The NUJ in the newsLast year, the BBC’s Newsbeat programme interviewed two “ordinary” members of the BNP and gave them anonymity. It transpired that rather than being just any old members, the two were leading lights. The BBC has now admitted that it broke its own code in not reporting who the two were and that their views should have been challenged more. Press Gazette has the story
The strategy of denying a platform to fascists will be one of the key issues discussed at the NUJ Left conference later this month.
Weyman Bennett, joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism, will lead the debate on the subject brought again into focus following the BBC’s decision to invite BNP leader Nick Griffin onto Question Time.
The NUJ Left conference will debate our response to the far right and our industrial tactics
The BBC’s outrageous decision to announce its intention to invite the BNP onto Question Time has understandably caused outrage on the left.
Unite Against Fascism was quick to condemn the move and has launched a campaign, which it is hoping will gain traction among the unions, calling on BBC management to reverse their decision.
What exactly is Stephen Glover admitting to in his attack on the BBC in the Independent today?
The Indie’s media columnist complains the BBC suffocates newspaper publishers’ ability to charge for online content.
Blogger Jon Slattery is excited about a film being shown on BBC4 tomorrow about Rose Hacker, who was billed as the ‘oldest columnist in the world’ in her weekly slot in Jon’s local paper.
Rose, who Jon describes as “a remarkable woman”, was a committed socialist and anti-war campaigner who wrote for the Camden New Journal and Islington Tribune until she died last year aged 101.
Strathclyde Police’s investigation of BBC Scotland for incitement to racial hatred over a phone-in show should give editors a wake-up call about how they handle coverage of the BNP.
The case, reported by the Socialist Unity blog, clearly has more editorial than criminal implications as it is unlikely that anyone will be prosecuted.
Guardian blogger and now Kemp Town community reporter for the Brighton Argus, Roy Greenslade, has talked about journalism as a public service before – but he never quite says what he thinks it means.
In a comment on one of his recent posts about hyperlocalism, Roy suggests a familiar slogan: public services not private profit. Which I applaud.
By Pete Murray, NUJ vice president
The jobs carnage across the media in the UK has now triggered a vote for strike action among one of the largest single groups of journalists in the UK.
NUJ members at the BBC have voted by 77% to take industrial action against compulsory redundancies – beginning with two strike days on the 3 and 9 April.