Post by Teddy Bear on Jan 30, 2011 20:56:18 GMT
The arrogance of the BBC knows no bounds. They feel the 'service' they provide is truly essential for the world to turn, at least that's what they want us to believe. Arguably, if they fulfilled their purpose in the way that was projected for them that might be the case, but with their own agenda superseding what it really means to be fair and impartial they are not only useless but dangerous.
Here they have no shame in asking for funding that goes towards helping those starving in Africa to be diverted into their coffers under the pretext that it is necessary to maintain the World Service.
This is coming from those who see nothing wrong in milking huge salaries and exorbitant expenses from the licence fee, or even spending £1BILLION to refurbish their London headquarters which includes £1.6 MILLION just on the pavement outside.
The corporation claims that the move would be justified because World Service broadcasts can "contribute to the stabilisation of Pakistan and Afghanistan".
Would this be by broadcasting the 'humanity of the Taliban', and minimising stories to appease these extremist Muslims whose barbarism is absolutely sickening. How much have you heard from the BBC about Christian citizens of various Islamic regimes being targeted in an ethnic-cleansing drive? The BBC would 'stabilise' these nations by giving in to the worst elements within. We don't need that kind of stabilisation.
According to the leaked BBC memo, sent to MPs, the rationale behind taking £25 million from the budget used for improving sanitation, health care and literacy in developing countries would be that the world's poorest countries would benefit from having access to the corporation's broadcasts.
This one paragraph describes the BBC mindset perfectly. It should be etched in stone.
BBC wants taxpayers' money from fund used to help starving in Africa
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Media Correspondent 10:00AM GMT 30 Jan 2011
BBC executives are trying to raid Government funds intended to tackle world poverty in an attempt to lessen the impact of cuts on the World Service.
A secret memo leaked to the Telegraph shows that the state-funded broadcaster has lobbied ministers to divert £25 million out of the budget of the Department for International Development (DfID) and into its own finances.
The corporation claims that the move would be justified because World Service broadcasts can "contribute to the stabilisation of Pakistan and Afghanistan".
DfID is one of only two Whitehall departments that have escaped the squeeze on public spending. Its budget will rise with inflation over coming years.
The appeal by the BBC follows last week's announcement that five radio language services are to close, in the wake of demands from the Government for the World Service to cut £46 million from its £237 million-a-year budget by 2014.
Unveiling the cuts, BBC chiefs said they had been faced a "difficult and sad" decision as to where the axe should fall. However, Government sources have cast doubt on the corporation's claim to be looking to protect the World Service.
They claim the BBC has been disingenuous in saying it was forced to close services, and say that in fact corporation chiefs proposed even deeper cuts which would have had a devastating impact on the ability of the World Service to broadcast in volatile regions.
According to Government sources, the corporation proposed ending its radio broadcasts in Persian and Tamil, languages which reach some of the world's most troubled areas in Iran and Sri Lanka.
It also planned to cut its Vietnamese, Indonesian and Uzbek services. All five proposals were blocked by William Hague, the Foreign Secretary.
Peter Horrocks, director of BBC Global News, announced last week that the World Service cuts would bring the loss of 650 jobs. Short-wave radio broadcasts will cease in China, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, while the five language services facing the axe are Albanian, Macedonian, Serbian, English for the Caribbean and Portuguese for Africa.
It means that the World Service will no longer be the leading international news provider by audience size, and has resulted in the BBC's appeal to the Government for greater financial support.
According to the leaked BBC memo, sent to MPs, the rationale behind taking £25 million from the budget used for improving sanitation, health care and literacy in developing countries would be that the world's poorest countries would benefit from having access to the corporation's broadcasts.
The document states: "If limited DfID funding were provided for dedicated services that met development purposes, World Service could avoid some of the most damaging cuts and invest in new services that could contribute to the stabilisation of Pakistan and Afghanistan, help prevent radicalisation in sub-Saharan Africa and maintain the BBC's presence in rural India."
It warns that otherwise closures announced last week will only be the first wave of cuts, saying that Arabic services could be lost in countries such as Sudan and Saudi Arabia.
If the BBC were successful in being awarded £25 million of DfID's funding, the memo states that £12 million of the proceeds would be used to launch an Urdu-language TV channel in Pakistan, which would help to respond to the "fearmongering of local news providers".
The memo was sent to MPs on the House of Commons all-party foreign affairs committee, who have launched an inquiry into the implications for the World Service of the closures.
Andrew Rosindell, a Conservative MP and member of the committee, said it was wrong of the BBC to threaten to cut such key services as its Tamil and Persian stations.
"It's bonkers to talk about getting rid of Persian when Iran is probably the biggest concern to us at this moment," he said.
"This sounds like a classic tactic to ensure more money, but it's disappointing that the BBC are playing politics with something as important as the World Service."
Unlike other parts of the BBC, the World Service has traditionally been funded with £272 million of grant-in-aid money from the Foreign Office.
This arrangement will end from 2014, when full financial responsibility will be transferred to the BBC as part of a deal that guaranteed that the licence fee would be frozen for six years.
