Podcast 8 is up and it is pretty packed.
The way BBC News behaves is often a cause of dismay/fury/disappointment/surprise (delete as applicable to last story you read or watched).
Instead of attacking the latest thing on Newsnicht, Newsnight or the news itself, I think a bit of context might be useful.
Therefore, this interview, that I conducted a while ago, focuses on the organisation rather than the any specific output and how it can be influenced. It also touches on how that organisation sees itself.
In order to get into these matters I spoke to Professor David Miller. As well as being a Professor of Sociology he is also the author of Tell Me Lies: Propaganda & Media Distortion In The Attack On Iraq and more recently A Century Of Spin: How Public Relations Became The Cutting Edge Of Corporate Power. He is also one of the founders of Spinwatch, and as a little correction to what I say in the podcast, Powerbase (which used to be called spinprofiles). Powerbase is a wonderfully useful tool for journalists and bloggers.
There is also a report on BBC Bias from BBC Scotlandshire.
I hope you enjoy.
Very much enjoyed hearing Miller’s thoughts on the BBC – wonder what he makes of what’s happening right now?!
Great stuff mister.
Thanks,
By chance he had an article in the Guardian on it yesterday too…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/11/bbc-liberal-bias-inquiry
Thanks for link. Reading the comments after Miller’s Guardian piece, the ‘problem’ seems pretty obvious – so many folk have a warped perception of what the BBC is, what its day-to-day function actually is, it’s difficult to have any sober debate, one which doesn’t degenerate into finger-pointing, accusations of bias from all sides. That’s when simple solid facts become priceless – the work of Miller, Greg Philo and their colleagues in Glasgow Media Unit/Group is important, and deserving of special attention. The various techniques they’ve employed/developed over the past three decades should be applied to what we’re being fed right now.
I agree, and in fact many moons ago I used to help out at the GMG