Bishop Hill Booker on the Beeb
Christopher Booker looks at the BBC's funding scandal in his column for the Sunday Telegraph.
A key moment in developing the new party line was a “high-level seminar” in 2006, attended by a bevy of top BBC executives. It was organised by Roger Harrabin, one of its senior environmental correspondents, and Dr Joe Smith, a geographer and climate activist from the Open University. They had set up the Cambridge Media and Environment Programme to promote the consensus line on global warming, funded by, among others, the Department for the Environment (then in charge of government policy on climate change) and WWF, one of the leading warmist pressure groups.
For a long time the BBC was remarkably coy about what had transpired at this gathering, but gradually – aided by the Freedom of Information Act – the details were dug out by two diligent bloggers, Tony Newbery of Harmless Sky and Andrew Montford of Bishop Hill. Their submission on it was, however, brushed aside in that dotty BBC Trust report last summer, where Prof Steve Jones recommended that the BBC’s coverage of climate issues should show not less bias but more.
Reader Comments (15)
This is bad for the BBC - very bad.
Who is in charge of Harrabin? His head should roll.
Well done Bish. Christopher Booker has great respect around the English speaking world for his integrity and excellent investigative journalism.
Yes, but realistically it won't, will it? Why? Because the WWF and the like are very much seen as 'good guys' by the general public. As such, no matter how many stories like this are uncovered, the Beeb will feel able to ride it out as they will see the people criticising them as lost causes in any case.
The gall of these liars is chilling! Thanks for your determined pursuit.
Cheers
Big Dave
Hey Bish, check this out:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-philip/8901985/Wind-farms-are-useless-says-Duke.html
Brilliant!
I expect we'll be hearing about how senile he has become recently from the usual suspects :p.
Bishop M'lud you've made the Mail:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2063737/BBCs-Mr-Climate-Change-accepted-15-000-grants-university-rocked-global-warning-scandal.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
The Mail on Sunday on Harrabin.
This is a joke, right.
He says after he obtained the money from the UEA that made him even more determined to report climate gate properly.
Yea, right.
What was he doing accepting the money in the first place?
Anyway, Harrabin has now become the story, and we all know what happens then.
Shamefull.
I am soo happy to see the D of E make these comments and you have to realise just how angry he is because he never ever comments on politics (wind farms are political not environmental). It warms my heart to think how sick he must be of the utterings by his son (a right) Charlie.
Harrabin, is a useful eejit and shill, a climate activist knowing the facts only darkly.
The BBC, Chief apologist and arch advertiser for CAGW and protesting it's 'innocence' and attempting the double think via a portrayal of BBC 'objectivity' [ the Steve Jones apologia] is a crafty sleight of hand too far......BUT, laughably much too complicated for their Aunty-overheated brains to play out with an inscrutable poker face.
Once again, the arrogant berks, over-stepped on their petticoats, tripped and fell flat on their overfed plump rears.
Having said all of that, they the beeb will get away with it.
Those not concerned with AGW [though they should be - bills are starting to drop on their doormats] are not fussed, they still think Aunty is on their side but Aunty always was a big bad aging and rabid old WOLF and she sleeps in all of our houses.
Dung...
"It warms my heart to think how sick he must be of the utterings by his son (a right) Charlie."
Interestingly Charlie has resolutely refused to allow windmills on his land as he too thinks they're useless and a blight on the landscape.
Although I agree Charlie is a charlie lol
harrabin must be jealous:
31 Oct: Daily Mail: BBC pundit Alan Hansen rakes in £40,000 for every Match of the Day appearance
The BBC’s wage bill has come under renewed scrutiny after it was revealed that Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen nets a staggering £1.5million a year – that’s £40,000 for each appearance...
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055292/BBC-pundit-Alan-Hansen-rakes-40k-Match-Day-appearance.html#ixzz1eCzSnIgP
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055292/BBC-pundit-Alan-Hansen-rakes-40k-Match-Day-appearance.html
BBC World Service radio's endless hours of football coverage involving outside broadcasting costs and dozens of ever-so-serious pundits/commentators, must cost the British licence-paying public a fortune.
it really is time for Brits to stop paying the licence fee:
17 Nov: Telegraph: Cost-cutting BBC's two thousand managers
The BBC has almost two thousand staff with the word "manager" in their job title, it has emerged, almost half of all of its job titles.
The BBC, which has often been criticised for its profligacy and number of managers earning more than £100,000, also employs 191 members of staff who are described as advisers...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8895557/Cost-cutting-BBCs-two-thousand-managers.html
Mail article:
Its the footnote that made me choke!
A BBC spokeswoman said: ‘The BBC is aware of the funding arrangements for the Real World seminars. They have been considered against our editorial guidelines and raised no issues about impartiality for the BBC or its output.’
So there you go, the BBC, despite being paid by the public (and now we find also funded by the University of East Anglia’s Tyndall Centre), refuse to say who was at the infamous "consensus meeting" but its all fair and square. My head is beginning to spin trying to keep up this week!
Move along folks, nothing to see here!
Roger Harrabin invested considerable effort spreading the Met Office lie that the Met Office had successfully predicted the last cold winter. No doubt Roger's 'consultancies' derive funding from both the CRU _and_ the Met Office.
Much more comfortable when one not only spreads an organization's lies but also accepts their money.
http://www.gordonpoole.com/keynote-speaker/roger-harrabin.aspx
http://www.greenbusinessevents.co.uk/speakers/harrabinr.html
http://www.celebrity.co.uk/bsb/Guns%20&%20Roses.htm
http://www.performingartistes.co.uk/artistes/439/roger-harrabin.htm
The BBC says Harrabin didn't benefit financially from the Cambridge Media Group.
But lookout these links - gravy train - impartiality!!!!
And look how much he charges....
Christopher Booker's "The Real Global Warming Disaster" (2010) is to be read. It explains the costs and consequences of this hoax. It encouraged me to press on with my denunciation.
(See http://www.oarval.org/ClimateChangeBW.htm)
Thanks for the article Andrew!