A BBC spokesman said last night that the World Service was changing its emphasis as online news services overtake radio in popularity in Middle Eastern countries such as Iran
Here they have no shame in asking for funding that goes towards helping those starving in Africa to be diverted into their coffers under the pretext that it is necessary to maintain the World Service.
This is coming from those who see nothing wrong in milking huge salaries and exorbitant expenses from the licence fee, or even spending £1BILLION to refurbish their London headquarters which includes £1.6 MILLION just on the pavement outside.
The corporation claims that the move would be justified because World Service broadcasts can "contribute to the stabilisation of Pakistan and Afghanistan".
Would this be by broadcasting the 'humanity of the Taliban', and minimising stories to appease these extremist Muslims whose barbarism is absolutely sickening. How much have you heard from the BBC about Christian citizens of various Islamic regimes being targeted in an ethnic-cleansing drive? The BBC would 'stabilise' these nations by giving in to the worst elements within. We don't need that kind of stabilisation.
According to the leaked BBC memo, sent to MPs, the rationale behind taking £25 million from the budget used for improving sanitation, health care and literacy in developing countries would be that the world's poorest countries would benefit from having access to the corporation's broadcasts.
This one paragraph describes the BBC mindset perfectly. It should be etched in stone.
BBC wants taxpayers' money from fund used to help starving in Africa
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Media Correspondent 10:00AM GMT 30 Jan 2011
BBC executives are trying to raid Government funds intended to tackle world poverty in an attempt to lessen the impact of cuts on the World Service.
A secret memo leaked to the Telegraph shows that the state-funded broadcaster has lobbied ministers to divert £25 million out of the budget of the Department for International Development (DfID) and into its own finances.
The corporation claims that the move would be justified because World Service broadcasts can "contribute to the stabilisation of Pakistan and Afghanistan".
DfID is one of only two Whitehall departments that have escaped the squeeze on public spending. Its budget will rise with inflation over coming years.
The appeal by the BBC follows last week's announcement that five radio language services are to close, in the wake of demands from the Government for the World Service to cut £46 million from its £237 million-a-year budget by 2014.
Unveiling the cuts, BBC chiefs said they had been faced a "difficult and sad" decision as to where the axe should fall. However, Government sources have cast doubt on the corporation's claim to be looking to protect the World Service.
They claim the BBC has been disingenuous in saying it was forced to close services, and say that in fact corporation chiefs proposed even deeper cuts which would have had a devastating impact on the ability of the World Service to broadcast in volatile regions.
According to Government sources, the corporation proposed ending its radio broadcasts in Persian and Tamil, languages which reach some of the world's most troubled areas in Iran and Sri Lanka.
It also planned to cut its Vietnamese, Indonesian and Uzbek services. All five proposals were blocked by William Hague, the Foreign Secretary.
Peter Horrocks, director of BBC Global News, announced last week that the World Service cuts would bring the loss of 650 jobs. Short-wave radio broadcasts will cease in China, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, while the five language services facing the axe are Albanian, Macedonian, Serbian, English for the Caribbean and Portuguese for Africa.
It means that the World Service will no longer be the leading international news provider by audience size, and has resulted in the BBC's appeal to the Government for greater financial support.
According to the leaked BBC memo, sent to MPs, the rationale behind taking £25 million from the budget used for improving sanitation, health care and literacy in developing countries would be that the world's poorest countries would benefit from having access to the corporation's broadcasts.
The document states: "If limited DfID funding were provided for dedicated services that met development purposes, World Service could avoid some of the most damaging cuts and invest in new services that could contribute to the stabilisation of Pakistan and Afghanistan, help prevent radicalisation in sub-Saharan Africa and maintain the BBC's presence in rural India."
It warns that otherwise closures announced last week will only be the first wave of cuts, saying that Arabic services could be lost in countries such as Sudan and Saudi Arabia.
If the BBC were successful in being awarded £25 million of DfID's funding, the memo states that £12 million of the proceeds would be used to launch an Urdu-language TV channel in Pakistan, which would help to respond to the "fearmongering of local news providers".
The memo was sent to MPs on the House of Commons all-party foreign affairs committee, who have launched an inquiry into the implications for the World Service of the closures.
Andrew Rosindell, a Conservative MP and member of the committee, said it was wrong of the BBC to threaten to cut such key services as its Tamil and Persian stations.
"It's bonkers to talk about getting rid of Persian when Iran is probably the biggest concern to us at this moment," he said.
"This sounds like a classic tactic to ensure more money, but it's disappointing that the BBC are playing politics with something as important as the World Service."
Unlike other parts of the BBC, the World Service has traditionally been funded with £272 million of grant-in-aid money from the Foreign Office.
This arrangement will end from 2014, when full financial responsibility will be transferred to the BBC as part of a deal that guaranteed that the licence fee would be frozen for six years.
A BBC spokesman said last night that the World Service was changing its emphasis as online news services overtake radio in popularity in Middle Eastern countries such as Iran
, so much so that they would rake some of the aid destined for the starving in the poorer nations. It makes you wonder then how they can dare present this as a sincere belief when in the same week they have managed to offend 2 different nations by their so called 'humorists'.