DANGER - No wonder you believe what your TV tells you!

@ArishMell When every one thinks the same no one is thinking at all. There are always two sides to the story and with today's controlled media you only get one 'approved' side. Remember the old BBC World Service on shortwave where they would do long form journalism by presenting two sides to every story. They would give 1/2 an hour to one side then 1/2 an hour to the other side, No editorial content simply one side then the other giving its point of view.

@hippyjoe1955 Indeed, but you can't think about a serious, controversial matter unless you understand both (or more) sides and interests in it.

I have rarely listened to the BBC World Service so I don't know how it presents the News now, but the BBC's and ITV's domestic services (which also have large international audiences via the Internet) do have to be as even-handed as possible. So although they do not devote half-hours to A then half-hours to B, they will try to obtain the main points from both.

Quite often, and especially in wars, the BBC will report some claim from A or B but have to add the calim cannot be verified.

The biggest problem though is not editorial policy or owners' wishes, as are common with purely-commercial outlets, but organisations refusing invitations to explain themselves, or put their points of view. They hide behind "no-one was available for comment", blank refusal or perhaps bland statements as useless as those 1980s corporate "mission statements". So you hear all about how bad B is from A, but B refuses to gives its own defence.

Though on the last point, many of the refusers' statements have something else in common with those pretentious managerial epistles: an unwitting admission that they want to be perfect but are not. (I translate "We strive to be...", to but are not. I read "We are keeping it under continuous review..." as not actually doing anything. Etc.)


Notably, one of the most reviled and trolled journalists in Britain is the BBC's Marianna Spring. Why the hatred? Here attackers are those whom she investigates: the ones posting and spreading on-line "disinformation" and "misinformation".

@ArishMell BBC is the butt of many jokes around the world with their silly obvious bias. I stopped paying any attention to anything they say as they simply echo CNN or MSNBC out of the States or CBC, CTV, Global here in Canada. which are dictated to by the government of Canada via the Government's subsidy of said outlets. They can only be trusted to be wrong on almost any subject.

@hippyjoe1955 Giving equal atention / coverage to two sides of a story is only applicable when there is competing facts and evidence to support both sides. If, for example, with Climate Change where 99% of scientists back that Climate Change is real and happening why should we give equal weight to a few deniers who can only offer an opinion. No facts, no evidence, no credible back up, just an opinion that is often bought and paid for by those who make money out of polluting the world.

@hippyjoe1955 Oh, I think every news service is the butt of both jokes and jibes about bias, but a guide to their balance is to look at the direction of the criticism. If something is attacked roughly equally from all sides it must be getting something right, and usually the alleged "bias" boils down to being not biased as the critic wants.

What "silly obvious bias" of the BBC though? Towards or against what or whom, and how?

I am not saying it is perfect. No humanly-made system or organisation can be. I don't think it biased but I am concerned it fawns too much over the USA. Not politically. It reports both side of that unhappy country's two-party politics as evenly as possible. It just carries far too much material and too many contributors from America, in non-news/political programmes, rather than from the rest of the world - and that starting with the Commonwealth.

@ArishMell I can see your point, and in the UK we do often give far more time and attention to what is happening in the USA. That said what is happening in and about the USA has far more effect on the UK than what goes on in the Commonwealth, apart from tax evasion. And we are seeing more reporting on China, which is increasingly important to what happens to the UK. Where the UK media utterly failed was reporting on the importance of the EU, economically, socially and politically. The ignorance of those subjects lead to the insanity of Brexit.

@ArishMell I simply prefer to do my own sleuthing and digging out my own information based on sources from both sides and then analyzing which is the likely truth of the matter. So far I have avoided the clot shot which killed 4 family members and a friend. I believe that Putin is a better choice than Zelinski and I have come to despise Israel and all the evils it is committing.

@hippyjoe1955 Despising the people who, imperfect though they may be, were chosen by God, is a dangerous, counter-Biblical position

@WalterF That is dispensational nonsense. The Gospel of Jesus Christ completely removes the need for 'Israel'. One final point to make. If a Mormon calls himself a Christian does that make him a Christian? So it is with 'Israel'. A group of very evil people decide they will start a very corrupt nation and call that nation Israel so does that mean one can not critique them for the evils they are doing? In case you are wondering I am a recovered dispensationalist. I came to realize that the Christian Church in the west fell for Darby/Scofield nonsense called dispensationalism that in effect completely destroys the Christian Gospel.

@hippyjoe1955 Up to you, what you believe

@WalterF Absolutely my choice. I found that traditional Christianity going back to the time of the Apostles that Israel performed its one duty which was to make the Sacrifice as the priestly people. However the Sacrifice has been made and now there is a New High Priest His name is Jesus. (Hebrews) Or as St Paul wrote there is no longer Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female for all are one in Christ Jesus. The whole idea of a land based kingdom was set aside by Jesus who said "My Kingdom is not of this world". The funny thing is that the state of Israel is rejected by orthodox Jews who believe that the kingdom of Israel can only be established by the Messiah. The men who established and maintain Israel are not messiahs therefore.