire were no longer at the paper, evidence remained filed away at Scotland Yard and countless people had no idea their phone messages might have been hacked. But like the many secrets News of the World famously exposed, the paper’s own would not stay hidden. Less than six months later, in early 2008, trouble was reignited by a lawyer for Gordon Taylor, the soccer association executive whose phone Mulcaire had admitted to hacking. The lawyer, Mark Lewis, said he believed that he could explicitly link the eavesdropping to an article the paper had prepared a year earlier alleging an affair between Taylor and his assistant. Both Taylor and the woman had adamantly denied the affair, but News of the World claimed it obtained the story through “proper journalistic inquiry.” Lewis ultimately persuaded the paper to kill the story, but the phrase stuck with him. He now suspected “improper” was a more fitting description.'
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Lib Dems response to IFS report is causing Tory headaches
In case you were wondering what it would take to get the Coalition and its cheerleaders genuinely concerned about something, then Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander provided it over the weekend, by announcing that there will be no tax breaks for anyone in the next 5 years.
The Official reason being that the deficit is so high that this has to be done, but its got the Tories up in arms as the UK is now facing austerity cuts, no tax relief, possibly subdued growth and higher unemployment, not exactly easy to defend now or sell to a weary electorate at the next election.
The unofficial reason this was announced is an attempt by the Liberal Democrat to mitigate the damming criticism by the Institute of Fiscal Studies report last week that proved that George Osborne’s June Budget was regressive and would hit the poorest hardest. The Lib Dems are hoping that if they rule out tax breaks for everyone then the Budget might be seen as a lot more “progressive”.
The problem for Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander is the damage has probably already been done and claiming that growth and measures to move people back into work weren’t included makes them sound petty and more than a bit desperate.
More on the need for the Coalition to focus on growth and less on cuts from Iain Martin over at the Wall Street Journal.
The Official reason being that the deficit is so high that this has to be done, but its got the Tories up in arms as the UK is now facing austerity cuts, no tax relief, possibly subdued growth and higher unemployment, not exactly easy to defend now or sell to a weary electorate at the next election.
The unofficial reason this was announced is an attempt by the Liberal Democrat to mitigate the damming criticism by the Institute of Fiscal Studies report last week that proved that George Osborne’s June Budget was regressive and would hit the poorest hardest. The Lib Dems are hoping that if they rule out tax breaks for everyone then the Budget might be seen as a lot more “progressive”.
The problem for Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander is the damage has probably already been done and claiming that growth and measures to move people back into work weren’t included makes them sound petty and more than a bit desperate.
More on the need for the Coalition to focus on growth and less on cuts from Iain Martin over at the Wall Street Journal.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tony Blair’s pre book orders are lagging behind Nigella Lawson and Terry Pratchett
Its looks as though Tony Blair’s autobiography "A Journey*, due out later this week isn't going to do as well as in the UK as its publishers initially hoped. I’m not sure whether that's down to his unpopularity or the fact that we have already had so many accounts of his and Labour's time in Office from Alistair Campbell, Peter Mandelson, Andrew Rawnsley and others that fatigue is kicking in or whether people are bored with Labour's psycho dramas of old.
But according to the Daily Telegraph ‘Sales in this country (UK) are not expected to be as high as previously predicted and orders for the book are currently lagging behind those for Nigella Lawson and Terry Pratchett, which are also published later this week.
Add to that the strict security in place and a list of banned items that autograph hunters aren’t allowed to bring to any book signing he does in the UK and you can see why further on the article they report that ‘ His aides are thought to have become increasingly alarmed at the sharp fall in his popularity in Britain since leaving office.’
Its not all bad news for Mr Blair he is due in Washington this week as Middle Eastern Envoy when the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians start a new round of peace talks and his publishers are expecting the former PM’s memoirs to be a best seller in America. Make of that what you will.
But according to the Daily Telegraph ‘Sales in this country (UK) are not expected to be as high as previously predicted and orders for the book are currently lagging behind those for Nigella Lawson and Terry Pratchett, which are also published later this week.
Add to that the strict security in place and a list of banned items that autograph hunters aren’t allowed to bring to any book signing he does in the UK and you can see why further on the article they report that ‘ His aides are thought to have become increasingly alarmed at the sharp fall in his popularity in Britain since leaving office.’
Its not all bad news for Mr Blair he is due in Washington this week as Middle Eastern Envoy when the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians start a new round of peace talks and his publishers are expecting the former PM’s memoirs to be a best seller in America. Make of that what you will.
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