“The integrity of journalism at the BBC has been called into question after its news reports were accused of promoting Microsoft – and the computer giant’s new showpiece – Vista,” Freelance UK reports.
“The offending reports were issued just months after the heads of each organisation met in Seattle, where they agreed to work with each other on future technology projects,” Freelance UK reports. “According to The Times, which reported details of the meeting in September, the agreement centred on ensuring the BBC’s iPlayer would run smoothly with Vista, Microsoft’s new OS.”
“An interview on the Ten O’Clock News with Bill Gates stoked fears the BBC’s impartiality was being lost even further, after critics said the Microsoft boss was given preferential treatment,” Freelance UK reports.
Freelance UK reports, “In light of the claims, John Beyer, director at Mediawatch UK, has called on the corporation’s trust to investigate.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
BBC revises article, clarifies where music downloaded from the iTunes store can be played – February 08, 2007
BBC reporter blows it, says ‘music downloaded from the iTunes store can be played only on iPods’ – February 07, 2007
Windows Vista woes push BBC News editor to regret never having ‘defected’ to Apple Mac – February 06, 2007
Ask the BBC make upcoming iPlayer on-demand service Mac compatible – February 01, 2007
BBC: Hackers assault Windows PCs every 15 minutes, ignores obvious solution: Get a Mac – October 09, 2006
The BBC have had a deep loathing for Apple since Apple asked them to pay to put the BBC world service on Quicktime TV. They fell out over this several years ago and their reporting of anything Apple has generally been negative ever since.
I doubt the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leoppard in a few weeks will attract anything more than one story in the Tech section, and even this story will draw heavily on the features of Vista and have links to M$ website.
Interesting to note that the BBC website runs on WebObjects. And a lot of the BBC production is done with Final Cut Pro.
http://www.computing.co.uk/vnunet/news/2174256/bbc-slammed-microsoft-lock
I have complained to both the BBC (can’t even complain about this to OFCOM the TV Watchdog) and my MP about last nights Money Programme. Unbiased it was not.
The greatest irony that the Ad agency who created the launch adveerts were using Macs, but interesting the little Apple Logos on the Cinema displays were covered up!
I have never seen such corporate BS. The video on You Tube showing the video of Tiger features with the voiceover of an MS employee covering the new Vista features is an absolute hoot. Perhaps we should insist the BBC show it as pennance?
“…We even invented doctors and you’re mouthin’ off that our bullet-proof capitalistic health care system can even be equated to? I knew the rest of the world was still living in the stone age, but man, sometimes I just don’t get.”
Everybody eats steak. You invented doctors?
Bullet proof— okay.. this is a freakin joke. Now you’re just being satirical to the nth degree…
Good job. You’re a techie pretending to be a businessman..
Dude, I’m in Business school right now, I know more about Economics than you, and I still think the American Health Care system is the wrong way to go.
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/38/12/1-a
You know there’s millions of Americans that tell their kids not to play outside cuz if they hurt themselves, the family has to sell the car to pay the medical bill? Think.
PS. You sound like a country song. Drop it.
PPS. I can’t believe you bragged about liking steak. Everybody likes steak.
I remember a few years back when one of the BBC’s top interviewers (nicknamed an attack rottweiller after some of his more critical discussions) talked to Bill Gates.
This was at the height of MS’ legal issues — yet this interviewer was as silkily smooth as a baby’s bum, and fawningly polite into the bargain. It was a long show too, with plenty of time to interject a few awkward questions.
At the time I assumed that a large backhander had been slipped under the table beforehand.
Now I’m inclined to think there were orders from above as well.
My e-mailed complaint to money.programme@bbc.co.uk, following yesterday’s journalism masterclass</dripping with sarcasm>.
The bit that nearly made me puke was where Bill Gates arrives at the British Museum in a people-carrier accompanied by the breathless voiceover “And suddenly he is amongst us” as if he were some messianic figure as opposed to the imagination-free ubergeek that he really is. Although the interview (?) with Dances With Monkeys did nothing to change my opinion of him.
Anyhoo, here is my complaint – mailed at 20:28 GMT last night (unusual for me to be sufficiently riled) – in full (my apologies to those who have read this on another thread)…
Presumably the BBC got paid for that fawning, uncritical look at Microsoft’s latest operating system or will you try to claim that the 60 seconds at the end constituted balance.
Where was the coverage of…
• the fact that many security programmes designed for Vista including Microsoft’s own have been proven to be less than effective.
• the fact that Vista’s much-vaunted “high-definition” functionality simply won’t work because there are no video card/display combinations that will allow HDCP (copy-protected) content to work.
• Gates’ blatant disinformation on his own product (HD, Vista being the only OS on the market to feature parental controls).
• the less than flattering coverage of Vista by many industry commentators
• the fact that many of Vista’s more sophisticated features are only accessible in the higher-value editions (remember there are fourteen different variants to choose from) and that those functions are only made viable using much higher hardware specifications. It should also be noted that, even if you buy a new machine from a Windows OEM (Dell, HP et al), you will probably still face a software upgrade fee to achieve the highest level of Vista functionality.
