I don't know who thinks the BBC is heavily influenced by the British Foreign Office. Coming from Jewish ancestors, I think I'd notice an anti-Israeli influence on the BBC. How is reporting that Palestinian suicide bombers have caused yet more deaths anti-Israeli? The BBC World Service is highly respected everywhere.
As all our news broadcasts carry the same facts in their news bulletins, I think it unlikely that the Foreign Office can influence the BBC, Rupert Murdoch for Sky News and ITV equally. I think their reporting is fairly balanced, taking into account that it's people with views of their own who are reporting and not machines. Hopefully it's not pro- or anti- any country or group intentionally and as balanced as any country's news reporting is. Individual reporters for particuar countries do give an opinion on what they think a reported incident could mean, but it's always clear that it's an opinion. The choice of the word "activist" instead of "terrorist" could well have been the reporter's. They write their own scripts and he might have decided that it read better without having an ulterior motive. Unless you ask him, you can't know. Look at the mess with the David Kelly affair - I assume that's been reported outside this country as both the government and the BBC are involved and could come out of it equally badly. We're being told what's happening for Bush's visit as much for our own safety and information to keep people and businesses in the capital functioning as normal as possible as anything. It's all totally new to us. There will be armed US agents on the streets - something we're not used to. They have been denied the request to be able to shoot to kill - we don't do that so we're being told as reassurance. The underground will be open, but there will be rolling road blocks and an exclusion zone around him so some underground stations and streets will be closed some of the time. There'll be a no-fly zone, apart from helicopters and military aircraft, over Buckingham Palace and surrounding areas - again something we're not used to and could be worrying for people in the area. I think it's a joke, but it's been said that Ken Livingstone is insisting that the congestion charge (for travelling by car in central London) will have to be paid and will amount to 600 pounds a day for the entourage. The Queen always puts reading matter beside the bed of guests who stay at Buckingham Palace. There's been some amusing speculation on what she'll put by Bush's bed. Jean in Poole ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 11:58 AM Subject: RE: [lace-chat] Bush's visit Well.... the BBC is generally regarded as heavily influenced by the British Foreign Office, which has a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel bias (for example, the egregious misquoting of a White House official in which the word "terrorist" was replaced by "activist"). The BBC was recently singled out for banning from one of Sharon's press conferences for its persistent anti-Israel slant. Avital To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
