(another one from drafts. I understand that Stephen Pollard has posted about the same BBC article, and the link's on Biased BBC, so this one's going here instead. BTW, so much for the French, eh?)

Immediate Update: the Beeb stealth edited the worst quote away, as Laban Tall points out. No acknowledgement was made of major changes, including that one. The point is that with the BBC, changing a story doesn't alter the fact that millions may have been influenced by it, and there is no redress. The original had all the hallmarks, not of a news piece, but an opinion one. It's all very Marx brothers: those are my principles, and if you don't like them, I have others. (or something like that).



More Looney Toons from the Beeb:

Not content with misrepresenting the cartoons (15 instead of the actual 12, with the add-on value of Mohammad with a pig's face- by far worse than any of the actual cartoons), the BBC are keen to invent another side to the account. According to Michael Buchanan,

'Denmark's reputation as an easy-going, consensual nation has been severely tarnished in recent days. All the Danes can do now is hope the repeated apologies for the offence caused, by both the government and the newspaper, will end this unseemly row.'

Er, no. Denmark's reputation for being easy-going and consensual has only been enhanced. The Danes should be proud as once again they've shown they can stand up for themselves in order to continue to be easy going and consensual in the future. The apologies offered are far from being abject- good job our BBC reporter managed to put a comma between 'caused' and 'by'.

However, the reputation of a certain world religion as been confirmed as intolerant and childish. But you won't be hearing that on the BBC unless on the Have Your Say section. And, by the way, I haven't seen any background to the story pointing out the Islamist violence in Denmark in Oct-Nov last year over this same cartoons issue. This is all I could see- a peaceful protest! And this, naturally- the 'balancing' article.

For some real background, see here. And here.

As for the 'global outrage' Buchanan alludes to- this may be technically true, but is disingenuous as we are really talking about a certain part of the world, and its co-religionists abroad.

Truth will out however. Despite a leading question from the BBC reporter, all the real bonus points go to the Danes as the question is roundly answered (the only thing good I can say about this article is that the exchange made it into the final copy):

''But knowing what he knows now, would he still commission and print those cartoons?

"That is a hypothetical question," he says. "I would say that I do not regret having commissioned those cartoons and I think asking me that question is like asking a rape victim if she regrets wearing a short skirt Friday night at the discotheque."'