alternative to radio 4?

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 12 Dec 2014, 19:57

It's all very well moaning about the Beeb when they (frequently) get it wrong, but the first few minutes of Radio 4 News Quiz tonight, on the CIA torture affair, was absolutely brilliant. Worth paying the licence for.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r9yq

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 12 Dec 2014, 20:26

biffvernon wrote:It's all very well moaning about the Beeb when they (frequently) get it wrong, but the first few minutes of Radio 4 News Quiz tonight, on the CIA torture affair, was absolutely brilliant. Worth paying the licence for.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r9yq

This is not a case of the BBC "getting it wrong". Such a turn of phrase implies innocent errors of editorial judgement. In turn implying good faith even if wrong. The truth is, the BBC is now engaged in a comprehensively orchestrated campaign to actively suppress dissenting voices, to propagandise and to lie.

Small islands of dissent that slip through the propaganda editorial filter in the form of Radio 4 teatime comedy shows are neither here nor there in relation to that larger picture. If they were, they would have already been filtered out. Indeed, the existence of such irrelevant little islands of dissent merely allow the BBC to claim "diversity of views" being represented.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 12 Dec 2014, 20:43

When I wrote '(frequently) get it wrong' I meant no implication of innocence.

Getting it wrong means getting it wrong.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 03 Mar 2015, 16:04

Little John wrote:The only alternative is to cast your media net as wide as possible in order to protect yourself from any one particular bias. I use Russia-Today and Al-Jazeera a lot. I use the BBC hardly at all now unless the news I am looking for is politics free.

First they ignore RT; then they ridicule RT. Now they fight RT.

Today, Ofcom announced a new “bias” investigation into RT. The offense this time, according to the Guardian, is the broadcasting of “anti-western comments in a late-night discussion on Ukraine.” Specifically, “the programme is understood to have featured a number of anti-Western views in the discussion between the presenter and three studio guests.”

Unfortunately, RT told the Intercept this morning that it was barred by Ofcom regulations even from commenting on this new investigation. Not only are they being threatened for the crime of airing “anti-western views,” but they are prohibited by law from publicly discussing these threats.

Very handy.

The U.K. Government loves to lecture the world about infringements of liberty generally and press freedom specifically. It does so as it threatens to revoke the broadcasting license of a media outlet for broadcasting “anti-western” views and other perspectives at odds with the U.K. Government, all while shielding (and venerating) the equally virulent biases from pro-state television in the U.K. That is the classic hallmark of how a government propagandizes its citizens: ensuring that they hear only those views of which the government approves and which serve its interests and agenda.

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 03 Mar 2015, 17:20

F--k me, this shit is getting distinctly McCarthy-esque now

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 03 Mar 2015, 17:32

Who's biased now? - Ofcom or RT?

Tarrel · Post by **Tarrel** » 03 Mar 2015, 17:52

I agree with the comment above, the best bet is to cast your media consumption net as wide as possible. I follow RT a lot and have detected definite bias in its reporting on some occasions. But you'd almost expect this. If nothing else, they need to counter the bias being promulgated by the western media.

I used to follow Al Jazeera until I realised it was basically ex-BBC people employed to extend Qatar influence. Still watch it as part of the "mix". Its strength IMO is the coverage it provides of "Global South" issues, such as what is happening in Latin America, which you just don't see in our media.

My daily reads now include ZeroHedge (somewhat libertarian), The Automatic Earth and Global Research (a bit WW3 doomer-ish). Together with the MSM, they make up a reasonable mix IMO. Always on the lookout for other suggestions though.

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 03 Mar 2015, 18:06

Another one I use:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

Tarrel · Post by **Tarrel** » 03 Mar 2015, 18:17

Little John wrote:Another one I use:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

Thanks. Looks good.

3rdRock · Post by **3rdRock** » 04 Mar 2015, 07:57

Little John wrote:Another one I use:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

Thanks LJ, An interesting site.

Great article from John Pilger on the rise of Fascism.

See: http://www.informationclearinghouse.inf ... e41117.htm

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 04 Mar 2015, 09:43

Yes, one of his best pieces. Or should I say, his articles get better every time. Get RSS for his stories as they appear. Simply superb.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 04 Mar 2015, 09:47

Tarrel wrote:I follow RT a lot and have detected definite bias in its reporting on some occasions. But you'd almost expect this. If nothing else, they need to counter the bias being promulgated by the western media.

Precisely. Some 'bias' - if indeed that is what it is (it's sometimes honest reporting) - is inevitable as almost a compulsory consequence of western MSM duplicity.

Any averagely intelligent (or not, such as me!) to whom the dishonesty in MSM is obvious will also automatically 'filter' their competitors.

raspberry-blower · Post by **raspberry-blower** » 04 Mar 2015, 12:38

Little John wrote:Another one I use:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

Tom's not feeling well at the moment. Normal service should be resumed on Thursday.

Other sites worth checking:
Consortium News

Counterpunch

Moon of Alabama

Naked Capitalism has a good roundup along with the Antidote de Jour

Tom Dispatch

Syria:

Al-Masdar News

Twitter: Peto Lucem

Syrian Arab News Agency: SANA

Syrian Perspective - just think Syria's answer to Alf Garnett, reporting on daily events in the country.

Ukraine:

The Saker has a new blog site

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 04 Mar 2015, 13:01

For a bit a light-hearted seriousness, have a watch of John Oliver talk about net neutrality. It's all good, but the jaw-dropper is at 6:34.

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 04 Mar 2015, 14:43

brilliant folks. I am gathering all of these feeds up so as to always have a good list of outlets. I will also be publishing them wherever and whenever I can so as many people as possible have them.