Shameless: BBC Caught Manipulating the Debate on Scottish Independence
September 13, 2014 By NEWS WIRE 2 Comments
21st Century Wire says…
Even in the face of obvious state censorship, the media still adopts the soft language, calling it 'bias' instead. Call it bias if you want, but it's really censorship.
As Scottish Independence draws nearer, the media and propaganda war intensifies. London's financial elite clearly do not want it, and big media are rallying behind the bankers.
If you ask the BBC how their reporting is on Scottish Independence, they tell you it all fine and that 'it's perfectly in keeping with our own guidelines'. Besides, who would dare question the BBC?
TOO SMART FOR THE REST OF US: BBC brain cell Robinson shows how desperate the bankers are and how partial the BBC are (Photo: Ceasefire Mag)
In what was perhaps to most pathetic example of propagandising from the press pit ever caught on tape, one of BBC's six-figure career propagandists, Nick Robinson (above), attempted to run point on the independence scare-mongering by somehow theorising how Scotland would lose loads of tax revenue should Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) move its head offices down to London. This was an LOL moment. Intellectually challenged Nick was immediately put in his place by Alex Salmond as to the rules of corporation tax.
That Robinson tries to insinuate that somehow a lemon like RBS leaving town would constitute a loss for the Scottish taxpayer is a laugh. Robinson dares not mention how RBS became 81% owned by taxpayers after receiving a £46 billion bail-out in 2008 and 2009. As far as companies go, RBS is just another sponging ponzi house, more like a liability than an asset. Thanks Nick.
Robinson goes on to remark, "Why should a Scottish voter believe you (Salmond) – a politician, against men who are responsible for billions of pounds of profits". What an astonishingly arrogant remark from a supposed journalist to a national leader. Scare tactics and fear-mongering. What about the BBC's supposed principle of 'impartiality'? Another LOL moment?
It just goes to show you how elites in London hold the northern lower castes in utter contempt. Of course, Robinson's partisan canvassing for the bankers wasn't as crude and blunt as David Cameron (left), who earlier this week claimed that voting 'Yes' for Scottish Independence would make Scotland more vulnerable to Islamic terror attacks. How arrogant do you have to be to make a statement like that?
All this is nothing new either. Evidence of the BBC's 'bias' can be traced back to February 2014. Dr John Robertson from University of West Scotland published an extensive research study on 'bias and fairness' in mainstream news reporting on the issue of the Scottish Independence referendum, covering both BBC and ITV. Here's what he found:
"So, on the objective evidence presented here, the mainstream TV coverage of the first year of the independence referendum campaigns has not been fair or balanced. Taken together, we have evidence of coverage which seems likely to have damaged the Yes campaign."
So it's been dirty from the beginning. Can't say we are surprised, but it's interesting to see the BBC being forced to be so blatant…
BBC accused of anti-independence bias after editing out Salmond's reply to 'bank exodus' question
The BBC faces accusations of anti-independence bias after its political editor, Nick Robinson, produced a report that wrongly claimed Alex Salmond had ignored his question during a heated press conference.
Calling into question the impartiality of the publicly-owned broadcaster, the veteran BBC correspondent edited out Salmond's lengthy answer, in which the First Minister claimed the BBC had skewed facts and colluded with the Treasury to undermine the "Yes" campaign.
The exchange between Robinson and Salmond came after the BBC reported that a UK Treasury source said the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) would move its headquarters to London if Scots voted for independence. At the press conference, Robinson asked Salmond how Scottish taxpayers would make up the loss of tax revenue.
Highlighting similar announcements from Scottish-based firms, Robinson said:
"Why should a Scottish voter believe you, a politician, against men who are responsible for billions of pounds of profits?"
What is not shown in Robinson's report is Salmond's reply and the heated exchange that followed.
In his reply, Salmond insisted that the economic significance of RBS, Lloyds Banking Group, Tesco Bank, TSB and Clydesdale Bank seeking to re-domicile to London would be minimal, as only banks' "brass plates" would be moving, while jobs in Scotland would remain secure.
When Salmond attempted to move onto the next questioner, Robinson repeatedly challenged him to answer questions about the banks' warnings.
The First Minister then went on the attack, calling for a leaks inquiry into who from the Treasury briefed the BBC about the RBS announcement.
He called it a matter of "extraordinary gravity" and said he was writing to the head of the British civil service to demand an investigation.
BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson (Photo from Twitter/@bbcnickrobinson)
Apparently pre-empting Robinson's line of questioning, Salmond held up a screen grab of the BBC story, saying that "you, Nick, or one of your colleagues" was responsible and that the leak was "as serious a matter as you possibly can get."
"I know the BBC in its impartial role as a public sector broadcaster will give full cooperation to that investigation," Salmond said pointedly.
He added: "This has been a lively campaign across Scotland with heckling at many meetings across Scotland. This is the first opportunity the BBC have had to heckle at a meeting," Salmond said, laughing.
The exchange took place during a press conference held in Edinburgh for international journalists covering the independence referendum.
Professor John Robertson, of the University of the West of Scotland, published a detailed academic paper earlier this year showing widespread bias in the BBC's coverage of the independence campaign.
"The use of dubious evidence and sources, the tough interviewing of 'Yes' supporters and the passive interviewing of 'No' supporters and the demonizing of the First Minister, Alex Salmond," were among some of Robertson's observations.
Dismissing Robertson's paper, a BBC spokeswoman told RIA Novosti news agency: "Our coverage of the referendum story is fair and impartial in line with the editorial guidelines."
READ MORE BBC SCANDALS AT: 21st Century Wire BBC Files
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Filed Under: Europe, Featured Tagged With: BBC, scotland, Scottish independence
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