Exclusive: BBC misrepresented me over Ukip article, says Peter Hitchens

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-L...chens-ukip-bbc

EXCLUSIVE: BBC Misrepresented Me Over UKIP Article, Says Author Peter Hitchens

The BBC has broadcast a misleading portion of an article by Peter Hitchens from the Mail on Sunday, prompting complaints over impartiality and accuracy.

The BBC's 'News Briefing', which was aired on Radio 4 at 5am yesterday used a selective portion of a column by author and commentator Peter Hitchens. The piece was entitled "Here is the best reason for voting UKIP".

Mr Hitchens began his column, "I don't like UKIP or its leader, Nigel Farage. They are the Dad’s Army of British politics, doddery, farcical and very unclear about what they are actually for."

But the BBC failed to report the headline or indeed any of the rest of Mr Hitchens comments which he described as "generally pro-UKIP".

Instead, the host of the programme continued pulling negative UKIP comments from various newspapers for the rest of the segment. The entire clip can be heard here.

In his original article, Mr Hitchens went on to say: "But they have Captain Mainwaring’s virtues too. They are absolutely certain about what they are against, in this case an aloof political establishment that despises the concerns of normal human beings.

"They are also indomitable when under attack. And they need to be. I have taken a close interest in British politics since I was a schoolboy, and I have never seen a more disgraceful alliance between politicians and their media toadies than the one that has been secretly made to do down UKIP."

He went on to expose a freshly reported alliance between the Guardian newspaper and Conservative Party Headquarters. The full article can be read here.

Mr Hitchens told Breitbart London that he has lodged formal complaints with the BBC, and noted that they have form in misrepresenting him.

"Every single item they quoted about UKIP was hostile to it," Mr Hitchens said. "I'm sure Christopher Booker had a piece defending UKIP this weekend. It was by no means impossible for those looking for a balanced take to find things defending UKIP.

"We are in the final stages of these elections in which UKIP is a major party, and since the BBC is bound to impartiality, it is especially during this time that there should be extra vigilance".

"To have something so selective that they misrepresented a generally pro-UKIP article is very striking"

The BBC's cultural and political bias is long-noted, and Freedom of Information requests into its journalistic activities are often fruitless given a restrictive clause in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which protects whatever the BBC deems to be journalistic activity.

Numerous BBC personalities have however confessed to a bias within the organisation, and Breitbart London uncovered the organisation's disproportionate purchases of the Guardian newspaper earlier this year.

Speaking on the issue, Mr Hitchens said, "[The BBC] is like a goldfish in a bowl. It thinks that is the world, and therefore you cannot change the BBC. They don't know that they are hopefully and utterly biased."

Mr Hitchens is understood to have complained to the BBC in three different ways, including once as a general listener, and once as the author of a piece which has been misrepresented. "I'm pursuing it in every way" he told Breitbart London.

Well done to Raheem Kassam who has been exposing the mainstream media via Breitbart and YouTube over the past few weeks. Here, yet again, is more media bias in the continuing witch hunt.

Links to sources/other articles within the piece can be seen by clicking the link.

Thoughts?

[The Don]

Ukip playing the victim card yet again *yawn*

[-:Undertaker:-]

Ukip playing the victim card yet again *yawn*

Oh absolutely, and with good reason.

The establishment cannot control the internet, which is why it is losing its grip.

PS this isn't Ukip complaining, this is a journalist & author from the MoS complaining that his words have been twisted.

[Kardan]

And how many people listen to Radio 4 at 5am?

It's not surprising really, you're bound to get at least one person that is biased. I suppose it's better that it's happening at 5am on Radio 4 than at 7pm on BBC 1.

[The Don]

Oh absolutely, and with good reason.

The establishment cannot control the internet, which is why it is losing its grip.

*allegedly

although let's not let facts intervene here

[-:Undertaker:-]

And how many people listen to Radio 4 at 5am?

Is the BBC not bound by a Royal Charter 24/7 regarding its neutrality on political matters?

It's not surprising really, you're bound to get at least one person that is biased. I suppose it's better that it's happening at 5am on Radio 4 than at 7pm on BBC 1.

The piece, if you listen to the clip, isn't an opinion piece. It's a BBC news summary that twisted the article.

[The Don]

Kevin Maguire sums it up best

UKIP playing the victim card, whining it’s unfairly scrutinised when its ­activists are exposed as nasty Neanderthals, reeks of self-pity

[-:Undertaker:-]

Kevin Maguire sums it up best

Or a political party that is threatening to top the polls other than the Labour or Conservatives for the first time in 100 years is putting the fear of the living Christ into the establishment?

I could post the endless links regarding Conservative and Labour candidates and councillors who have been involved in sex abuse, fraud and racism but what would be the point? In the end, you and the media all this campaign have done nothing other than campaign on 'WHATEVER YOU DO, STOP UKIP!!!'

I'm not really complaining either, as the public see through the media campaign thanks to the internet.

[Kardan]

Is the BBC not bound by a Royal Charter 24/7 regarding its neutrality on political matters?



The piece, if you listen to the clip, isn't an opinion piece. It's a BBC news summary that twisted the article.

Presumably someone realised that it was out of context, because there's no mention of the same story being repeated in further bulletins throughout the day? Just seems like a small mistake - whoever wrote that piece up was being biased, and whoever checked it either didn't do a good job, or didn't check it. I do think that this story really is nothing, I mean it's only over 30 seconds of biased comments at 5am in the morning.

[The Don]

You've lost your mind if you think Ukip has any chance of coming into power.

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Presumably someone realised that it was out of context, because there's no mention of the same story being repeated in further bulletins throughout the day? Just seems like a small mistake - whoever wrote that piece up was being biased, and whoever checked it either didn't do a good job, or didn't check it. I do think that this story really is nothing, I mean it's only over 30 seconds of biased comments at 5am in the morning.

Dan's gotta reinforce this idea of his that everybody's out to get Ukip. Farage could be caught shooting African children off a yacht and Dan would still find a way of spinning it so that everybody else is wrong.