tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post2538611371428505093..comments2024-01-04T19:27:02.335-08:00Comments on Zenpolitics: A reader's challenge - and concernJohn Hilleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-16351706300234563282010-06-18T14:19:02.441-07:002010-06-18T14:19:02.441-07:00Hi, Anon
I meant to post a little of Jonathan Coo...Hi, Anon<br /><br />I meant to post a little of Jonathan Cook's recent email comment to the Media Lens editors, which I think is particularly relevant to our exchange on journalistic 'autonomy' at the BBC: <br /><br />"Dear Davids,<br /><br />Your exchanges with Jonathan Marcus (and subsequent ones with media lensers) are interesting and in many ways prove very clearly the point you've been making for so long that the problems of the corporate media lie chiefly in structural limitations rather than the fault of individual journalists. I can't help but find myself sympathising with Marcus in these exchanges if only because, as a journalist, I know that, were I working in his position for a media organisation like the BBC, I'd have been expected to write, and would have written, much the same. A diplomatic correspondent's job is to write this kind of propaganda, in which "our" crimes are about mistaken perceptions or public relations fallout and their crimes are, well, crimes."<br /><br />http://johnhilley.blogspot.com/2010/06/points-to-bbc-rejected-and-referred.html<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />JohnJohn Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-8660774673079154182010-06-18T13:10:42.326-07:002010-06-18T13:10:42.326-07:00Thanks, Anon.
It's not that people (like you)...Thanks, Anon.<br /><br />It's not that people (like you) are unable to form alternative opinions from the BBC, it's that anyone who does hold radically contrary positions would find it very difficult to express them via the BBC.<br /><br />Again, it's all part of the entrenched process of organisational selection and individual compliance. <br /><br />"As for my knowledge of Israel's abhorrent actions, this comes from watching BBC News."<br /><br />Might I suggest extending your field of enquiry if you really want to know about the deep and daily extent of those abhorrent actions, because, as I and others have documented, you simply aren't getting that information from the BBC. <br /><br />And if you believe you are, it rather makes my point about how individuals readily absorb the propagandist fiction that the BBC is a bastion of informed and balanced news. <br /><br />Please also note that I've challenged many other journalists and editors on the Middle East and other issues. But I think the BBC is deserving of special attention given its 'high status' and insistent claims to 'objectivity' and 'impartiality'. <br /><br />Best regards<br /><br />JohnJohn Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-48683379793031817392010-06-08T09:42:45.396-07:002010-06-08T09:42:45.396-07:00John,
many thanks for your response. I don't ...John,<br /><br />many thanks for your response. I don't wish to prolong correspondence on this matter much further, as we're poles apart on this one, but I will pick up on a couple of points.<br /><br />You state:<br /><br />"I'm sincerely interested in the psychology of institutional-think, namely, the ways in which people with genuinely-held views about their own free-thinking credentials and perceived autonomy are, in practice, rendered 'fit for purpose' by the organsation they serve."<br /><br />"Of course, that conditioning doesn't just happen within the organisation. It will, most likely, be a product of schooling and other life-informing experiences. The overwhelming pressure on individuals aspiring through life is to conform and fit in order to 'achieve'."<br /><br />I find it entirely objectionable that you assume that because I, or anyone for that matter, work for an organisation such as the BBC, I'm unable to form opinions about world events that don't jibe with the BBC line. Yes, experiences in life do have an impact on an individual, but to suggest that organisations - the BBC, whoever - have the ability to knock out our innate sense of right and wrong, well that's just plain stupid ignorance, if you don't mind me saying so.<br /><br />If anything, I'd say that working at the BBC increased my critical self-analysis. Did I agree with the policies of the BBC? How do they fit with my own world view and political affiliations? Sometimes there was agreement, sometimes not. Surely the question on "free-thinking" could be turned on you, John? How do you come to your conclusions on world events such as what's going on in the Middle East or anywhere else that there's conflict?<br /><br />Are your own opinions rendered "fit for purpose" because you want to conform to an, for want of a better word, "outsider" status, where membership is bestowed once your genuinely held free-thinking views are quietly moulded - without a hint of you noticing - to fit with those around you? Just a thought.<br /><br />Being on the inside and now on the outside allows me a better grasp on BBC bias than most. I could spend all day going through broadcast after broadcast and seeing how the reporting of Middle East issues tallies up, but balance via a stopwatch just doesn't seem worth the time I'd waste.<br /><br />As for my knowledge of Israel's abhorrent actions, this comes from watching BBC News. I don't take in much else when it comes to devouring news, maybe the Guardian, Channel 4, and less seriously - but more insightfully? - The Daily Show, The Awl and The Onion.<br /><br />I've never once seen you complain about ITV, SKY, Five's coverage of the Middle East. Surely the fact that you pay a licence fee can't be the only reason you spend so much time on the BBC?<br /><br />Anyway, that's all. I'm sure you've got more pressing matters to attend to that affording me any more time.<br /><br />thanksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com