BBC Was biased and a british state propaganda on Ireland

Sceala Philosopher

It is difficult for people today in a world of the internet and endless news sources to comprehend the all encompassing power the state broadcasters once had.
So imagine there was effectively just one news website per nation and no one else's news would be able to be heard and you can then imagine the power and influence the BBC had until very recent times.
They controlled the news, and they were controlled by the British government.
That's why for example it took over 30 years before the victims of Bloody Sunday to get any kind of justice. The BBC reported the events at the time exactly as the british army press officers told them to!
Unfortunately most of the British state campaign of murder and terrorism during the 'troubles' (a cliche purposely promoted by the british government and BBC, btw ) is still covered up.

But as was stated here years ago by people who questioned the supposed 'news' of the BBC.

A very credible journalist who actually worked for the BBC has today stated that the BBC was not a credible news broadcaster during 'the troubles' and was effectively (as stated here for many years)
a British state propaganda information service.

"relied almost exclusively on information supplied by RUC and British Army press offices".

Martin Dillon, who worked as a reporter and producer at the corporation during the worst years of violence, claimed that the BBC "paid scant regard to nationalist culture or social injustice" at that time, so much so that one of his colleagues described himself as the "token Catholic".

The renowned author also revealed that, on getting to Ormeau Avenue, he was amazed to witness senior BBC NI executives holding an annual drinks party with unionist politicians to celebrate the 'Twelfth' parade marching past the building.

And Mr Dillon, an 18-year corporation veteran who introduced the then groundbreaking Talkback programme to Radio Ulster over 30 years ago, further claimed that the Beeb's the north of Ireland newsroom "relied almost exclusively on information supplied by RUC and British Army press offices".

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He wrote in Crossing The Line: My Life On The Edge that BBC NI tended to appoint mostly high-profile unionist figures - including a former NI Prime Minister's wife - to the role of Governor, and further accused them of needlessly destroying precious archive film footage of the early days of the Troubles.

"I always felt the BBC did itself a disservice by appointing heavily politicised figures from one community to the role of overseeing broadcasting in the north of Ireland," he writes. Recalling his attempts to retrieve BBC archive film of the late Brian Faulkner, who would become the north of Ireland's most senior politician, marching through a predominantly Catholic area of Co Down in the Fifties - because he "believed the footage of Faulkner provided a singularly potent image of how Unionist and Orange Order triumphalism of the period asserted itself" - Mr Dillon said he was "reliably informed" that it had been gifted to his wife when she retired as BBC NI Governor.

He adds: "I informed Lady Faulkner I needed to locate the film. She was not helpful. At the same time, I discovered that most of BBC the north of Ireland's archive film footage of past political events, including the early days of the Troubles, had been destroyed in the 1970s."

Mr Dillon said that when he mentioned this, "others hinted the archive was destroyed 'by mistake'". They also said "'somebody' had given permission to get rid of unnecessary archive files, and the person charged with the task destroyed a large number of files representing a vitally important record."

Another of the 'Shankill Butchers' author's claims is that a senior BBC NI editorial figure was well-known for refusing to interview a priest in case he upset his friends in the Orange Order. And he reveals: "Others saw Catholics as the source of the violence. These views had the cumulative effect of ensuring BBC news personnel had no lines of communication into the Catholic community."

Mr Dillon said his then boss, Cecil Deeney, "was one of a small number of Catholics working in BBC NI programming, and that "there was some truth" when another colleague, Terry Sharkey, once joked about being a token Catholic at the Corporation.

He admits that he was "amazed" when BBC bosses gathered with unionist politicians and dignitaries to celebrate the Twelfth on the sixth floor of Broadcasting House.

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BBC Was biased and a british state propaganda on Ireland