Tuesday 8 June 2010

'Ethical Man' accuses himself of bias !

Don't be fooled by the headline is the message here. The BBC's 'Ethical Man' Mr Justin Rowlatt suggests there is a pro-green bias in his slight of hand documentary "Are environmentalists bad for the planet". A few days after the programme was broadcast by the BBC , the highly reputable Roger Bolton of the Feedback programme took the editor to task , and suggested there was a bias, listen to the player on Justin Rowlatt's blog and decide for yourself.  But the headline on the player asks if there is a pro-green bias . That is not what Roger Bolton is suggesting at all. 

It's an old journalistic trick to put a headline up that contradicts with the nitty gritty of the copy. The devil is in the detail and many readers don't bother to read further than headlines.

I have written a comment (number 11) to suggest that this is either an innocent error or perhaps Mr Rowlatt is trying to confuse the issue of the bias he is accused of . But after two weeks the moderators still haven't okayed it, so my criticisms of BBCs ethical man are censored by the BBC and confined to this blog.

Now just for fun I'm asking the readers of my blog (both of you) to check it out and decide for yourselves .So here's what I'm asking you to do . Listen to the recording on the player on this page and ask yourself if the headline on the player is fair and vote on this gadget on the right. Yes I know that's 7 minutes and 47 seconds of your life wasted! Just to be clear you're not  listening to the original BBC documentary but the Feedback programme where the makers of BBC programmes give an account of themselves.

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