RPK and HARDtalk: BBC hardly impartial

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Many Malaysians have expressed disappointment  over the BBC’s backing down from a ‘HARDtalk’ interview with RPK.

Much of this sentiment, I believe, stems from a perception that the BBC is a bastion of impartial, independent reporting.

Far from it. The BBC reflects the establishment viewpoint in the UK. Its positions on the illegal invasion of Iraq, the US-UK role in Afghanistan and the Israeli occupation of Palestine are well documented.

Just check out the dissatisfaction over the Beeb’s coverage of various issues on the excellent Media Lens website here.

Have a look at the analysis of BBC coverage of Israel-Palestine by Prof Greg Philo of Glasgow University in The Guardian here. Glasgow Media Group publishes excerpts of the major findings from Greg’s book here.

You won’t see much BBC analysis of workers’ issues and civil society’s reaction against corporate greed and corporate destruction of the environment either. Neither will there be much analysis of the US or the UK’s behind-the-scenes role in backing Third World dictators like Suharto, Marcos, Saddam and Pinochet or in undermining popular, democratically elected governments of the South.

Stations like the BBC and CNN are instead the flag-bearers of corporate-led globalisation. They promote the corporate agenda and the political interests that protect that agenda – whether local or foreign.

So are you still surprised by the BBC’s climbdown on HARDtalk?

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Flyer168
Flyer168
4 Sep 2010 9.10am

Anil, Just to share this… Previous Awards 2007 – Public Affairs News The winners were announced at the Public Affairs News Awards 2007 on 5 July at the …. Asia and the US has further marked a turning point… http://www.publicaffairsnews.com/panawards/previousawards07 – Cached – Similar Blair War Clique Runs Anti-LaRouche Slander Drive http://www.schillerinstitute.org/exon/media_locusts.html by Anton Chaitkin April 2007 “…..they reacted with fury. BBC’s intelligence source against the liars, government weapons scientist David Kelly, died suddenly, a supposed suicide. They neutered BBC—Britain’s national public network, purged BBC’s leaders and acted to crush all media opposition. …..a case which was cooked up during… Read more »

Charlie Oscar
Charlie Oscar
4 Sep 2010 1.04am

Dear Anil,
Who is RPK, eh?
BBC wants to interview RPK?
Is he a politician, an ex-minister, an ex-convict, a fiction writer, a royalty, a fugitive or what?
BBC must be very HARDup to do that!!!

tunglang
tunglang
4 Sep 2010 4.55pm
Reply to  Charlie Oscar

Tell me why AngMor RPK like that? Why do you think AngMor RPK had to go to Kamunting for spinning imaginative Jungle Book Stories? Why are AngMor RPK’s stories so telling that his laptop and CPU were confiscated? Why is AngMor RPK’s Jungle Book series so imaginative and compelling that his son was put to jail for what charges unrelated to Jungle Book? Why can’t AngMor RPK write other harmless Jungle Book stories and not risk losing everything in Malaysia? Still convinced that AngMor RPK is an imaginative story spinner of Malaysian Jungle politics? If so, please convince BBC to… Read more »

Charlie Oscar
Charlie Oscar
5 Sep 2010 4.07am
Reply to  tunglang

As you have said “spinning imaginative” Stories!!!
Since you adore and believe in RPK, you should lobby and convince BBC to buy from a Spinner.
Better still, get Pembangkang Rakyat (PR) to boycott BBC and Buy British Last!!!

As for his son, it is a proven case!!!
You mean to say that IT IS FIXED?
What do you expect from a child who is left in the Wild?

tunglang
tunglang
5 Sep 2010 9.18am
Reply to  Charlie Oscar

At least there are conscience people with a right mind to speak out for justice – nothing for profits, bodek or to please the political masters by shoe polishing. Buy me a ticket and I will personally go to BBC to lobby for RPK as you can conveniently propose. Can you? We as sane, decent minded people don’t jump at the minion idea of boycott this, boycott that. You have to use your brain to work over this type of challenge, not retaliate, Hothead! As for his son, I’m not in a position to condemn his upbringing. Go visit him… Read more »

Charlie Oscar
Charlie Oscar
5 Sep 2010 4.11pm
Reply to  tunglang

Are you real?
A classic display of the mentality of a Pembangkang Rakyat PR)supporter!!!
You this, you that. It’s always you, you, you…..

Enough said. TQ.

frags
5 Sep 2010 7.38pm
Reply to  Charlie Oscar

Charlie, whatever it is, no one should be persecuted for saying what they believe. The way the Malaysian government treats him, they have already turned him into a martyr. This is not the way a democracy should handle itself. In fact I’ll call it a sham democratic country.

