The venerable ‘Beeb’
I guess the Brits still trusted the BBC to bring them the truth in fairness and with accuracy. The Beeb has betrayed that trust, on numerous occasions now, and it has become a scandal.
Known in Britain simply as “Auntie,” the British Broadcasting Corporation has guided the country through wars and social convulsions with the steady hand of a trusted relative. But now this 85-year-old pillar of British society finds itself at the center of a widening scandal that threatens its worldwide reputation for accuracy and impartiality — and not for the first time.
Yesterday, senior BBC executives went before a House of Commons committee to discuss revelations of viewer deception and editorial misconduct, including phone-in trivia competitions in which the BBC encouraged viewers to call in answers — only to award the prize to an employee posing as an enthusiastic contestant.
I’m not so sure they enjoyed that “worldwide reputation for accuracy and impartiality” to the degree they’d like to think. Now, no way.
In a separate, widely-publicized incident, a promotional clip for a BBC television documentary on Queen Elizabeth manipulated footage to make it appear that the monarch walked out in a huff from an Annie Leibovitz photo-shoot. (The producer of the independent film company commissioned to make the documentary has since resigned, although his production company has refused to accept his resignation.)
American networks and major print media have their own similar problems….and inconsequential stabs at showing public remorse. But they have to say something…
“It is totally unacceptable and it goes to the heart of what the BBC stands for, which is trust, accuracy and openness,” BBC deputy director general Mark Byford told the Commons committee. “We are the most trusted broadcaster in Britain; what we can’t have is very damaging incidents like this.”
The NYTimes said the same thing after one of its scandals.
In his opinion column “Truth, Justice, Abortion and the Times Magazine” (12/31/06), Byron Calame wrestled with what had gone wrong. “Exceptional care must be taken in the reporting process on sensitive articles such as this one to avoid the slightest perception of bias,” he wrote. He concluded that “Accuracy and fairness were not pursued with the vigour Times readers have a right to expect.”
The media are sorry when these things happen, alright. But what do they regret most….that they allowed the unprofessional journalism under their name, or that they got caught?