Developments


The BBC is re-starting an Arabic news service, years after its original venture collapsed and turned into Al Jazeera. Now, according to Reason, many Al Jaz. journalists are keen to join up with the Beeb again after experiencing the gentle editorial touch of the Qatari royal family. To this observer it seems just another twist in the incestuous saga of the BBC and Arab journalists- and of course, the Foreign Office, who are going to fund it.

Also, why did the BBC report Iranian guards expelled from the US, but not report Iranian agents making bombs in Baghdad? Why aren't they reporting the views of the Iraqi government (supported by this incident) that 'surrounding nations' have sponsored violence in Iraq? Normally they like to report the views of governments around the world that we'd often view as substandard- they've often reported crackpot Mugabe aphorisms and conspiracy theories-, whereas Iraq has the most legitimate government conceivable outside of having a fair democratic process (which will have to wait till next year).

Captain Ed asks similar questions of other media- but in my view the BBC is the best informed of any media going; time and again I've noticed the BBC getting a story quicker than CNN (which is about the only comparable network), such that sometimes it seems like CNN are just cribbing. I am left with the opinion that the BBC sits on more stories than other networks publish, as well as publishing more than any other (that's a guess, but I'd imagine an accurate one).