If he spreads lies then prove him wrong. Don’t try to arrest him under ISA.

tunglang
tunglang
5 Sep 2010 10.20pm
Reply to  Charlie Oscar

Charlie: Are you real?
(Sounds like sweetie Charlie’s Angels)

Yes, flesh & blood. And I love discoursing with hotheads.
They drive my Epinephrine to a healthy high level.
Wait a minute, this sweetie Charlie sounds like G…something.
Or a typical ‘wet behind the ear’ Troll.

Nevermind, not worth my attention.
Time for ‘Stairway To Heaven’ ( That’s more real )

NoShame
NoShame
4 Sep 2010 12.51am

Everyone knows the real issues regarding RPK except Gerakan K who is and will always glorify their masters…? RPK needs no glorification unlike others who desperately wants to be like God. Know what? Its poles different, Im sure Gerakan still think about Goal post or post laju?

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
4 Sep 2010 10.45am
Reply to  NoShame

Haha,

your statement makes me laugh:
********************
Everyone knows the real issues regarding RPK
********************

It should read as “Everyone follows the lies and imaginative assumption regarding RPK”

Notice the word “follow”. This is important word for machai like you.

frags
4 Sep 2010 5.53pm
Reply to  Gerakan K

How do you know they are lies? Do you have any proof?

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
4 Sep 2010 11.03pm
Reply to  frags

I pick the classic one. The 16th September 2008 Putrajaya project was a truth or lie ???

frags
4 Sep 2010 11.44pm
Reply to  Gerakan K

And did RPK say that PR are going to be the new government on that date? Or was it they were trying to find people to jump to their side? Is it a lie that there were efforts to get people to jump to their side?

It was an overconfident Anwar(I btw do not agree with that whole charade). Whether or not his efforts are true or just a lie I have no proof to disprove it. Just as how you do not have any evidence to back your claim that they didn’t try to do it.

Devan
Devan
3 Sep 2010 8.57pm

RPK was a thorn to the so called First lady and Najib.
comissions,altantuya,razak baginda,saiful,mustaz jaafar,deepak jaikishen,nasir safar……just add the list…..
Who is more guilty??????
… is (this) the work of the 1 Isreal APCO who have been doing a great job for Najib/Rosmah(?)
Gerakan K …do you still have faith in our courts? The Malaysian Judges are just failures from our screwed up Education System and are just earning a living…!!!
Long live RPK!!!!!!!

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
4 Sep 2010 10.39am
Reply to  Devan

Long live RPK ???

You need to detoxify yourself fast before it reaches the critical stage. What is RPK contribution that makes you admire him very much ??? The fault language skills, imaginative story making or what ???

By the way, I would rather shout “long live” to my family instead of a runaway coward !!!

Katharina Sri (ex Noor Aza)
Katharina Sri (ex Noor Aza)
3 Sep 2010 8.35pm

If Raja Petra is a Muslim fanatic, defending the fascist islamic-ruled countries… he would get top slot on BBC, I suspect much! UK (& the Netherlands) has became the primitive kingdoms of anti-freedom of speech – unless you’re Muslim fanatics or Western lefty crazies defending Islam!

Sean
Sean
3 Sep 2010 11.19pm

Aiyah the “paraplegic gay black transexual single mother” argument. It’s one of my dad’s favourites. It has some value. Ask a control engineer (Norbert Wiener applied it in a social setting: I think it’s valid) why measuring a problem (like prejudice against a minority) to dictate how heavily to penalise the cause doesn’t give you the result – no problem – you might expect. Balancing positive discrimination against overshooting the problem you’re trying to correct is difficult. If you want fairer treatment for minorities, you are occasionally going to have to promote their cause at the obvious risk of being… Read more »

Samuel Goh Kim Eng
Samuel Goh Kim Eng
3 Sep 2010 8.21pm

TO BA(U)LK THE TALK

Nowadays it is so hard to talk
When it is so easy to ba(u)lk
Rather than to take the walk
And run away from obvious faults

(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng – 030910
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Fri.3rd Sep.2010.

johanssmKhunPana
johanssmKhunPana
3 Sep 2010 5.53pm

Sudah lah.
It is their prerogative .
If BBC does not want RPK maybe other medias will invite him. They are other international medias in the world.
Or BBC can interview RPK on other issues .
As Altantuya is NOT the only issue that can be brought up.
This BBC hardtalk is not really an important issue.

My2cen
My2cen
3 Sep 2010 4.22pm

Whatever you say, BBC & CNN & even Al-Jazeera is still much fairer compared with our own RTM/NTV7/TV9/Astro/Bernama & what-have-we in Bolehland. I try to keep an open mind to whatever news I hear until I can confirm it’s the truth. The problem lies more with the heads of govt/states like Obama who gives blind support to corrupt ‘leaders’ from 3rd and developing world, which he’s doing in the name of ‘new’ diplomacy to shore up his own image as a ‘peace’-seeking global leader, esp with the Muslim world. It’s tough to get do a balancing act on this issue,… Read more »

wandererAUS
wandererAUS
3 Sep 2010 3.12pm

The once fierceless Brits have turned into a “Tamed …”. Money can do wonders!! It is a pity, BBC you have denied Malaysians of the truth in the recent events unfolded in Bolehland….which were disgracefully and unashamedly, distorted by UMNO led ruling administration…to the pleasure and delight of the ding-dong polisher, Gerakan K!

