Newscuttings August 2013

NEWSCUTTINGS

A Few cuttings from the press and internet on what media says:

 

First on the Syrian situation:

Should the UK pursue military action against Syria?

Does the UK have a responsibility to stop Bashar al-Assad's use of chemical weapons? Should we only proceed with UN backing? Do we have a clear enough objective to justify military action?

By James Manning 7:11AM BST 28 Aug 2013 Daily Telegraph

Why does chemical weapons usage merit a stronger response than other equally devastating forms of mass slaughter? Is there a risk of mission creep? Should we be looking to remove Assad? Would failure to intervene embolden our enemies?

Vote in our poll and discuss these points in the comments below. Read more 

CUT – There was an 80% majority against UK military action so the Telegraph altered the poll. There is still a majority against UK military action but not so much.

Barack Obama warns of Syria chemical weapons threat to US

President Obama raises the spectre of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists bent on attacking the US, and says "hardly anybody" disputes that the regime of Bashar Al-Assad deployed chemical weapons against civilian populations

7:54AM BST 29 Aug 2013 Telegraph

Barack Obama argued that Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons not only violated international norms but threatened America, as he hardened the US position on the alleged used of chemical weapons by the regime of Bashar Al-Assad.

"When you start talking about chemical weapons, in a country that has the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world, where over time their control of chemical weapons may erode, where they're allied to known terrorist organisations, that in the past have targeted the United States, then there is a prospect, a possibility in which chemical weapons, that can have devastating effects, could be directed at us and we want to make sure that that does not happen," he said.Read more

CUT – I thought Obama got elected on “a bring the troops home” ticket, and haven’t we heard all this before?

Britain launches last-ditch bid for UN approval for military strikes on Syria with resolution calling for 'all necessary measures'

Britain began a last-ditch attempt to gain United Nations approval for military strikes on Syria on Wednesday, challenging China and Russia to block action to protect civilians from the Assad regime

By Jon Swaine in New York and Robert Winnett

11:30PM BST 28 Aug 2013 Daily Telegraph

A UN Security Council resolution drafted by British diplomats proposed "authorising all necessary measures" to shield Syrians from chemical weapons and sharply condemning the government for their use. "We have always made clear that we want the UN Security Council to live up to its responsibilities on Syria," said David Cameron on Wednesday at the UN headquarters in New York by officials from the council's five permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the US. Diplomats said no agreement was reached.read more 

CUT – why are Britain and the US always pushing to intervene in other countries? It’s not even clear that the Syrian Government launched the chemical weapons yet. Our interventions in the recent past have left those countries worse off than before; just look at Iraq. It's always of course Christians that suffer in the end.

Other items in the news:

Porn has never been more popular at the Edinburgh fringe

Pornography is everywhere in this year's comedy programme – but not for the reasons you might think. Plus: awards week begins; and Andrea Dworkin, comedy heroine

Brian Logan The Guardian 19 August 2013

It's porn. Some people say it's Nazis, but I say it's porn.

It's always interesting to see what's the buzz-topic among comedians in any given year on the Edinburgh Fringe. There's room for several, of course: one correspondent on the Chortle website claims that Hitler has overrun this year's standup shows, but I've not so far heard the Third Reich mentioned once. To me, the standout subject is clear, and it's porn – or more precisely, the anxiety that the ubiquity of online porn and sexualised imagery is corrupting how we (and especially young people) consider sex and gender. Read more

CUT – Porn the standout subject at the Edinburgh fringe, now that is surprise!

Radio 4 swaps politics for porn in explicit talk show: BBC attacked for replacing Today in Parliament with sex scenes during recess

·         Summer Nights featured explicit talk of swinging, orgasms, and sex toys

·         Then at 10.45am, followed drama featuring gay pornographic websites

·         Listeners complained the scheduling was ‘completely inappropriate’

By Emma Lowe PUBLISHED: 01:50, 15 August 2013 | UPDATED: 09:28, 15 August 2013

Radio 4 listeners could be forgiven for thinking they had tuned in to the wrong station this week. 

