DYKE GOES BEFORE INQUIRY

[demdave]

BBC director general Greg Dyke is facing questions at the inquiry investigating the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly.

He said: "My role is to ensure that the BBC maintains its independence from Government and other vested interests. "In times of war, Governments put pressure on the BBC to publicise the line they wish the public to understand.



http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1103744,00.html

Sorry about the all caps in the title. That was how it was.

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. If only

the US media whores had that kind of spine.

[TacticalPeek]

3. It's written in the Constitution.

Maybe they need it written in their contracts. If they're short on ink, there's plenty of blood been spilled to protect their right.

Timmie on MTP yesterday takes the cakewalk.

[TeeYiYi]

2. I can't possibly be the only one . . .

. . . that misread the meaning in your thread title?! :7

TYY

[underpants]

5. I hope Dyke gives those...er...them a good lickin'

And that was the clean version.

[xJlM]

6. I figured this was one of those destined to be locked

Until I saw who posted it...

[AP]

4. Dyke has spent a lot of time in the last year fighting for BBC's

survival. The EU has told the UK that they have to phase out the public subsidy given to the BBC which allows them to compete unfairly in the entertainment fields with private companies. I agree with this 100%. Countries should be able to publicly subsidize news reporting. However, that's only a tiny fraction of what the BBC does.

Dyke made a statement last summer that he thought the problem with Iraq coverage was that you had all these little companies in the marketplace engaged in capitalist competition forcing them to sensationalize and lie. He said it's better to have one big, public media company, because it's less likely to fall to those pressures.

Well, Dyke's an idiot and liar and he needs to get his story straight.

The problem with the news coverage of the war is that there were too few small media companies competing to get the news, and that there a few big companies who were doing what the governments asked them to do because the interests of big media (FCC deregulation, regressive taxation, etc.) were promised to them implicitly or explicitly by the government). And the threat is the same if the media company is publicly financed or a private corporation -- it's the monoploy part that's bad.

Dyke also fails to mention that the BBC plays along with conservative politics when it suits them (their Africa coverage is very right wing), and right now, since Labor is agreeing with the EU about stopping the public subsidy, and because the Tories probably won't do it, the BBC actually has an interest in undermining the Labour government.

The one thing that makes this interesting though is the Mexican stand-off with Murdoch, who hates Labour and hates the BBC.

[Spentastic]

7. Tories, Tories foam foam.........

Here is Gregs speech in full. For those that like their reporting fair and balanced.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/speeches/stories/dyke_journalism.shtml

"Commercial pressures may tempt others to follow the Fox News formula of gung-ho patriotism but for the BBC this would be a terrible mistake. "

Espousing a theory certainly does not make one a liar. As for being an idiot well apparently it takes one to know one.

[AP]

8. Dyke knows perfectly well that the BBC is just as prone to lying

for or against a government as Sky is. He's lying to protect his fiefdom.

[rjbcar27]

9. Are you saying that the BBC should not be publicly funded?

Not sure of your position.

[AP]

13. I'm saying that it's wrong for the gov't to subsidize an entertainment

company (especially with the flat tax -- the TV tax) which then competes unfairly with people out there trying to sell entertainment products on their merit.

I think it's great for governments to subsidize news, but 95% of the businesses the BBC engages in have nothing to do with news.

[Sideways]

12. Do you have access to Sky and BBC on a daily basis?

Just curious because I do. Exactly what "fiefdom" are you referring to? FYI there is no such word as fiefdom.

Making up words to support your ignorant position AP? Ahh par for the course.

If you have an axe to grind with the Beeb and Dyke I strongly suggest you get your facts together dude.

Fiefdom my ass.

[AP]

15. the BBC is Dyke's flat-tax subsidized fiefdom which

competes unfairly with private entertainment companies have to compete against.

It's not right that, to make money, Working Title has to put a lot of effort into producing films which people want to see, yet the BBC can just tax pensioners to get guaranteed income. If it weren't for the BBC, Working Title would probably be bigger and better and would compete with US distributors more effectively, and rather than sap money from pensioners and middle and low income people who pay the TV tax, it would be bringin revenue and income in from overseas sales, and would be creating jobs and more taxable corporate income and individual income for employees.

[Sideways]

16. Barf and Bullshit

AP how much time have you spent in the UK? And in addition what the fuck are you talking about?

Christ on toast you are on ignore. Bye Bye Another Poodle.

[AP]

17. Does it matter how much time? Do you know enough about the UK

or about economics and politics to even understand the facts upon which I'm basing my statement? Are you aware of the EU's position on the BBC?

If you don't that's OK. I'm trying to raise the level of the discussion here. You can listen. You can challenge me with facts and theories. You can do whatever you want. But if "barf and bullshit" and trying to reassure yourself by hoping that I don't know about the UK is your response, then I would think twice if I were you before I acted like I had something valuable to offer to this debate.

Why don't you ask me a question about UK politics, and we'll see what I know. (However, I think my comments here about the BBC should suffice.)

[SkipNewarkDE]

18. No such word as fiefdom?

fief·dom (f?f?d?m) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. The estate or domain of a feudal lord.
2. Something over which one dominant person or group exercises control: “long the independent head of a powerful fiefdom within the Police Department” (David Burnham).




Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

[AP]

19. Can you believe that? Trying to tell me about British politics

and culture and she has never heard the word "fiefdom"

[AndyTiedye]

10. and owns skychannel (the source of this story)

[Outvoicer]

11. oh ...

i was all prepared to be offended by the headline.

Nevermind.

[Arcturus]

14. Yeah, me too.

Boy, is my face red! ^_^;;;