|
|
Post by steevo on Apr 8, 2007 19:51:00 GMT
Amid the deaths and the grim daily struggle bravely borne by Britain's forces in southern Iraq, one tale of heroism stands out.
Private Johnson Beharry's courage in rescuing an ambushed foot patrol then, in a second act, saving his vehicle's crew despite his own terrible injuries earned him a Victoria Cross.
For the BBC, however, his story is "too positive" about the conflict.
The corporation has cancelled the commission for a 90-minute drama about Britain's youngest surviving Victoria Cross hero because it feared it would alienate members of the audience opposed to the war in Iraq.
The BBC's retreat from the project, which had the working title Victoria Cross, has sparked accusations of cowardice and will reignite the debate about the broadcaster's alleged lack of patriotism.PUKE. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/08/wiraq308.xml
|
|
|
|
Post by Teddy Bear on Apr 8, 2007 21:59:13 GMT
Great find Steevo. I'm going to copy the entire article here, I think it merits it. Obviously the BBC is never worried about alienating the pro-war audience, especially as they already know what the BBC is all about. this is about a clear example of bias as one can find, and 'SUCKS' pretty much sums it up. I sincerely hope the rest of the mainstream media pick up on this story. What an insult to the heroic soldier concerned, as well as EVERY one of our military personnel serving this country. It's totally outrageous. With the BBC pursuing the stance it does it's quite likely that one day it will need protection from this same serviceman. I hope none of them forget this story. I expect we'll hear some mealy mouthed excuse from the BBC in the next days about this item. I'll post it if they do. According to the Telegraph article "A spokesman for the BBC admitted that it had abandoned the VC project but refused to elaborate", which makes him or her not much of a 'spokesman'. I hope those concerned with cancelling this story have a difficult time sleeping from now on. It is the heroics of our soldiers that gave us the society that allows the BBC the freedom it has, and now they have been stabbed in the back. Hero's tale is 'too positive' for the BBC
By Chris Hastings, Arts and Media Editor, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 11:56pm BST 07/04/2007
Amid the deaths and the grim daily struggle bravely borne by Britain's forces in southern Iraq, one tale of heroism stands out.
Private Johnson Beharry with his Victoria Cross
Private Johnson Beharry's courage in rescuing an ambushed foot patrol then, in a second act, saving his vehicle's crew despite his own terrible injuries earned him a Victoria Cross.
For the BBC, however, his story is "too positive" about the conflict.
The corporation has cancelled the commission for a 90-minute drama about Britain's youngest surviving Victoria Cross hero because it feared it would alienate members of the audience opposed to the war in Iraq.
The BBC's retreat from the project, which had the working title Victoria Cross, has sparked accusations of cowardice and will reignite the debate about the broadcaster's alleged lack of patriotism.
"The BBC has behaved in a cowardly fashion by pulling the plug on the project altogether," said a source close to the project. "It began to have second thoughts last year as the war in Iraq deteriorated. It felt it couldn't show anything with a degree of positivity about the conflict.
"It needed to tell stories about Iraq which reflected the fact that some members of the audience didn't approve of what was going on. Obviously a story about Johnson Beharry could never do that. You couldn't have a scene where he suddenly turned around and denounced the war because he just wouldn't do that.
"The film is now on hold and it will only make it to the screen if another broadcaster picks it up."
The independent production company which was developing the project for a prime-time slot on BBC1 is now believed to have taken the script to ITV.
Pte Beharry, 27, who was awarded the VC in March 2005, was the first person to receive the country's highest award for valour since 1982 and the first living recipient since 1965. He was honoured for two acts of outstanding gallantry which occurred just over a month apart while he was serving with the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, in the Iraqi town of al-Amarah, in 2004.
He was cited for "valour of the highest order" after he drove a Warrior tracked armoured vehicle through heavy enemy fire in May 2004 to come to the rescue of a foot patrol that had been caught in a series of ambushes. The 30-ton Warrior was hit by multiple rocket-propelled grenades, causing damage and resulting in the loss of radio communications. Pte Beharry drove through the ambush, taking his own injured crew and leading five other Warriors to safety. He then extracted his wounded colleagues from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire.
The following month, Pte Beharry was again driving the lead Warrior vehicle of his platoon through al-Amarah when his vehicle was ambushed. A rocket-propelled grenade hit the vehicle and Pte Beharry received serious head injuries. Other rockets hit the vehicle incapacitating his commander and injuring several of the crew.Despite his very serious injuries, Pte Beharry then took control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness. He required brain surgery for his head injuries and he was still recovering when he received the VC from the Queen in June last year.
The script of the film about his heroics was being developed by Darlow Smithson, the production company responsible for the Bafta-winning Touching The Void and the docu-drama Tsunami, which was recently aired by the BBC. The Ministry of Defence is believed to have been supportive of the project and was offering the film-makers technical advice.
The BBC's decision to pull out will only confirm the fears of critics that television drama is only interested in telling bad news stories about the war.
The Ministry of Defence recently expressed concern about Channel 4's The Mark of Cain which showed British troops brutalising Iraqi detainees. That programme was temporarily pulled from the schedules after Iran detained 15 British troops.
A spokesman for the BBC admitted that it had abandoned the VC project but refused to elaborate. |
|
|
|
Post by Teddy Bear on Apr 11, 2007 22:03:03 GMT
The 'Editors Blog' of the BBC website is the place where they like to justify everything they do, most often in their twisted sort of way, and always 'holier than thou'. Today they are telling of how they also wanted to get the inside story from the marines who were just freed by the Iranians and most sold their story to other news agencies. Here is the blog followed by my comment which I posted, and we'll see if they run it. So typical of the BBC bias, that it desires the stories of the failures and shortcomings of our troops as displayed by these sailors, yet declines to make a programme about the heroism of our most decorated living soldier, because 'it would alienate the anti-war audience'. This was reported in the Telegraph a few days ago, and speaks volumes about the real 'balance' of the BBC.
However the BBC has no problem reporting on the valour of the Taleban news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6081594.stm our enemies in case you had forgotten. You really have your priorities wrong, not to mention the question of treason, and continue to denigrate our nation and destroy the moral of our soldiers who serve and protect us. It is the likes of your reporting that creates the situations and responses that these marines found themselves. An absolute disgrace, and you are totally without morality. |
|
|
|
Post by steevo on Apr 12, 2007 17:44:53 GMT
Hit 'em where it hurts  If they post it let us know. And if there are any responses to it. Interesting article at a good site, TCS Daily, about Robin Atkins' take on the BBC: www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=041207B |
|
|
|
Post by Teddy Bear on Apr 12, 2007 18:16:21 GMT
Nope, unsurprisingly they didn't post it. But that's how we know they do this biased crap as a conscious strategy, and not just as a 'leftwing mindset'.
On a recent Doughty Street interview with Richard Sambrook, head of BBC World News, the interviewer, who was far too lenient for my taste, asked him why the BBC hadn't debated with Aitken since the publication of his book exposing their bias. Sambrook denied any purposeful avoidance, but this is typical of the BBC. They know full well if they don't help to make it more public, truth gets consigned to the underground - where we reside.
|
|
|
|
Post by Teddy Bear on May 1, 2007 21:19:35 GMT
|
|
