Displaying items by tag: BBC

Thursday, 27 May 2021 22:10

BBC to review editorial policies

BBC chairman Richard Sharp said failures of ‘accountability and transparency’ existed until 2020. The BBC will review editorial practices and investigate how journalist, Martin Bashir, was re-hired as religion editor in 2016, after an inquiry found he used ‘deceitful behaviour’ to secure an interview with Diana, Princess of Wales. The BBC accepted the findings and reiterated its apology. The Duke of Cambridge said his mother was failed ‘not just by a rogue reporter’ but by BBC bosses. An enquiry found Bashir had faked bank statements to suggest Princess Diana was under surveillance - to win the trust of her brother Earl Spencer, and eventually gain access to the princess for the 1995 interview. Then as media interest in the interview increased, the BBC covered up its knowledge of how Bashir secured the interview. Now the BBC board ‘hopes to ensure the mistakes of the past could not be repeated’. Pray for truth, humility and justice run through all reporting and commentaries.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 11 February 2021 21:03

Songs of Praise controversy

Christian MP Gregory Campbell has defended his claim that the BBC's Songs of Praise Gospel Singer of the Year Competition was ‘the BBC at its Black Lives Matter worst’. The semi-final featured five black singers and three black judges. He believes the singers were not representative of the best gospel singers in the country, the BBC is not diverse, and the show had ‘one colour scheme’. The presenter of the competition said very few white people applied, and the best singers were chosen. The MP then asked him if he was trying to make him believe there wasn't a single white person good enough when both black and white sing gospel. The presenter said the show celebrated a style of music that came out of black communities and black experience in this country; Campbell's comments show a lack of understanding and ignorance about gospel music.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 28 January 2021 20:57

Education: homeschooling transgender lessons

A BBC programme aimed at nine- to twelve-year-olds claims that there are 'over 100 gender identities'. The film, ‘Understanding Sexual and Gender Identities', is offered on its website as part of its relationships and sex education package for home schooling. It tells children that becoming transgender is a way to be 'happy', while making no mention of the growing legal and medical concerns about the rising number of children saying they want to change gender. When a pupil asks, 'How many gender identities are there?' the teacher replies, 'There are many gender identities. We know we have male and female, but there are over 100 if not more gender identities now. Some people might feel they are two different genders, some might think they are bi-gender. There are some who might call themselves “gender-queer” - like, I don't want to be anything in particular, I just want to be me.'

Published in British Isles
Friday, 03 January 2020 09:59

BBC ‘a secular church’

Conservative peer Charles Moore, as a guest editor on Radio 4's Today programme, said the BBC has a liberal bias: ‘What I am objecting to is preaching.’ He said the BBC is a secular church which tells us what we ought to think about things. Mr Moore had difficulty trying to get information about climate change onto the programme, even though he was the guest editor and should have had a free rein. He said the obstacles came because of bureaucracy and the fact that Roger Harabin, the environment editor, is ‘so biased’. Nick Robinson defended his colleague, stating the BBC is regulated by Ofcom. The director of Affinity, a network of UK churches, said that he has ‘a lot of sympathy’ with Mr Moore; BBC intolerance of any other view causes questioning and framing of questions to be based on a number of presumptions.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 14 November 2019 22:15

Children in Need project

A former Blackburn day school and Sunday School built in 1834 to nurture young people will be able to continue its legacy, thanks to the BBC Children in Need annual appeal. At the parish rooms of St Silas Church (with Pudsey Bear among the congregation), Rev Sheelagh Aston quoted Luke 3:11, ‘Whoever has two coats is to share with him who has none’. She threw out the challenge, ‘What if we did give what we had to others?’ Her comments were just one of many as people once again seek to raise money for Children in Need. By clicking the ‘More’ button you can read more about how Children in Need, DIY SOS, and hundreds of volunteers gave their time to come and serve the community and the church.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 04 October 2019 09:42

Children told: ‘over 100 gender identities’

