Pretty goddamned sad that I have to go to the BBC to get intelligent media observation on Wright.

[Rabrrrrrr]

They have far more understanding of the black church in America, and American black liberation theology, and what Wright is really saying, than the majority of Americans. Which is pretty amazing, considering that there is no black church in England at all; certainly nowhere in the way that it exists here.

And compared to the American media, the BBC is the only one willing to actually engage in the debate in a nuanced, knowledgable, non-condemning and sensitive way.

Pretty fucking sad that we have to go to foreign sources to get actual news.

But then, Britain expects its people to be educated for real; not propagandized by the corporate-owned for-profit advertising-supported media.


(while I wrote this, the BBC segment on Wright has ended)

[LakeSamish706]

1. Yep, I would say thats a travesty but somehow not surprising to me...

After all, just look at our MSM since GWB has been in power.... Its a joke to say the least..... I so very rarely watch it anymore....

[Cali_Democrat]

2. The BBC isn't influenced by corporations and RW bullshit

They are publicly funded. Everyone who buys a TV in Britain pays a fee and this fee funds the BBC service. Our own PBS is woefully underfunded and it shows. Republicans want to eliminate PBS altogether and any public broadcasting.

The Republicans want all broadcasting in private hands. Thank god for the BBC. We need to adopt a similar approach with regard to public broadcasting or we will forever be controlled by the corporate-media.

[FrenchieCat]

3. The 1996 Telecommunications Act signed by Bill Clinton

is what gifted us with the relentless "dumbdown to Pundits run Wild" mentality.

We are a nation full of uneducated fools who lap up anything served to them.

The United States at this moment is the exact setting of "1984"....just like Barack warned in that brilliant ad. This is most likely our last chance to right a wrong.

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. Absolutely - that Act was a frakkin' tragedy. Like airline deregulation.

But we are indeed especially fucked in this country because of the telecommunications laws and an FCC that's more concerned with keeping black women's boobs off TV than they are in using airwaves justly or in the interest of the public that owns them.

[anigbrowl]

8. Hehehe - that was funny! In a tragic way, but I still laughed.

Arty


Scary


End of the world

[MichiganVote]

5. Maybe we should just let the Brit's vote in our election and sit this one out.

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. It would gurantee a McCain loss, that's for sure.

[cbayer]

7. I thought All Things Considered did a good job.

I haven't seen Newshour yet, but I suspect they will also do the story well.

BBC is great, but most of Britain gets its news from some of the sleaziest tabloids on the planet.

[Binka]

13. After Living In The UK For Two Years I Am Wondering Where You Get This

"BBC is great, but most of Britain gets its news from some of the sleaziest tabloids on the planet." Have you lived there? What are you basing this on? Because when I lived there this was not the case.

[Prophet 451]

14. Biggest selling paper here is the Daily Mail

'nuf said.

[cbayer]

18. Sorry for delayed reply.

I have not lived there but I am married to a Brit and have visited. Maybe *most* was an overstatement. My experience was that the newstands were chock full of these scandal filled tabloids and everyone seemed to be reading them.

I may have been a bit pejorative in my statement and for that, I apologize.

I was quite sincere in my recommendation of PBS. I thought Newshour did a fantastic job with the Wright story last night.

[tabasco]

9. Our corporate media has gone into attack mode, which allows us a peek behind the curtain.

It is times like this when we see the true agenda. They prefer to be more subtle, but the interests of the have-mores is being threatened by Obama. So the corporate propaganda machine is in attack mode and it will only intensify when Obama becomes the nominee.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. Damn right. Well said!

Obama does, I think, scare them.

Which is probably why the BBC actually does a legitimate job of covering him - they (and the rest of the world) know that the earth will fare a gajillion times better under Obama than anyone else being offered in America.

[stillcool]

10. And the UK Sunday Times...

covered Sibel Edmunds story as well. Asia Times, and the Guardian are way more informative about what's going on in our country than the MSM. We still have Harpers, and the New Yorker!

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/greenslade/2008/01/us_journalists_ignore_sunday_t.html

US journalists ignore Sunday Times scoop on FBI nuclear scandal
January 22, 2008 9:50

Harry Shearer, one of the voices behind The Simpsons, has used his own blogging voice to ask a pertinent question. Why has a story broken by the Sunday Times over here about nefarious goings-on in the States failed to take off in the American media? He isn't alone in his concerns. Daniel Ellsberg, the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers some 35 years ago, is even more outraged.

He writes: "For the second time in two weeks, the entire US press has let itself be scooped by Rupert Murdoch's London Sunday Times on a dynamite story of criminal activities by corrupt US officials promoting nuclear proliferation. But there is a worse journalistic sin than being scooped, and that is participating in a cover-up of information that demands urgent attention from the public, the US Congress and the courts."

The dynamite story, headlined FBI denies file exposing nuclear secrets theft, was a follow-up to its January 6 revelation, For sale: West's deadly nuclear secrets. It looks to me as though the Sunday Times has landed a genuine world exclusive that should surely have been broken ages ago by US-based reporters.

It revolves around accusations made by an FBI whistleblower, Sibel Edmonds, who - among other things - claims that the bureau was investigating a Turkish and Israeli-run network that paid high-ranking American officials to steal nuclear weapons secrets. These were then sold on the international black market to countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

An American human rights group attempted to obtain further proof of this amazing tale by making a freedom of information request for a specific numbered document relating to the case. The FBI responded by claiming that it did not exist. But the Sunday Times countered that it had obtained another document, signed by an FBI official, showing the existence of the file.

That's why the Sunday Times's latest story, under its old Insight logo, began by accusing the FBI of a cover-up. This looks to me like a very hot story indeed that should surely have been taken up by mainstream newspapers in the United States.

Ellsberg is now appealing to readers to ask their papers why they have turned their backs on Edmonds's revelations. He writes: "For the last two weeks - one could say, for years - the major American media have been guilty of ignoring entirely the allegations of the courageous and highly credible source Sibel Edmonds... It is up to readers to demand that this culpable silent treatment end."

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. I'm often amazed watching the BBC to hear news stories that are radically important

that I never heard about from American news.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

15. As someone who lives overseas and has access to Cable TV

If there is breaking news that I want to follow, I will always go to the BBC and not the American news channels. The BBC has the most realistic, reliable, rational and down-to-earth news and analysis out of all the cable channels -at least in my experience. When I wanted the latest coverage of the midterms in 2006, I taped the BBC coverage in preference to the American networks coverage

Before I had cable, however, I actually experienced this first hand when I had the privilege of visiting the United States. After watching the news broadcasts of the American TV channels and hearing endlessly about Kobe Bryant and how great Arnold Schwarzenegger was and why he deserved to be elected as Governor of California, I found myself tuning in to the BBC news service whenever I could. I probably learned more about American politics and current events on the BBC than I did watching the American news broadcasts while I was in the US

[hannybal]

16. I recommend the Huffington Post

If you crave some pro-Obama commentary 24-7.

[tishaLA]

19. I knew you'd be gone soon

But I'm sure you'll be back

[Ellen Forradalom]

17. God bless the British ratepayer

The Beeb has no dog in this fight. It has no incentive to slander Wright or black churches.