Post by Teddy Bear on Nov 3, 2013 0:26:48 GMT
We've covered the BBC receiving £Millions in loans from the EU, and we've covered the BBC receiving £Millions in grants from the EU, now apparently we find they are also receiving £Millions in charity donations from the EU.
The gift that goes on giving.
Naturally, as ever, the BBC assures us that none of this affects their fair and impartial coverage
The gift that goes on giving.
Naturally, as ever, the BBC assures us that none of this affects their fair and impartial coverage
BBC faces new bias row over charity given millions by EU
The BBC is facing questions over the impartiality of its coverage of the European Union after its charity arm received millions of pounds to promote the EU’s political agenda.
By Tim Ross,
BBC Media Action, which is part of the broadcaster’s Global News division, was paid £4.5 million from Brussels last year, mostly for work designed to ensure the progress of the enlargement of the EU.
Based at the BBC’s Broadcasting House headquarters in London, the charity received the bulk of the money for a project to train hundreds of journalists in countries which share potentially volatile borders with the EU.
MPs said the extent of the charity’s dependence on money from Brussels could undermine the credibility of the BBC’s coverage of controversial European issues, including EU enlargement.
The disclosures led to concerns that the BBC would be seen as complicit in Brussels’s “empire building” activities and prompted calls for the charity to sever its formal links with the broadcaster.
Although legally a separate entity, the BBC regards the charity as part of its global news division. It is chaired by the BBC’s director of global news, Peter Horrocks and the charity describes itself as benefiting from a “very close” relationship with the corporation.
George Alagiah, the presenter of BBC News at Six, is also on the board of trustees, a majority of whom are appointed directly by the BBC, and the charity receives a grant from the BBC World Service.
Figures disclosed by the European Union’s Financial Transparency System showed that the charity received £4,455,800 (€5,269,100) from the EU in 2012.
Some £3.8 million (€4,499,400) was allocated as part of the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy, the “main purpose” of which is “to create an area of shared values, stability and prosperity, enhanced cooperation and deeper economic and regional integration”.
The European Commission describes this policy as “a broad political strategy” aimed at “strengthening the prosperity, stability and security of Europe’s neighbourhood in order to avoid any dividing lines between the enlarged EU and its direct neighbours”.
Part of this work is the three-year “media neighbourhood” project, run by a consortium of international media companies and led by BBC Media Action.
The project will train 1,200 journalists in 17 countries on the fringes of the EU. It includes “study tours to the EU in Brussels” for participants to “gather material” on the workings of Europe and conduct interviews with European politicians. A further 500 students and 50 mentors will also be supported under the plan, in countries such as Belarus, Algeria, Egypt, Ukraine, and Russia.
BBC Media Action also received significant funding from the Department for International Development, the US State Department and the United Nations.
The disclosure of the BBC’s links to the EU and other foreign governments is likely to heighten debate over the BBC’s structure, and concerns over perceptions of “unbalanced” reporting.
Last week, Grant Shapps, the chairman of the Conservative Party, warned that the licence fee could be cut if the BBC refused to abandon its culture of secrecy and waste and failed to address concerns over standards of journalism.
Angie Bray, the Conservative MP for Ealing Central and Acton, and member of the Commons media select committee, said she feared that Brussels may be attempting to use the BBC “to further the empire building ambitions of the EU”.
“On past form, many licence fee payers will be concerned that this is another example of the BBC finding ways of promoting its pro-EU agenda,” she said.
“We all know that the EU doesn’t spend funds on projects that are not all about promoting the EU. Clearly investing that kind of money in this BBC charitable project suggests that they are expecting a big result from this.”
The charity’s website, which is accessed via the main BBC website, states that it does not use licence fee funding. However, the BBC provides “office space and a small grant from the World Service” to the charity.
From next year, the World Service will be funded by the licence fee, having historically received its income from the Foreign Office.
Trustees of BBC Media Action are not paid for their services but are entitled to claim expenses.
Mr Horrocks, who is paid £240,000 a year in salary and benefits, is one of the BBC’s most senior executives, commanding the Global News division’s 2,500 journalists and support staff in 113 countries.
The charity is formally a part of Mr Horrocks’s division. In an article on the charity’s website, he explained the extent of the links between BBC Media Action and the corporation.
“The juxtaposition of being an independent charity but also part of the BBC is an important and powerful one,” he said. “The charity has deep roots in the BBC and shares heritage and values but it also works in a distinctly different way to other parts of the BBC… It isn’t standing back and reporting — BBC Media Action gets involved.”
Mr Horrocks argued that BBC Media Action has fulfilled a crucial role encouraging voters overseas to “know their rights around an election” as well as training journalists in how to question politicians on television effectively.
A BBC said any suggestion that coverage of EU issues could be influenced by the charity’s funding arrangements was “completely unfounded and confused”.