• the competitors to Vista and Microsoft: MacOS platform computer sales are growing at several times the rate of growth of Windows OEM systems and have been for the last nine months or so. Linux continues to grow in the mission-critical sector and the public sector. Where was the coverage of these platforms or are they and Google going to have share thirty minutes in the programme next week.
Normally I defend the BBC to my friends who view the license fee as an anachronism, but – following your “infomercial” – that isn’t going to be possible in the future until I see some programming which genuinely covers the industry in which I work in a fair and balanced manner.
You could have made a programme in the vein of Channel 4’s specials on the Boeing 777, the Airbus A380 or the JSF competition and kept some dignity; instead you made a thirty-minute advert for a company that has been convicted on both sides of the Atlantic for illegally leveraging its monopoly status which is truly shameful. A cynic might jump to the conclusion that the fact that the BBC seems so determined to supply its on-demand services on Windows only (but for the intervention of the BBC Trust) might be connected to today’s programme, but doubtless they would be wrong.
A friend who works at the BBC predicts I’ll get a boilerplated response, in which case the BBC Trust will be getting an e-mail.
So what other media companies have similar agreements (as BBC) with Microsoft? I know that the leading newspaper in Finland made a deal with MS a couple of months ago.
Is there a trend here?
Yesterday, BBC2 devoted 30 minutes to Vista. A kind of Making of Vista in 2 parts.
BBC integrity questioned…
like, is water wet?
I note that one of the webpages on the BBC windows site notes that Apple has ‘2.5%’ of the market. Anyone know the true stats of the number of people who actually use Apples?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6343943.stm
Magic word ‘systems’; I use two operating systems: Microsoft at work because I have to and OSX because I choose to.
From a recent post on another subject, but applicable here…
To all interested MacDailyNews readers.
Please submit a formal complaint to the BBC by going here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/make_complaint_step1.shtml
To be maximally effective, please ensure that your complaint:
– is couched in reasonable language
– is generally free from typing and spelling errors
– includes direct references to specific instances of bias
– includes a request for a response
There have been a number of articles from the BBC which have demonstrated bias against Apple, or sloppy journalism. I referred to only one example, and it would be excellent if our community can draw attention to all of the others – so do your research, choose an article and include the links in your complaint along with a clear statement of why it requires correction. Include links to the facts so that the BBC can easily substantiate your complaint.
It is quite likely that biased or careless journalism is restricted to a small group within the BBC. You will be directing your complaint to a different group of people whose job is to ensure that your complaint is taken seriously. So your complaint should be respectful and accurate.
Have fun!
———————————-
My submission follows:
I live in Australia but my family is British. The BBC has long stood for journalistic excellence and high standards of public programming generally.
However I am greatly concerned that the recent agreement with Microsoft ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5390000.stm – The BBC has signed an agreement with Microsoft to explore ways of developing its digital services.) appears to have resulted in a raft of innacurate stories denigrating Apple, and thinly veiled free advertising for Microsoft:
Coming to Your Screen: Microsoft’s…
Fri 9 Feb, 19:00 – 19:30 30 mins
…New Vista
I am an industry veteran of more than 30 years, with extensive experience in the sale, deployment and support of Microsoft’s products. I also have experience with Apple products and I am deeply disturbed by the apparent commercially-driven bias evidenced by innacurate and, in some cases, derogatory reporting on Apple by the BBC.
While I note, with appreciation, the recent correction to a story stating that iTunes only worked with iPod (it works with any PC running iTunes, and any MP3 player where the music is not DRM-protected, and any digital music device which supports MP3 for any playlist the user wishes to burn to CD) it remains alarming that the BBC got it so wrong in the first place.
I believe your agreement with Microsoft has compromised the journalistic integrity of the BBC. This is regrettable and demands a re-think.
In the meantime. I suggest that you provide a specific channel for complaints on this issue. The Apple community worldwide is very proactive and will happily provide the BBC with direct and immediate correction of the factual inaccuracies in your programming about Apple.
@The UK World of Information Technology
“No other operating system — Not Linux, Not Unix, Not OS OSX — offer the
career possibilities in the UK as Microsoft and its enterprise software portfolio.”
Matey, you would have been right 10 years ago.
But the worm has turned. If you want a successful IT future, you should be acquiring skills in:
– open systems
– ruby on rails
– linux
– web-standards-based design
– MySQL
My Microsoft based certifications were useful, but they are now somewhat passe…
Stephen J.
M.C.S.E.
Sydney, Australia
Best thing on BBC TWO’s the MONEY PROGRAMME special about launch of Microsoft Vista last night was…
…UK advertising and marketing campaign for Vista designed on Macs!
However, with all the pieces shot in design company they carefully tried to keep the Macs out of shot. Boo hiss! But anyone familiar with the silver edged, clean designed cinema displays and white keyboard and might-mouse combinations was not fooled.
But it was odd they went out of their way to hide the Macs.