A BBC teaching video states that there are 100, if not more, gender identities as well as male and female. Among the ‘trusted adult’ speakers is transgender activist Leo Lardie, and the 9- to 11- year- olds appear uncomfortable as she talks about her genitals. She says that people who criticise transgenderism ‘don’t know any better yet’. A gay head teacher tells the youngsters they should not just accept differences between people but ‘celebrate them’. Finally, the children are threatened into conforming by being told that ‘people can go to prison if it is shown they’re disrespecting or being hateful to people because of a difference that person perceives’. Coalition for Marriage said, ‘These claims are nonsensical. The video series is supposed to help teachers deal with sensitive subjects in age-appropriate and honest ways. It does neither.’ Meanwhile a Christian mother is mobilising parents against LGBT lessons.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 30 August 2018 22:12

Anti-therapy film

The BBC's News at Ten recently featured a one-sided report on a film about Christian 'gay conversion therapy'. The Miseducation of Cameron Post is about ‘a gay teenager sent away to a Christian camp that uses prayer and therapy to try to change her sexuality.’ Despite the film clearly being used to agitate for a ban on any kind of therapy, no counterpoint or challenge was made. The programme was designed to promote the film without any attempt to balance its portrayal of the world. In July, the government released an LGBT action plan that included banning ‘gay conversion therapies’ and may press ahead with the idea in the autumn. However a recent study suggested that, at least for religious men, therapy to help move away from unwanted same-sex attraction can be beneficial in a number of different ways.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 26 July 2018 21:55

Cliff Richard and the BBC

The BBC has to pay Sir Cliff Richard £850,000 to cover legal costs, following his privacy case against them. He had already been awarded £210,000 damages when the court ruled that the BBC infringed his privacy when reporting a 2014 police raid on his home. Sir Cliff was never charged or arrested. The BBC is also going to pay £315,000 to South Yorkshire Police for legal costs. However the BBC is seeking leave to appeal against the judgment, and wants to challenge Sir Cliff’s right to privacy while a suspect in a police investigation - trumping the broadcaster's right to freedom of expression to publish his name and cover the raid. Lord Patten, former chairman of the BBC Trust, said the BBC would be ‘crazy’ to appeal against the High Court's ruling in this case, saying they should ‘swallow hard, say they made a mistake, apologise, as they have, to Cliff Richard and not to do it again’. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-44884477/cliff-richard-bbc-would-be-crazy-to-appeal-lord-patten

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 21 December 2017 15:11

BBC New Year ‘religious resolution’

A BBC review published on 20 December found religious people ‘poorly presented or satirised’ by the corporation, and suggests programming that ‘better reflects the UK’. BBC proposes to include religious themes in popular dramas and soaps on TV and radio, make more documentaries covering religious and ethical issues, and expand its religious affairs team. The ‘Thought for the Day’ slot on Radio 4 will be more closely linked to news items with women and young people. Figures from a wider range of religions will be invited to contribute. Pray that Tony Hall, the BBC’s director general, will remember its religion home page statement: ‘Christianity is the largest religion in the world with over two billion followers. 42 million people in Britain today describe themselves as Christian, and six million are actively practising.’

Published in Praise Reports
Friday, 10 March 2017 11:15

Beware the BBC

Last Sunday's Songs of Praise included worship in a mosque. Is the BBC's Muslim head of religious programming changing Christian slots? Last November, following complaints of unacceptable Muslim bias and the deliberate marginalisation of Christianity, the BBC said that it was axing both the role of head and the department of religion, bringing all religious programming and coverage under the remit of former Labour MP James Purnell, the head of radio and education. However, on 25 February it quietly announced that it had appointed another Muslim, Fatima Salaria, as the new head of religious programming - going against its previous statement. The BBC seems to be favouring Muslims, ignoring pleas of other religious groups for proportionate and fair representation. In another incident, the BBC questioned the decision by an MP to come to a parliamentary committee on Ash Wednesday with a small ash cross marked on her forehead. As Barnabas Fund put it, ‘It would be hard to imagine the BBC mocking a Muslim MP for keeping Ramadan’. See:

Published in British Isles
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