Instead of the usual round-up of the day’s politics, they were confronted by a graphic discussion of pornography and sex.

To replace Today in Parliament, which is off air during the summer recess, the BBC aired the first instalment of a ten-part series called Summer Nights, featuring explicit discussions of swinging, orgasms, and sex toys. Read more.. 

CUT – Swinging, gay pornographic websites and sex toys; some would say it’s not much different from what MPs get up to anyway. But it shows that the BBC are, as ever, short on ideas so they revert to porn.

After the worries of a possible war and the continued decay of our society, perhaps we should end on a light-hearted note which is also about the decay of our society - sorry:

Archbishop urges Christians to ‘repent’ over ‘wicked’ attitude to homosexuality

Photo - Daily Telegraph

The vast majority of people under 35 think that the Christian attitude to gay people is “wicked” and “incomprehensible”, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor 

28 Aug 2013 Daily  Telegraph

The Most Rev Justin Welby told an audience of traditional born-again Christians that they must “repent” over the way gay and lesbian people have been treated in the past and said most young people viewed Christians as no better than racists on the issue.

Archbishop Welby, who as a young priest once opposed allowing gay couples to adopt children, said the church now had to face up to what amounted to one of the most rapid changes in public attitudes ever.

While insisting that he did not regret voting against same-sex marriage in the House of Lords, he admitted that his own mind was not yet “clear” on the wider issues which he was continuing to think about.

And he admitted that, despite its strong official opposition to allowing same-sex couples to marry, the Church is still “deeply and profoundly divided” over gay marriage.

The Archbishop, who comes from the evangelical wing of the Church, which takes a more traditional interpretation of the Bible, publicly opposed the Government’s Same-sex Marriage Act while it was being debated earlier this year.Read more 

CUT – It’s the people who follow the teachings of the Bible and the Church that says that homosexuality is wrong are being told to repent because of our wickedness. I’ve got to say it again – you can’t make this stuff up! Perhaps the ‘Archbishop’ should turn off the telly and open his Bible for a change – perhaps start at Genesis chapters 18 and 19. There are lots (excuse the pun) of other places he could then read-up on the subject both in the Old and the New Testament. 

BBC bias against the Catholic Church?

Is there institutional bias against the Catholic Church at the BBC?

One of our members, the Prayer Crusader under the Patronage of St Gerard, has issued several complaints to the BBC over the disproportionate level of reporting on child abuse in the Catholic Church. His research flagged up the astonishing result that 45% of BBC child abuse reports were directed at the Catholic Church and yet only 0.1% of child abuse cases were committed by Catholic priests. He then contacted the BBC Trust with the results of his research and issued several complaints all of which appear to have been fobbed off. See the correspondence below which the Prayer Crusader has given us permission to blog. It is a very interesting exercise to see how they work to try and deflect criticism. Apart from removing the name of our member the text is unedited.

Dear [ ]

BBC News

Thank you for writing to the BBC Trust about your complaint that the BBC is institutionally biased against the Catholic Church. I am very sorry that you are unhappy with the BBC’s reporting on some issues connected with the Church and I’m sorry too that you feel the BBC has not given you a proper response to your complaints.
            I think you already have a good idea of how the complaints system works, but if you want to find out more – and in particular about how the BBC Trust fits in – this is the Web link
The Trust is the last stage of the complaints process and everyone who works within the Trust Unit is outside the day-to-day operations of the BBC. We review the complaints that come to us to assess whether they should be put before the BBC’s Trustees for them to reach a final decision. I have read the correspondence that has already passed between you and the BBC.
            I should explain that the Trust does not take every appeal that comes to it. In deciding which ones should be considered by the Trustees, we look at the merits of the complaint and only ones that stand a reasonable chance of success are passed to Trustees. The Trust acts in the interests of all licence fee payers and it would not be proportionate to spend a good deal of time and money on cases that raise relatively minor issues and do not stand a realistic prospect of success. The link that I have given above gives more information about this.
            I am sorry to send a disappointing response, but I do not believe your appeal should be put in front of Trustees. The BBC’s journalists and programme-makers are expected to work to a high standard; those standards are set out in the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines1 which underpin all BBC output. I have looked at your appeal in relation to those Guidelines. This means I have assessed if the points you have
1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/guidelines/ - private

