[Birth-Peace]

The question was posed...

Do Muslims threaten free speech?

What a ridiculously leading and weighted question?

How do you think that the BBC and the media in general are adding to the supposed disputes between 'Christians' and 'Muslims'?

[JPMiddleton]

Bearing in mind the BBC have admitted to not being totally impartial in their views towards Islam as opposed to Christianity. It seems like their are trying to correct the balance, maybe in the wrong way.

[JoeP]

I think the BBC are in headless chicken mode right now. There's a distinct lack of focus from the top on the isuses of impartiality, IMO, within the BBC which has been growing for some time.

Over the last 20 years the BBC have lost their reputation in the wider world for impartiality - 2 decades ago the BBC was widely heard on the short wave bands and treated as an impartial source of news. In more recent years this reputation has gone, in the outside world tends to look to the news sources of other countries for impartial coverage of world events.

I think this lack of impartiality is beginning to come through now in the domestic news system as well. I don't think the BBC are necessarily pro- or con- government, but they do have a BBC 'line' which is not neutral. I do believe that the BBC is one of the bastions of what Orwell called the 'English Intellectual'.

The editorial minds at the BBC must be in a terrible state right now; the anti-Blair, anti-War on Terror, no questions asked multi-culturalism is good attitude that's been promulgated for a few years now is beginning to be widely questioned, and I think that this is part of the raeson for their flapping about.

[royjames]

Having watched the dispatches prog I was not in the least suprised to see them bottle it when it came to showing the cartoons,I think they had no intention to show them.
All they did was to show censorship to an issue that involves freedom of expression and the right to criticise and mock each other in the time honoured British way.

[VARB]

Originally Posted by JoeP

I think the BBC are in headless chicken mode right now.

Dont you think it's about time this headless chicken was laid to rest ?
The licence fee ( tax ) should be abolished and let them sink or swim , I didn't watch channel fours Dispatches but at least I dont have to pay not to watch it .

[depoix]

Originally Posted by VARB

Dont you think it's about time this headless chicken was laid to rest ?
The licence fee ( tax ) should be abolished and let them sink or swim , I didn't watch channel fours Dispatches but at least I dont have to pay not to watch it .

very good point varb.
i watched the discussion,or should i say play,it was as if it was all scripted,especially when mr snow invited the audiance to vote on whether or not to show the danish cartoons that started the trouble ,the vote went as a yes majority,he had envelopes in his hand which he said contained the cartoons,after a dramatic build up he said we will see after this break,the break over he said he had a directive from chanell 4 not to show them, it was all set up,you could see the two main characters turning pages over,if it wasnt scripted,why the notes pertaining to each question ?

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by VARB

Dont you think it's about time this headless chicken was laid to rest ?
The licence fee ( tax ) should be abolished and let them sink or swim , I didn't watch channel fours Dispatches but at least I dont have to pay not to watch it .

I think that some sort of licence fee is necessary for maintaining the 'Public Service' aspect of broadcasting - Radio 3, Radio 4, the non-profitable 'culture vulture' areas (that I like ) on TV, and so on.

Removing guaranteed income for these programming areas would be a mistake - once you lose quality, you never regain it, and I think that there's an increasing amount of 'cultural slumming' on the BBC already. Perhaps the licence fee should be reduced and ring fenced in some way, with the BBC being encouraged to generate revenue by licensing and subscription as well.