Navy axes BBC from ship

The Sun ^ | April 08, 2003 | Richard Hargreaves

[Dog Gone]

From Richard Hargreaves, of The News, Portsmouth
- on board HMS Ark Royal

MILITARY leaders have axed the BBC from the nation's flagship amid claims of pro-Iraqi bias.

The Navy has taken rolling news show News 24 off the air on the HMS Ark Royal after weeks of grumbling from crew.

Sailors on the Portsmouth-based aircraft carrier have become increasingly disenchanted with the BBC's slant on the war.

They claim the news organisation places more faith in Iraqi reports than information coming from British or Allied sources.

"The BBC always takes the Iraqis' side," one senior rating complained.

"It reports what they say as gospel but when it comes to us it questions and doubts everything the British and Americans are reporting.

"A lot of people on board are very unhappy."

Ark is one of a handful of task force ships which receives live TV direct from Britain with rolling news and two entertainment channels beamed into the warship as part of efforts to improve creature comforts.

But officers and ratings alike are angry at the Beeb's coverage of the war so far.

A BBC correspondent has been on board the flagship - and the crew have no gripe with his reports - but they were particularly incensed by comments made by presenters and  commentators about the carrier's Sea King tragedy a fortnight ago.

Then the BBC suggested poor levels of maintenance played a hand in the deaths of seven fliers.

News 24 was switched off on Sunday and replaced with Sky News.

[Lexington Green]

The BBC are pecksniffian poltroons. At least Al-Jazeera doesn't pretend to be your countryman.

[DoctorMichael]

Sailors on the Portsmouth-based aircraft carrier have become increasingly disenchanted with the BBC's slant on the war.

Theres a lot of this going on. Hmmmmmmmmm...........

[EternalVigilance]

Fantastic. I hope these sailors manage to get the truth out to the general public in the UK. They should be outraged at the anti-American, anti-British bias that they are paying for with their taxes. The BBC really, really sucks.

[konaice]

"The BBC are pecksniffian poltroons. "

You been taking lessons from Baghdad Bob Lexington??? ;-)

[Drango]

I wish NPR wouldn't broadcast the BBC. Or to restate it, I wish they wouldn't use my TAX dollars to broadcast that left wing propaganda.

[libertylover]

A tangent point: At the Pentagon briefing today the first questioner whined, "You said your troops were only taking small-arms fire from the Palestine Hotel, where journalists are staying, but you responded with a tank shell. Do you really think that's an appropriate response".

GRRR!! No outrage that the Iraqis would use the hotel to shoot at our guys, only outrage that we would respond. It seems to me that a high percentage of the questions are NOT about the operations but are designed to try to show the military in a bad light.

[CheneyChick]

News 24 was switched off on Sunday and replaced with Sky News.

Cool - FNC's sister station.

[atomic conspiracy]

Text of an e-mail I sent to the BBC yesterday:

"You are not even pretending to be unbiased. The sequence, selective omissions, and implications of the photo series here collectively represent one of the crudest and most obvious examples of totalitarian propaganda since the time of Joseph Goebbels. You are a totalitarian fraud and complicit in Saddam Hussein's crimes by using your priveleged position to defend his regime."

[Lexington Green]

You been taking lessons from Baghdad Bob Lexington?

Bob would have said "perfidious pecksniffian poltroons".. but I like to save that triple aliteration for France.

[Dog Gone]

Before this war, I had about given up on the UK. Now, I'm sure there's hope.

[mathurine]

Only taking small arms fire and responding with tank. I remember when I was fighting in the Battle of Hue during the Tet Offensive being shot at by a sniper in a tower. An Ontos, which is a little vehicle with a bunch of 105 recoilless rifles happened by just at the moment. I zipped over and pointed out the target and the Marines did zap that bad boy and the tower too. Unfortunately, there is no record that any press were in the tower, but the press goes where the battle is at their own peril and there are no circumstances during a battle when they ought to be given any consideration. One reporter is never worth one Marine.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Someone needs to gobsmack the BBC.

[cadillac cowboy]

Well stated. Pretty apparent too.

[MEG33]

Talk to Christiane Amanpour.Charty from Sky news needs a word ,too.BBC is hurting the morale of their own. I hope someone talks to these fifth columists and reminds them in wartime we are not buying their brand of objectivity.

[MEG33]

Chater

[Spirited]

What adds to that hope for me is the fact that the young men of this ship will, from here out, distrust the BBC and when they get home will influence their friends and families likewise.

It means that a certain segment of Brit Society will tune out and become exempt from the biased influence of the BBC.
I fervently hope that more and more Brits will join Americans in tuning out and opting out of the media elitist planned model for our nations.

My only remaining wish is that Murdoch does not prove to be a Judas goat.

[MIgramma]

Re: Bagdad "Bob"

I heard it suggested this am that we change the reference to Bagdad "Bill" with the obvious reference to another pervericator.
Sounds good to me.
What say ye?

[MIgramma]

Re: Bagdad "Bob"

I heard it suggested this am that we change the reference to Bagdad "Bill" with the obvious reference to another pervericator.
Sounds good to me.
What say ye?

[Dog Gone]

David Chater has gotten increasingly worse as this war has progressed. His reports increasingly focus on civilian casualties. As far as I know, he's seen few, and only those the Iraqi handlers have shown him.

Of course, he was mighty angry with the Americans for firing at the Palestine hotel last night.