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raised can be judged against the standards set down in the Guidelines. I have attached a summary of your appeal as well as the reasons behind my decision with this letter.
            If you disagree with my decision and would like the Trustees to review it, please reply with your reasons by 28 August 2013 to the Complaints Advisor, at the above address or trust. editorial@bbc.co.uk   Please send your reasons by this deadline in one document if possible.
Correspondence that is received after this date may not be considered as part of your request for a review of the decision. If, exceptionally, you need more time please write giving your reasons as soon as possible.
            If you do ask the Trustees to review this decision, I will place that letter as well as your original letter of appeal and this letter before Trustees. Your previous correspondence will also be available to them. They will look at that request in their 12 September 2013 meeting. Their decision is likely to be finalised at their October meeting and will be given to you shortly afterwards.
            If the Trustees agree that your case has no reasonable prospect of success then it will close. If the Trustees disagree with my decision, then your case will be given to an Independent Editorial Adviser to investigate and we will contact you with an updated time line.

Yours sincerely
Natalie Rose
Senior Editorial Strategy Adviser

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Annex
BBC News
The Trust’s Editorial Appeals procedure states that: The Trust will only consider an appeal if it raises “ a matter of substance”. 2 This will ordinarily mean that in the opinion of the Trust there is a reasonable prospect that the appeal will be upheld as amounting to a breach of the Editorial Guidelines. In deciding whether an appeal raises a matter of substance, the Trust may consider (in fairness to the interests of all licence fee payers in general) whether it is appropriate, proportionate and cost-effective to consider the appeal. 3 Background. The complainant first raised his concerns on 18 March 2013 that in his view the BBC seemed

“to be waging some kind of war against the Catholic Church”.

He said that this was evident from

“continuous coverage of child sex abuse scandals, and references to such scandals in other news reports which concern the Church, such as the recent Papal election” .
            He also believed that bias was evident from searches he had undertaken on the BBC news website using the phrases ‘sex abuse’ and ‘catholic sex abuse’ because of the high number of results this turned up. He compared the figures with similar searches he had conducted regarding Social Services and Care homes in which no specific results were returned.
            He concluded from his research that the BBC was unbalanced in its reporting and he believed that this could lead to hate crime and the ‘urban myth’ that all priests are paedophiles and not to be trusted.
            He received responses to his complaints from Audience Services at stage 1 and from the Head of Editorial Compliance and Accountability, BBC News, at stage 2.
Points made by BBC News in relation to this appeal at stages 1 and 2 were:
· The period during which the complainant made his online searches one of the most newsworthy periods in terms of the Catholic Church for some time. The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI raised legitimate issues of how much the abuse scandal had led to his decision, and the election of Pope Francis led to discussion of how he might tackle the issue. It was therefore not surprising
2 Under the Charter and Agreement, the Trust has a role as final arbiter in appropriate cases, and must provide a right of appeal in cases that raise a matter of substance.
3 For example, if an appeal raises a relatively minor issue that would be complicated, time-consuming or expensive to resolve, the Trust may decide that the appeal does not raise a matter of substance, and decline to consider it.

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that there were a large number of results for the term “sex abuse” during that time. More recently there would have been far fewer results relating to the Catholic Church from entering that search term as other sex abuse news stories unrelated to the Catholic Church have been more prominent; some of these were related to the Church of England and illustrated how the BBC did not single out the Catholic Church when reporting on this kind of story.
· It was not for BBC News to take a stance and distort news values with a view to shaping public perceptions. It was a fact that there have been institutional failings in relation to the protection of children – and BBC News could not shy away from examining them, either in relation to the Catholic Church or in relation to the culture and practices within the BBC itself which would have to be reported on in due course following the outcome of the Dame Janet Smith Review.

