Post by charmbrights on Aug 11, 2014 8:54:49 GMT
In Private Eye No. 1372 the following item appeared on page 13 in MEDIA NEWS:
My mind boggles at the blatant admission that falsehoods are "opinions which some people may personally disagree with"!
THE BBC complaints department is having trouble distinguishing between opinions and facts.
On Radio 4's Broadcasting House on 13 July, Jon Snow lamented "the tiny minority of state school kids that get into Oxbridge, it's now under 50 percent again, which is incredible". Michael Pyke, of the Campaign for State Education, knew this was wrong - latest figures have Oxford at 57.4 percent and Cambridge at 63 percent - and wrote to the BBC to tell them so.
He received this mind-boggling reply: "I understand that it was factually inaccurate for Jon Snow to suggest that the proportion ... had fallen below 50 percent. We make no editorial comment or judgement on the views expressed by contributors to our programmes, and our aim is simply to provide enough information for listeners to make up their own minds. This may include hearing opinions which some people may personally disagree with but which individuals may be fully entitled to hold in the context of legitimate debate."
On Radio 4's Broadcasting House on 13 July, Jon Snow lamented "the tiny minority of state school kids that get into Oxbridge, it's now under 50 percent again, which is incredible". Michael Pyke, of the Campaign for State Education, knew this was wrong - latest figures have Oxford at 57.4 percent and Cambridge at 63 percent - and wrote to the BBC to tell them so.
He received this mind-boggling reply: "I understand that it was factually inaccurate for Jon Snow to suggest that the proportion ... had fallen below 50 percent. We make no editorial comment or judgement on the views expressed by contributors to our programmes, and our aim is simply to provide enough information for listeners to make up their own minds. This may include hearing opinions which some people may personally disagree with but which individuals may be fully entitled to hold in the context of legitimate debate."
My mind boggles at the blatant admission that falsehoods are "opinions which some people may personally disagree with"!
