Another anti austerity demonstration, another media blackout

Over 50,000 attended yesterday’s London demonstration organised by the People’s Assembly against austerity and speakers included media celebrity Russell Brand. Once again a protest against government cuts received minimal coverage from national broadcasters. Last September’s Manchester demonstration in defence of the NHS received the same censorship treatment even though news organisations were in town in force to cover the Tory Party conference.

There is a long history of structural bias in the UK media against trade unions and the left. It will not change unless unions work together to confront it argued Tom O’Malley at the recent UCU Congress: ‘all unions, in all sectors, have to work together to formulate communications policies that are coherent and workable and which can gain widespread popular support as well influence in mainstream politics.

 

'I also think that all unions should, even in these economically exacting times, support campaigning organisations such as the CPBF. History therefore tells us that we should work together to challenge the structural biases in the media, and seek a much more inclusive, open and accountable. In so doing, we will be building on the thoughts and struggles of women and men in the movement, who for the last 100 years have been forced by necessity to confront and challenge the media, and work for something better.’

BBC spins austerity sunshine story despite poll facts

The BBC is today spinning a survey of 1031 people to mark the fifth anniversary of the £1.2 trillion bank bail out and is headlining that despite huge cuts in public spending there is increased satisfaction in the quality of services. Yet the findings of the survey itself don't bear that out. The BBC is silent on its own poll conclusions that 63% of survey respondents are worried about the cuts already made to public services and a majority (52%) are angry about the cuts.

1911 Centenary Lecture - Tony Benn

Tristram Hunt, Labour MP for Stoke Central, (and also a lecturer in modern History) gives an excellent lecture on the BBC Parliament web site on Tony Benn - a reminder of what a radical Labour MP is and what an inspiration to wider action they can be. Nice also to see the ubiquitous Bick sat on the front row next to Tony Benn: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/
b0186bn3/1911_
Centenary_Lecture_Tony_Benn/

BBC must sack Clarkson for his #n30 anti union hate crime

Jeremy Clarkson is well known for discriminatory and xenophobic utterances, notably his offensive comments in 2009 about the then Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown. And it was no surprise back in August that the mass murderer of 69 Norwegian young  socialists quoted approvingly Clarkson's right wing nationalist views. However his comments yesterday on prime time TV about 2 million striking  trade unionists - that he 'would take them outside and execute them in front of their families' is tantamount to a hate crime against trade unionists:
http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=2544

Nothing new about BBC bias and capitulation to powerful interests‏

Good coverage on the TUC’s Touchstone blog of the controversy surrounding the attendance of BBC Director General Mark Thompson at a Downing street briefing on how to spin the Con Dem Government’s austerity measures: http://www.touchstoneblog.org.uk/2010/09/bbc-cuts-coverage/

BBC workers make a stand on pensions‏

BBC management has been facing the biggest staff revolt in years over proposals to cap final salary pension benefits for existing members from April 2011 and to close the scheme to new employees. Changes proposed in late June include breaking the link between final salary and pension benefits by capping pensionable salary growth at 1% a year, whatever pay increases an employee received.