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BBC Reporter "Gobsmacked" by BBC's Distorted War Reporting
Media Research Center ^ | March 27, 2003 | Brent Baker

Posted on 03/27/2003 2:50:53 AM PST by Mr. Mulliner

A BBC reporter covering the war from coalition headquarters in Qatar, denounced his network's coverage as "one-sided" and distorted. In his memo to his bosses, which was obtained by London's The Sun newspaper, BBC correspondent Paul Adams asked: "Who dreamed up the line that the coalition are achieving 'small victories at a very high price?'" In fact, he contended, "the truth is exactly the opposite" since "the gains are huge and the costs still relatively low."
A BBC reporter, covering the war from coalition headquarters in Qatar, denounced his network's coverage as "one- sided" and distorted. In his memo to his bosses, which was obtained by London's The Sun newspaper, BBC correspondent Paul Adams asked: "Who dreamed up the line that the coalition are achieving 'small victories at a very high price?'" In fact, he contended, "the truth is exactly the opposite" since "the gains are huge and the costs still relatively low."

FNC's Brit Hume on Wednesday night highlighted the Sun's story about Adams' scolding of the BBC, a story to which the MRC's Liz Swasey first alerted me.

An excerpt from the March 26 Sun story by Trevor Kavanagh:

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....

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 story is online at (scroll down the page): http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003140559,00.html

Now that is definitely the first time in 1,466 CyberAlerts that the word "gobsmacked" has appeared. Oxford defines the word as an informal British term for "utterly astonished."

I'll be gobsmacked if any U.S. network reporter ever has the guts to take on any war coverage bias at his or her own network.



TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bbc; iraqifreedom; media; mediabias; warcorrespondents
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1 posted on 03/27/2003 2:50:53 AM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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To: Mr. Mulliner
Gobsmacked is right. BBC = Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation.
2 posted on 03/27/2003 2:51:50 AM PST by goldstategop
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To: bert; calypgin; Peacerose; First_Salute; Landru; ForGod'sSake
And now for some good news.
3 posted on 03/27/2003 2:51:53 AM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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To: Mr. Mulliner
Gobsmacked Alert!
4 posted on 03/27/2003 2:53:40 AM PST by fightinJAG ("Do not play poker with George W. Bush.")
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To: fightinJAG
Personally this gobsmacking story has me extremely chuffed.
5 posted on 03/27/2003 2:57:06 AM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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To: Mr. Mulliner
I found BBCAmerica, broadcast on the DirecTV system, to be EXTREMELY biased against the war. Stick with the Fox News Channel for the truth!
6 posted on 03/27/2003 2:57:09 AM PST by Highest Authority
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To: Highest Authority
I got a lot of my 2000 election news from the BBC because we were living in Singapore. Several times a day I was on the verge of flinging our short-wave radio off our 12th story balcony because of their lies and distortions.
7 posted on 03/27/2003 3:00:37 AM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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To: Highest Authority
I used to listen to BBC in the morning at 5AM as I drove to work. One week they had a segment each day on the Haj and how awful it would be for the US to start the war during Haj. One young man expressed the view that if he died in during Haj (in Saudi Arabia), he would be a martyr, and he seemed to like that idea.

In reality, the only way he would get killed in a war in Saudi Arabia during Haj, would be from an attack by Saddam retaliating against Saudi Arabia for cooperating with the United States.

8 posted on 03/27/2003 3:19:52 AM PST by Montfort
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To: Mr. Mulliner
I am not only gobsmacked, I actually beat my gob so hard that it is intensive care.
9 posted on 03/27/2003 3:31:37 AM PST by blanknoone
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To: Mr. Mulliner
I try to catch BBC world TV broadcasts when possible.
It's certainly true that they possess the liberal bias typical of newscasters, but the BBC still has a ways to go in order to reach the vitriolic unpatriotism of ABC.
10 posted on 03/27/2003 3:50:14 AM PST by Freebird Forever
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To: Mr. Mulliner
Tommy Daschle is deeply gobsmacked about our failed diplomacy.
11 posted on 03/27/2003 3:51:29 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer (Let's Roll)
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To: Mr. Mulliner
This story explains why ABC is aligned with the BBC. But, I still have to have my "Julia Ceaser" fix in the morning...WOOOHOOO!!
12 posted on 03/27/2003 3:54:57 AM PST by bullseye1911 (Cocked, Locked and Ready to Rock!!!)
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To: Mr. Mulliner
The Brits will be shocked by this. The BBC is held in high esteem. The gobsmacked(Don't you love this term? Its so British) reporter has alot of courage to bring this out in the open.

I was watching coverage of an anti war protest in London the other day. They interveiwed this dim witted woman who said the British troops should be tried as war criminals. I wonder where she got that idea from? Could it be from all the negative anti-war-babies-in-bandages(constant barage of images of civilian casualities) reports she watched on the BBC? I hope the people will be outraged. This is not fair to the British troops. God Bless them. They are putting their lives on the line as much as our troops are. They deserve more respect than this.

I wonder how much better things would be going in the world if all the press made an attempt at fair and balanced real reporting, instead of serving as propaganda tools for socialist/communist governments and/or trying to enrage the people into supporting the political views of the network? I mean what if they would try things like, say, reporting the FACTS and the TRUTH? What an original idea.

13 posted on 03/27/2003 3:55:11 AM PST by fly_so_free (An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last-Winston Churchill)
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To: Mr. Mulliner; MadIvan
Gobsmacking expose on BBC bias here.

Big bump.
14 posted on 03/27/2003 3:57:28 AM PST by George W. Bush
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To: fly_so_free
I was getting a lot of news from BBC when we started in Afghanistan. It was truly awful to hear all sorts of anti-American sort of garbage and line of questioning from the BBC. That was in the early weeks and months after 9/11 and somehow it was just harder to take then.
15 posted on 03/27/2003 4:07:06 AM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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To: Freebird Forever
.... vitriolic unpatriotism of ABC.

AKA the anti-American Bolshevik Communists

16 posted on 03/27/2003 4:08:16 AM PST by Ron H.
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To: Mr. Mulliner
The Beeb has been living on its rep for years. A shame. It used to be a very useful source of information, abet a dull one.
17 posted on 03/27/2003 4:10:00 AM PST by Rifleman
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To: Mr. Mulliner
Pray tell, at what state is one in when one is "chuffed"?
:-)
18 posted on 03/27/2003 4:13:17 AM PST by fightinJAG ("Do not play poker with George W. Bush.")
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To: Rifleman
Kind of like the NY Times, a reputation that is so richly UNdeserved now.

Is your nick from the old Chuck Connors TV show, by any chance? That was my favorite show when I was 5 or 6 years old.

19 posted on 03/27/2003 4:13:48 AM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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To: Mr. Mulliner; goldstategop
Thanks for your post, what the letters really represent, all comments. My co-worker is against the war, but brings up the fact that he really likes the BBC coverage. I, not having seen any of BBC coverage, have nothing to counter him with. Thanks for the ammo. Do I hear the sound of "INCOMING" at work this morning.
20 posted on 03/27/2003 4:27:38 AM PST by PGalt
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