STOP PRESS: Answer from BBC…
Thank you for contacting the BBC
This is to let you know that we are dealing with your recent complaint
but are waiting to clarify some points with other colleagues in the BBC
before we reply more fully to you.
We will of course respond as soon as possible but trust you will
understand that the time taken can also depend on the nature and number
of the other complaints we are currently investigating. The BBC also
issues public responses to issues which prompt large numbers of
significant complaints and these can be read on our website at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
We would be grateful if you would not reply to this email and, in the
meantime, would like to thank you for contacting us with details of your
concerns.
Regards
BBC Information
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
This e-mail (and any
attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views which are not the
views of the BBC unless specifically stated.
If you
have received it in error, please delete it from your system.
Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in
reliance on it and notify the sender immediately.
Please note that the BBC monitors e-mails sent or received.
Further
communication will signify your consent to this.
@ well –
unfortunately the Trust is not involved at this stage, judging by what the Freelance UK report had to say, as Mediawatch UK is a private body of concerned citizens -normally reporting decency and pornographic issues – but having stated that, they can apply public pressure to certain government offices on issues they deem in the public interest.
As i have said here before, please do not tar the whole of the BBC with the same brush as there are thousands of talented people who work for the BBC who do not deserve to be pilloried, due to the actions of the majority of the board of directors and some others.
The BBC is an incredibly vast media enterprise. It is true that while the Television sector of the BBC has made some awful programs for the market, it has and continues to produce some of the best programs the world ever seen.
The whole programme is on BBC news websiteon this link (not sure if it will work outside the UK)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/default.stm
sorry …Has ever seen.
Bill’s Broadcasting Corporation
@Well…
You are right, and not quite right…
Journalistic integrity applies to all those who relate information in the media. An obviously biased piece runs contrary to the standards of jourmalism wherever you are.
The BBC charter is another matter, definitely no less important, and certainly a matter for comment.
In this matter the broadcasts may contravene both journalistic integrity and the BBC charter.
In my view the BBC have compromised their integrity in a shameful manner and may never recover. It is no matter what issue is involved – if the BBC cannot be trusted to deliver unbiased truthful reporting then why should british taxpayers support them?
Then there is the FUD that the bald headed dweezle Alki Beltchy has been spewing on CNN morning….
My complaint sent…..
I have just watched your ‘programme’ on the launch of Windows Vista. I put the word in inverted commas because it most closely resembles the sort of programme on a shopping channel that might try to persuade me to buy cheap diamond rings or a set of super sharp kitchen knives.
The deal with the consumer is that you have been bound, since your inception, to be fair and entirely unbiased. In this respect the programme shows no disinterest in the subject whatsoever: no mention of other operating systems, no mention of any functional problems, no hint that the consumer has a choice.
The programme does seem to mention adverse criticism, but this is entirely in relation to problems of how to market, when to release and the cost of making Vista. Quite how this is relevant to its usefulness to the public is hard to see.
I would welcome an explanation as to why you seem to have thrown aside your charter in the interests of producing an infomercial for Microsoft.
As I posted in a related MDN thread yesterday, this thing will boomerang badly for both the BBC and Microsoft. The reviews of Vista — howls of pain — are starting to pour in. As the stench of the Vista steaming pile of os dung wafts through the land of the Brits, the issue of the Beeb acting as jail house bitch for Gates, Ballmer and company will elevate to a wide public scandal.
MS astroturfing in general is being called out by internet sites regularly and this latest outrage presents the biggest target. The Beeb pitch, astroturfed by MS, will now get extreme attention. This stinking mess will not disappear soon.
Someone was paid off probably by Mr. Bill Gates and company.
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We should me more concerned about things here. Like for example, our own federal government, while prosecuting MS, only uses and supports MS products. I ran into this problem when the new system for submitting proposals for federal grants came on line last year and requires Windows.
Born in the U.S.A. but I’m half British on my mother’s side. Ever since the personal computer revolution got started in the UK (maybe 10 years after it started in the U.S.) the British have always had an odd preference for Microsoft. “The UK World of Information Technology” got it dead on. The British like to see themselves as very serious and business oriented. For cultural reasons they came to associate being serious and business oriented with Microsoft to a far greater degree than here in the U.S.
In newspapers like The Economist (which I have read for years and consider to be pretty level headed on most issues and one of the least biased news outlets anywhere) they have always had this odd bent against anything Apple even when Apple clearly had a technical advantage in some area. Of course, for years The Economist was published using Apple technology, but well, desktop publishing was a small and unimportant niche in the overall business scene, right? You certainly wouldn’t use it for “serious” number crunching would you? (Oh, but wasn’t Excel developed on the Macintosh first? Bhehh – a minor detail.)
The established press over there has the mentality of Windows = serious and Apple = toys for kids or maybe desktop publishing. The joke is that while the British establishment consider themselves serious and impartial when it comes to selecting their technology, they’re just as irrational as those they say only buy the iPod because it’s “cool”. Never mind the fact that the iPod has a sweet interface and just works, just like the Macintosh.