Re: [Swprograms] Fury as BBC sends hecklers to bait the leader of the minority in the House of Commons

[John Figliozzi <jfiglio1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Would I be alone in harboring a suspicion (not altogether tongue in  
cheek) that the BBC has been infiltrated at all levels by individuals  
who don't wish it well and are determined--as evidenced by their  
actions, misdeeds and misguided policy decisions--to see to its demise?

By god, how stupid (or fabulously intentional) was this?

John Figliozzi
Halfmoon, NY

On Apr 24, 2005, at 8:16 PM, Joel Rubin wrote:

> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/24/ 
> nhow24.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/04/24/ixportaltop.html
>
> Tory fury as BBC sends hecklers to bait Howard
>
> By Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor
>
> (Filed: 24/04/2005)
>
> The BBC was last night plunged into a damaging general election row
> after it admitted equipping three hecklers with microphones and
> sending them into a campaign meeting addressed by Michael Howard, the
> Conservative leader.
>
> The Tories have made an official protest after the hecklers, who were
> given the microphones by producers, were caught at a party event in
> the North West last week. Guy Black, the party's head of
> communications, wrote in a letter to Helen Boaden, the BBC's director
> of news, that the hecklers began shouting slogans that were
> "distracting and clearly hostile to the Conservative Party".
>
> These included "Michael Howard is a liar", "You can't trust the
> Tories" and "You can only trust Tony Blair".
>
> Mr Black's strongly-worded letter accused the BBC of staging the event
> "to generate a false news story and dramatise coverage. . . intended
> to embarrass or ridicule the leader of the Conservative Party". The
> letter said that BBC staff were guilty of "serious misconduct". At
> least one of the hecklers was seen again at a Tory event in the North
> East, Mr Black added.
>
> Last night, the BBC claimed that the exercise was part of a
> "completely legitimate programme about the history and art of
> political heckling" and said that other parties' meetings were being
> "observed". However, The Telegraph has established that none of Tony
> Blair's meetings was infiltrated or disrupted in similar fashion.
>
> The Conservatives have called for an apology and an assurance that no
> such incident will occur again. It has also demanded that the BBC
> promises never to broadcast the footage. The corporation said it would
> investigate "very fully". It and other broadcasters have a statutory
> duty to remain impartial during election campaigns. The corporation's
> guidelines for producers state: "Our audiences rightly expect the
> highest editorial and ethical standards from the BBC."
>
> Tory officials became suspicious at the meeting in Horwich, near
> Bolton, last Wednesday, when they saw BBC camera crew focusing on the
> hecklers rather than Mr Howard. They twice challenged the two men and
> a woman involved, and discovered they had been equipped with radio
> microphones.
>
> Mr Black said that they described themselves as "shoppers". In fact,
> they were under direction from a BBC team making a programme called
> The History of Heckling for the BBC3 channel. The programme, whose
> producer is Paul Woolwich, is in the process of being edited.
>
> Mr Black's letter said of the hecklers: "It is entirely clear to me
> that the success of their presence required an element of performance
> on their behalf, and that this was a premeditated event intended to
> disrupt the course of Mr. Howard's speech.
>
> "I do not believe that the BBC should be in the business of creating
> news. It also appears that the same crew was at the Michael Howard
> visit to Stockton-on-Tees and it can be no coincidence that someone
> with them was one of these 'hecklers'.
>
> "I understand that Sally Freestone, the assignments editor UK Special
> Events, was 'aghast' that the BBC had engaged in such behaviour.
>
> "This is a clear and serious breach of recognised BBC producer
> guidelines, and accordingly a breach of Section 5.3(b)1 of the BBC
> Charter Agreement. I also believe that the recordings which were taken
> of these organised hecklers, of ordinary members of the crowd and/or
> of Conservative officials who reacted and were recorded, would amount
> to 'surreptitious recording' under those guidelines."
>
> Such recording requires advance approval from the relevant department
> head, Mr Black noted, and consultation with the BBC's controller,
> editorial policy. "Is it suggested that these requirements have been
> satisfied?" his letter asked, before concluding: "My disappointment
> with the BBC for this attempted coup d'theatre is profound." He
> addressed his letter to Ms Boaden, who took over as director of news
> from Richard Sambrook. Mr Sambrook, a key figure in the row between
> the Government and the BBC over the death of David Kelly, the Iraq
> weapons expert, is now director of the Corporation's World Service and
> Global News division.
>
> Last night a BBC spokesman said: "This is a completely legitimate
> programme about the history and art of political heckling. The
> programme observes hecklers at other parties' campaign meetings and
> not just the Conservatives. The hecklers were not under the direction
> of the BBC and their activities did not disrupt the meeting in any
> way. The incident at the Michael Howard meeting only plays a small
> part in the overall programme. However, we will be investigating the
> complaint very fully and will be replying in due course."
>
> The spokesman was unable to provide details of any other campaign
> meetings attended by the BBC3 crew. He said that the hecklers had not
> been paid a fee, but could not say whether they had received expenses.
> The dispute is the latest in many rows between the BBC and the Tories.
> Last autumn the Conservatives lodged an official complaint about Mr
> Howard's Newsnight interview earlier this year in which Jeremy Paxman
> questioned Mr Howard about the sacking of Derek Lewis, the head of the
> Prison Service, when he was home secretary in 1995. A Conservative
> spokesman claimed that the continued focus on the case of Mr Lewis,
> almost a decade after the event, showed the "endemic bias" of the BBC.
>
> Many Conservatives are still angry about coverage of the May 2003
> local elections when - despite the Tories gaining 565 council seats -
> the BBC focused on the resignation of Crispin Blunt, the shadow trade
> minister.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Swprograms mailing list
> Swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://dallas.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms
>
> To unsubscribe:  Send an E-mail to   
> swprograms-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the  
> URL shown above.
>

_______________________________________________
Swprograms mailing list
Swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://dallas.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms

To unsubscribe:  Send an E-mail to  swprograms-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above.