Mandelson, Blair and the pathetic BBC

Left-wing corporation? My foot . . . Plus a word on Peter M.

By James Macintyre Published 11 July 2010 13:32

My distinguished colleague Mehdi Hasan has written perhaps the definitive piece on why the BBC is not, in fact, "left-wing". And yet though I am pretty familiar with the arguments, the extent to which the opposition of the myth is true never ceases to amaze me. Which is why I tore a bit out of the Evening Standard at the end of last week and put it in my wallet to blog today.

According to the paper, the agonised question of whether to include the memoirs of Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson has reached the very top, and the director general Mark Thompson is so "reluctant to be accused of being 'in' with New Labour" he is preparing to "veto them both". "With David Cameron in Downing Street the emphasis . . . is now not irritating the Tories," says a BBC source. Yuk.

A footnote on Peter Mandelson. I have a confession to make. I admire him and I think he is a brilliant political strategist widely misunderstood as a betrayer of Labour's cause when in fact he is more tribal, and has served his party much better, than many of his internal detractors. However, I was dismayed to see the slightly bizarre video he did as a trailer to the Times serialisation and interview package that is tied to his book, published by HarperCollins.

Is this the Peter Mandelson who brilliantly attacked the Murdoch press for opportunistically backing David Cameron, calling Sun executives "chumps" [or something similar] and exposed the "contract" drawn up by the cunning media baron and the governing party (even if this was a little opportunistic given New Labour's own, ultimately self-defeating pact with Murdoch in office)?

Worst of all in some ways, in his willingness to allow the Murdoch approach to control the selling of the book, Mandelson even describes himself as "the Prince of Darkness" and "Mandy", two cliched labels he has always rejected in the past.

PS: If you are obsessive enough actually to look closely at the advert -- which I have just seen again on Sky News -- it is worth noting the very slight flinch that appears to feature on Mandelson's face in between saying "prince of darkness" and "I don't know why".

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14 comments

Sun, 2010-07-11 13:42 — Doktorb (not verified)

Having seen the BBC Breakfast coverage of the BSF issue, they sure as Hell are left-wing.

Asking two eight-year-olds "How hard is it trying to learn while your school is falling apart around you?" is not neutral.

Sun, 2010-07-11 14:05 — LabMike (not verified)

The BBC doesn't seem to report for itself, rather it reports what other papers have reported completely credulously.

Like that thing about banning eggs in dozens, which was never true. That ended up on the BBC with an anti-EU slant (though I don't understand why the EU is supposed to be a left-wing cause anyway). That thing about a pet shop owner getting fined for selling a gerbil to an underage customer was presented with a typically Daily Mail PC Gone Mad slant without acknowledging the fact that the fine was for a whole catalogue of offences and selling to underage kids was merely the least important and not the actual reason. And that one about Hugo Chavez saying that the earthquake in Haiti was the result of an American weapon, which they repeated- even Charlie Brooker repeated it- despite it having come from some nutcase Venezuelan blogger and not from Chavez.

Those are three examples I'm certain about, but I'm sure most stories that I don't have the time or inclination to check out are completely false. Lots of little lies that create a culture conducive to the right-wing, formed by the press and repeated by the BBC.

I don't think the BBC is right-wing or left-wing, I think it's just shit at checking its facts and if a story has been reported by the papers, however untrue the story is, they feel they have to report on it. The BBC just reflects the right-wing media.

Sun, 2010-07-11 18:11 — alan (not verified)

To my mind the BBC has slipped towards being right wing in recent years that being said while its done so the quality of its reporting has become shocking,the election for instance was terrible for the first time in years i found myself going to ITV for my news and that was bad enough but better than the BBC at the moment.

Sun, 2010-07-11 19:08 — swatantra nandanwar

The BBC has always been non-partizan and always will be.
Mandelson was the supreme stategist and I'm convinced he created this image of himself for public consumption as the prince of darkness to further his aims.
But he has debased himself by appearing in an advert flogging his memoirs and is nothing more than a cheapskate charlatan.

Sun, 2010-07-11 19:47 — Exile (not verified)

The BBC, like the press, reflects the zeitgeist (how I love that word) and the current zeitgeist is distinctly dischuffed with the previous government and has yet to get over its honeymoon with the coalition. It will pass!

As for Mandelson - something of a flawed genius I think. A better political strategist would not have got himself sacked so many times.

Sun, 2010-07-11 21:03 — Freeman2

Just keep an eye on how the BBC reports on strikes - that tells you whether they are left-wing or not. I'd say Not.

Sun, 2010-07-11 23:25 — jeremiah

Andrew Neil, Nick Robinson, Andrew Marr and Jeremy Paxman. Left wing my arse!

Sun, 2010-07-11 23:30 — jeremiah

PS Jeremy Vine - Radio 2's resident right wing nutter!

Sun, 2010-07-11 23:44 — RobH (not verified)

LabMike:
"The BBC doesn't seem to report for itself, rather it reports what other papers have reported completely credulously."

If you haven't already, read Nick Davies' "Flat Earth News". He covers this phenomenon, not just at the Beeb, but right across the media, and analyses how it has come about, under commercial control, cut budgets and the pressure of rolling news.

Mon, 2010-07-12 03:40 — William (not verified)

Andrew Neil has become increasingly rabidly right wing, every day they invite a new 'expert' from a 'think tank' (a far right think tank). I don't know whether it's Neil or his producer, but one of the two is making the daily politics / this week unwatchible. Just last week they had both Naill Ferguson and the 'tax-payers-alliance' (who advocate 100% cuts in the public sector and tax breaks for billionares). Continual condesending of Diane Abbot, and right wing policies debated on This Week a week before the government adopts them, i am the only person who finds this supisicous! Worse, Andrew's stupid interview technique : "please answer yes or no, mr millband are you a geek?" Is this really what we have to endure? This dimwitted nonsense? From a man with the ever-changing hair dye, that i can no longer take seriously... No the BBC has veered (more) decisevly to the right.

Mon, 2010-07-12 04:10 — Moonpig (not verified)

Yachting with business baron's then proceeding to promote their causes in the legislature seems to me like a betrayal of Labour's, traditional, cause.

Mon, 2010-07-12 10:23 — Terrible But True (not verified)

There seems to be a Solomonesque solution presented.

If the BBC is displaying a variety of 'wingism' such that no one is happy, and whatever it is is contrary to the terms of its Charter, perhaps the best thing would be to reassess the uniquely funded entity's value as an objective representative of the nation's public?

I fear cannot see any balance in the odd notion of two extremes feeling they are poorly served. That seems to be two wrongs making an unacceptable compromise.

So... can it.

What might then be interesting is where the greatest protests for retention originate. Turkeys & Christmas, 'n all.

Mon, 2010-07-12 09:38 — writeoff (not verified)

They've always been stocked with pro-Establishment, middle class cliques. It cannot change, but I agree the channels are being stocked with more Tories these days. Justin Webb and Evan Davies? Television's Kate Silverton? A nasty little Daily Mail mind if ever there was one.