BBC's own man blasts his bosses over 'bias'

The Sun ^ | Mar 25, 2003 | TREVOR KAVANAGH

[Reagan is King]

THE BBC was last night sensationally condemned for “one-sided” war coverage — by its own front line defence correspondent.

Paul Adams attacks the Beeb for misreporting the Allied advance in a blistering memo leaked to The Sun.

And he warned the BBC’s credibility is at risk for suggesting British troops are paying a “high price for small victories”.

On Monday, he wrote from US Central Command in Qatar: “I was gobsmacked to hear, in a set of headlines today, that the coalition was suffering ‘significant casualties’.

“This is simply NOT TRUE. Nor is it true to say — as the same intro stated — that coalition forces are fighting ‘guerrillas’.

“It may be guerrilla warfare, but they are not guerrillas.”

Adams’ memo was fired off to TV news head Roger Mosey, Radio news boss Stephen Mitchell and other Beeb chiefs.

It adds stunning weight to allegations that BBC coverage on all its networks is biased against the war.

In one blast, he storms: “Who dreamed up the line that the coalition are achieving ‘small victories at a very high price?’

“The truth is exactly the opposite.

“The gains are huge and the costs still relatively low. This is real warfare, however one-sided, and losses are to be expected.”

The BBC has come under attack for describing the loss of two soldiers as the “worst possible news for the armed forces”.

One listener asked: “How would the BBC have reported the Battle of the Somme in World War I when 25,000 men died on the first day?”

[Spruce]

Embedded reporters are valuable to TV. To the men in the shit, they are nothing. No they do not have weapons.

[Conservababe]

Ted Koppel spent it in latrine duty.

Ted is an embedded reporter? With what network, please?

[McGavin999]

Embedding the journalists with the troops was brilliant. Some of these people are being exposed to real Americans and Brits for the first time in their lives. They will emerge from this completely changed for all time. They will have a deeper understanding of life and death, a more profound respect for those who lay their lives on the line every day, and a real appreciation for the rights these men and women fight for.

Georgie Steponallofus would have run screaming from the convoy on the first day.

I'm gaining a new respect for these fire hardened journalists. They're doing a fine job.

[HumbleButExceedinglyAccurate]

Ted Koppel spent it in latrine duty.
Ted is an embedded reporter? With what network, please?

ABC.

[Conservababe]

You mean to tell me that he is traveling with the troops?

[NoCalEyes]

"..suggesting British troops are paying a “high price for small victories”...

I do like the reporters in the heat of the battle..
BUT..to his point..
My only gripe is that how can one man, sitting in one battle out of how many going on, tell us that they are paying a 'high price for small victories'.. He doesn't have a real understanding of the big picture and all of what's going on outside his fox hole...
(He probably doesn't even know who got voted off of Survivor this week..
Not that I do either,:0)

[BreitbartSentMe]

I think you misunderstood. The embedded reporter was going off on the anchors back home spouting off about how we were bogged down, etc. It was the ones sitting home safe that suggested that the British troops were paying a "high price for small victories", the embedded reporter ripped that quote specifically saying that it was blatently untrue.

[gcruse]

Yes. There's an article in the NYT that is up now concerning media problems covering the war. Jennings is scored for being supercilious, and he and Koppel are reported to have been bickering back and forth from the studio to the battlefield.

[IncPen]

Flying pigs ping

[Mister Baredog]

The BBC has come under attack for describing the loss of two soldiers as the “worst possible news for the armed forces”.

Gee they sound almost as bad as Al Jazeera, and the LA Times

[Mister Baredog]

Does anyone know if the reporters are given a weapon to protect themselves, if necessary? Just curious.

My guess is that they wouldn't want to seem like they were taking sides, you know, like when Dan Rather has a puffball interview with Saddam so as not to offend.

[america-rules]

The Fox guy (The one who is a Brit or Aussie) was on Fox with Shep Smith blasting the press tonight as well!

[xm177e2]

One listener asked: “How would the BBC have reported the Battle of the Somme in World War I when 25,000 men died on the first day?”

I think we can guess. Still, the Beeb is not as bad as Reuters--Reuters used the "worst nightmare" line to describe the torching of oil wells. We've got more important things to worry about.

[CyberAnt]

Rush has been talking about this. At first, he said, he wasn't thrilled with the "embedded" troops idea. However, he has come to realize that this was probably a stroke of genius.

Rush said that what's happened is that the media has come to KNOW the men who are fighting - what kind of people they are - why they are fighting - and the media are beginning to connect with them. Rush said he noticed that the media people were referring to the unit by saying "we" did this, or "we" did that - showing that the media had become part of the unit.

We could be on the verge of seeing a huge change in the way news is reported. We could see a return to the real investigative reporters - which is a good thing for America. However, this is not good news for the dems.

[Mo1]

You mean to tell me that he is traveling with the troops?

You mean you haven't seen the sunglasses Ted is sporting these days

I was listening to the local radio in the car this afternoon and the callers were just ripping Peter Jennings apart about his bias reporting

[Cacique]

How about some comment from our resident BBC experts.

[D-fendr]

Isn't he traveling with the 3rd?

Or maybe I don't know what they mean by "embedded" .

[Tamzee]

Told hubby today that media just might be cleaning up its act a bit after the war is over. I'm wondering what these journalists are going to say when they get back and see the entire soap opera tragedy that the liberal rags have woven their stories into.

[Always Right]

BBC reports huge casualities as two men die in car accident near Britan. Recommend that all people stop driving....

[capitan_refugio]

If the BBC recalls him, he will slip on a "Sky News" patch and continue doing what he is doing so well. The BBC used to be a monopoly; even now they realize they have competition!