“BBC Media Action is an independent charity which works to support free and fair journalism and reduce poverty around the world,” the spokesman said.
“The BBC’s editorial remit is to deliver fair, balanced and impartial coverage and we are satisfied that our coverage of the European Union does just that.”
The BBC is facing questions over the impartiality of its coverage of the European Union after its charity arm received millions of pounds to promote the EU’s political agenda.
By Tim Ross,
BBC Media Action, which is part of the broadcaster’s Global News division, was paid £4.5 million from Brussels last year, mostly for work designed to ensure the progress of the enlargement of the EU.
Based at the BBC’s Broadcasting House headquarters in London, the charity received the bulk of the money for a project to train hundreds of journalists in countries which share potentially volatile borders with the EU.
MPs said the extent of the charity’s dependence on money from Brussels could undermine the credibility of the BBC’s coverage of controversial European issues, including EU enlargement.
The disclosures led to concerns that the BBC would be seen as complicit in Brussels’s “empire building” activities and prompted calls for the charity to sever its formal links with the broadcaster.
Although legally a separate entity, the BBC regards the charity as part of its global news division. It is chaired by the BBC’s director of global news, Peter Horrocks and the charity describes itself as benefiting from a “very close” relationship with the corporation.
George Alagiah, the presenter of BBC News at Six, is also on the board of trustees, a majority of whom are appointed directly by the BBC, and the charity receives a grant from the BBC World Service.
Figures disclosed by the European Union’s Financial Transparency System showed that the charity received £4,455,800 (€5,269,100) from the EU in 2012.
Some £3.8 million (€4,499,400) was allocated as part of the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy, the “main purpose” of which is “to create an area of shared values, stability and prosperity, enhanced cooperation and deeper economic and regional integration”.
The European Commission describes this policy as “a broad political strategy” aimed at “strengthening the prosperity, stability and security of Europe’s neighbourhood in order to avoid any dividing lines between the enlarged EU and its direct neighbours”.
Part of this work is the three-year “media neighbourhood” project, run by a consortium of international media companies and led by BBC Media Action.
The project will train 1,200 journalists in 17 countries on the fringes of the EU. It includes “study tours to the EU in Brussels” for participants to “gather material” on the workings of Europe and conduct interviews with European politicians. A further 500 students and 50 mentors will also be supported under the plan, in countries such as Belarus, Algeria, Egypt, Ukraine, and Russia.
BBC Media Action also received significant funding from the Department for International Development, the US State Department and the United Nations.
The disclosure of the BBC’s links to the EU and other foreign governments is likely to heighten debate over the BBC’s structure, and concerns over perceptions of “unbalanced” reporting.
Last week, Grant Shapps, the chairman of the Conservative Party, warned that the licence fee could be cut if the BBC refused to abandon its culture of secrecy and waste and failed to address concerns over standards of journalism.
Angie Bray, the Conservative MP for Ealing Central and Acton, and member of the Commons media select committee, said she feared that Brussels may be attempting to use the BBC “to further the empire building ambitions of the EU”.
“On past form, many licence fee payers will be concerned that this is another example of the BBC finding ways of promoting its pro-EU agenda,” she said.
“We all know that the EU doesn’t spend funds on projects that are not all about promoting the EU. Clearly investing that kind of money in this BBC charitable project suggests that they are expecting a big result from this.”
The charity’s website, which is accessed via the main BBC website, states that it does not use licence fee funding. However, the BBC provides “office space and a small grant from the World Service” to the charity.
From next year, the World Service will be funded by the licence fee, having historically received its income from the Foreign Office.
Trustees of BBC Media Action are not paid for their services but are entitled to claim expenses.
Mr Horrocks, who is paid £240,000 a year in salary and benefits, is one of the BBC’s most senior executives, commanding the Global News division’s 2,500 journalists and support staff in 113 countries.
The charity is formally a part of Mr Horrocks’s division. In an article on the charity’s website, he explained the extent of the links between BBC Media Action and the corporation.
“The juxtaposition of being an independent charity but also part of the BBC is an important and powerful one,” he said. “The charity has deep roots in the BBC and shares heritage and values but it also works in a distinctly different way to other parts of the BBC… It isn’t standing back and reporting — BBC Media Action gets involved.”
Mr Horrocks argued that BBC Media Action has fulfilled a crucial role encouraging voters overseas to “know their rights around an election” as well as training journalists in how to question politicians on television effectively.
A BBC said any suggestion that coverage of EU issues could be influenced by the charity’s funding arrangements was “completely unfounded and confused”.
“BBC Media Action is an independent charity which works to support free and fair journalism and reduce poverty around the world,” the spokesman said.
“The BBC’s editorial remit is to deliver fair, balanced and impartial coverage and we are satisfied that our coverage of the European Union does just that.”
