If the press were that powerful ...We would have got out of Europe. Ken Livingstone would not have been Mayor, Peter Mandelson would not have got one of the plum jobs in Europe and Liam Fox would be leader of the Tory Party.
That was said by Amada Platell, and it was easily the most cogent and sensible thing anyone had to say on Tuesday's BBC Radio 4's Today programme Who Runs Britain broadcast, which I posted on here and here.
However, once past that, the panel of experts, Greg Dyke, Piers Morgan and Amanda Platell did resort to selecting evidence to confirm their prejudices instead of trying to disprove them as she had done.
Because yes, the discussion did take on pretty uncritically the idea of Rupert Murdoch dominating the agenda of Tony Blair. Piers Morgan laboriously dragged out the number of meetings he knew Tony Blair had had with the editor of the Sun. Contrary evidence such as Amanda Platell had quoted above was not considered.
Oh, and it became clear that every one of these experts opposed the Iraq war and regarded Gilligan's exposure and sacking as "a disgrace".
So much for a balanced group of experts.
Don't you mean Liam Fox. Judy?
Posted by: Anne | December 14, 2005 at 08:02 AM
You are spot on. The BBC controlled the narrative with the subject, the spokespeople and the selection of facts.
Posted by: JohnM | December 14, 2005 at 09:36 AM
What a surprise that we can't access the blog. I tried at work and now at home and have failed to connect both times.
A pity the BBC can't show such diligent self-censorship with some its more ridiculous on line news content.
Posted by: Peregrine | December 14, 2005 at 09:51 PM
Peregrine
I have been able to access my blog entry on the R4 Today website via this URL:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/misc/whorunsbritain_blogs_13.shtml
They are archiving each day's entry, and they put up both my blog entries-- one before and one after the actual slot.
Let me know if you can reach it via that URL.
Posted by: Judy | December 14, 2005 at 10:25 PM
Interesting that Tim Ireland's blog on day 3 is blindly parroting the standard party line:
the terms under which we the people get to have a say about this <\i>(the EU) have been shaped not by the elected government of the day, but by media owner Rupert Murdoch.
As a candidate, the European Union serves primarily as a clear example that allows us toput the following alternative candidates in their correct order:
1. The Media
2. The Government
3. The People
He obviously didn't hear (or think) about Amanda Platell's comment.
Posted by: JohnM | December 15, 2005 at 01:04 PM