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'A Load Of Tosh'– The BBC, 'Showbiz News' And State Propaganda
Edwards, David; Cromwell, David
http://medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2018/863-a-load-of-tosh-the-bbc-showbiz-news-and-state-propaganda.htmlDate Written: 2018-02-09 Publisher: Media Lens Year Published: 2018 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX22305 BBC News reporting on international relations, with particular reference to 2017-2018 tensions with Russia, relies heavily on state propaganda. Abstract: - Excerpt: On January 22 [2018], BBC News at Ten carried a piece by 'defence' correspondent Jonathan Beale reporting a speech by General Sir Nick Carter, the British Army's Chief of General Staff. Carter gave his speech, pleading for more resources in the face of the Russian 'threat', at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), an establishment thinktank with close links to the military and corporate media. Beale began his BBC News piece with a prologue of raw propaganda, delivered in an urgent and impassioned tone: 'Russia's building an increasingly modern and aggressive military. Already tested in battle in Syria, using weapons Britain would struggle to match – like long-range missiles. In Ukraine, they've been using unconventional warfare, electronic cyber and misinformation. And they're even on manoeuvres on Europe's doorstep, with large-scale exercises near Nato's borders. Enough to worry the head of the British army who tonight gave this rare public warning.' The essence of Carter's 'rare public warning' was that: 'Russia was building an increasingly aggressive expeditionary force and the potential military threats to the UK "are now on Europe's doorstep"... the Kremlin already boasted an "eye-watering quantity of capability" - a level the UK would struggle to match... Britain "must take notice of what is going on around us" or... the ability by the UK to take action will be "massively constrained".' Subject Headings |