Sean
Sean
3 Sep 2010 2.53pm

It’s hard to know how much trust to place in attacks on the BBC. It’s currently the target of a concerted effort by private-sector media companies who are feeling the double-pinch of new media and a slow economy and can see that the BBC isn’t suffering in the same way because of the way it is funded. Recent changes to the TV Licence laws have also made it less clear how the BBC can continue any form of independence. With the expansion of Internet access – as long as network neutrality can be preserved – it’s also hard to see… Read more »

pavlova
pavlova
4 Sep 2010 6.33am
Reply to  Sean

Very good comment Sean.

I can hardly find any major broadcaster who is completely impartial. But if BBC was “biased” how can we explain the number of times Anwar has been on there?

Why do we need to take it so personally that just because they decided to climbdown on the RPK interview that it’s a politically motivated one?
Have we considered that perhaps he’s not “newsworthy” enough for ratings? And this decision was a commercial decision rather than political?

tunglang
tunglang
3 Sep 2010 1.48pm

British post-Malaya colonialism is real and still kicking alive. ‘Divide and conquer’ from long range is better than any ICBM. No putting its British Bulldog face in local Malaysian politics is more subtle, ‘polite’ and outwardly off-handed. But one can still smell the Bulldog s…! ‘You scratch my back, I scratch yours’ does not belong only to Malay Archipelago regional politics. British politicians are (habitually) apt at that too. It will not be surprising, one sunny day RPK is deported back to Malaysia escorted by M16 agents on British Airways. Long Live The British Queen. Your Ugly Bulldog has turned… Read more »

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
3 Sep 2010 1.01pm

This is obvious result. Who wants to glorify a wanted person ???

p/s: Finally there is an end to Iraq illegal invasion by the US and her cohorts.

frags
3 Sep 2010 1.42pm
Reply to  Gerakan K

And exactly why is he wanted? Please do tell.

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
3 Sep 2010 4.15pm
Reply to  frags

There are pending court cases.

frags
3 Sep 2010 4.55pm
Reply to  Gerakan K

Court cases that are for defamation am I correct? Wouldn’t it need to be assessed whether what he said was the truth first before assessing whether he had defamed someone? How can it be defamation if it is true? Or if it is sedition, how can it be sedition if it is allegation about a politician who holds public office? Are people not entitled to question them?

frags
3 Sep 2010 5.14pm
Reply to  frags

BTW I’m sorry that this is off topic, but I just found his statement ‘Who wants to glorify a wanted person’ to be extremely funny. Yeah right….in human history, we’ve never looked up to people who were wanted or are deemed trouble makers…lol who am I kidding. Surely whatever the establishment says must be correct and must be for the interest of its citizens right? And the irony of this all, he claims the illegal invasion is over. If it is illegal why isn’t Bush or Blair wanted? Why is it some writer who writes about corruption, who has never… Read more »

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
4 Sep 2010 10.01am
Reply to  frags

Timing is the issue. Their time will come to serve them well.

frags
4 Sep 2010 6.00pm
Reply to  Gerakan K

Sure.

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
3 Sep 2010 6.07pm
Reply to  frags

Whatever the reason or charges, he must attend the court proceeding and not runaway.

frags
3 Sep 2010 7.20pm
Reply to  Gerakan K

Can you guarantee a fair trial for him in Malaysia? I don’t think so.

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
4 Sep 2010 10.31am
Reply to  frags

O la la. O la lah.

Nice to see you commenting. Using your logic then no one need to attend court proceeding either in Malaysia or other places.

frags
4 Sep 2010 5.50pm
Reply to  Gerakan K

Yeah because we all know fair trail isn’t important right. Right? Using your logic apparently justice is fair in all countries and incorruptible. You know what, they should have just let Mandela rot in jail. That trouble maker.

You are right Gerakan K. The people should just accept whatever comes their way.

limko1
limko1
3 Sep 2010 12.42pm

You never bite the hand that feeds you, so the saying goes.

frags
3 Sep 2010 12.34pm

I’ve given up hope on impartial mainstream medias. I just don’t think they exist. In Malaysia or anywhere else in the world.

LBJ
LBJ
3 Sep 2010 11.48am

Dont forget the famous British official hypocrites. The world is still suffering from British devious hypocrisy from the last two hundred years.

amir
amir
3 Sep 2010 11.35am

Money talks louder!