Appeal
The complainant escalated his complaint to the BBC Trust, saying that he felt the response he received at Stage 2 was inadequate. He said he wished to appeal for the following reasons:
· Another documentary on the sex abuse in the Catholic Church has recently been screened on the 10 June: "Silence in the House of God: Mea Maxima Culpa".
· There have been no new cases of sexual abuse by priests, yet the BBC continue to vilify the Church, leading to lay people and religious being targeted in 'hate crime'.
· The BBC failings should have been a wake-up call to the fact that historic sex abuse has occurred in virtually every public institution and is not a 'Catholic' problem. He was concerned that the Scapegoating of Catholicism by the BBC has actually intensified since the Savile episode.
· No justifiable explanation exists for the fact that 45% of search results for sex abuse related to the Catholic Church at the time when he initially made the complaint. Changes could have been made to the filter since that time or efforts made to alter content in the light of the complaint which have led to fewer results in subsequent searches.
· The search on the website was to gauge the amount of coverage being given to the sex abuse in the Church by the BBC News in general because the complainant felt that it was excessive and disproportionate from listening to the radio and television. The results proved that beyond argument.

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· He was also concerned that other stories concerning the Church were being used as an opportunity to flag up the sex abuse scandals and discredit the Church. The papal election and the gay marriage debate are examples of issues that were ostensibly unconnected to paedophilia, yet news reporters frequently mentioned the so called 'sex abuse crisis'. Pope Benedict made very clear that his resignation was due to medical issues, yet even this was skewed by news reporters to suggest that there may have been other reasons.
· The case of the Stephen Nolan show is a prime example of how the BBC obsesses over the sex abuse scandal. Somebody even phoned in that night to express their utter disgust at the way the Cardinal was treated by the aggressive questioning by a trained Barrister which was completely off topic.
The complainant said that he was
“not seeking to deny that scandals have taken place, but merely to emphasize that lessons have been learned as with all organizations in recent years”, and he could “not see the public benefit of consistently dwelling on these incidents”. He said he would like “ a firm commitment from the BBC that in the future they will be more responsible in the weight of coverage they give to these matters, and do so in a proportionate way .”
Decision of the Senior Editorial Strategy Adviser
            The Senior Editorial Strategy Adviser (the Adviser) carefully reviewed the correspondence that had already passed between the BBC and the complainant. She decided that the complainant’s appeal did not have a reasonable prospect of success and it should not, therefore be put before Trustees.
The Adviser noted that the Royal Charter and the accompanying Agreement between the Secretary of State and the BBC drew a distinction between the role of the BBC Trust and that of the BBC Executive Board, led by the Director-General.
            “The direction of the BBC’s editorial and creative output” is specifically defined in the Charter (paragraph 38, (1) (b) as a duty that is the responsibility of the Executive Board, and one in which the Trust does not get involved unless, for example, it relates to a breach of the BBC’s editorial standards.
The Adviser considered that the decisions made by BBC News when reporting on child sex abuse cases were editorial ones, over which the Trust had no remit to get involved unless issues were raised that suggested a breach of the Editorial Guidelines. The Adviser considered whether the appeal engaged the Guidelines on Impartiality which state:
            News in whatever form must be treated with due impartiality, giving due weight to events, opinion and main strands of argument. The approach and

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tone of news stories must always reflect our editorial values, including our commitment to impartiality.
The Adviser noted that the complainant stated in his appeal that the results of his
website search proved “beyond argument” that
“the coverage being given to the sex abuse in the Church by the BBC News in general” was
“excessive and disproportionate”.
            However, she considered that the complainant had received reasonable explanations from BBC News as to why his searches returned the results that they did. She noted the response of the Head of Editorial Compliance and Accountability, BBC News on this point: “Your primary evidence for this alleged bias is that the result of a search for “sex abuse” on the BBC News website threw up 45 references to the Catholic Church out of 100 stories. As has been explained, at different times the same search will show a differ ent result because what is in the news is constantly changing. Thus at present the search reveals only seven stories in the first 100 which refer to the Catholic Church. Recently, there have been a number of high profile cases involving child sex abuse which have received prominent coverage, including the Oxford “paedophile ring” trial; the trial of Mark Bridger for the murder of April Jones and subsequent calls for search engines to block online porn sites; and arrests of people as a result of Operation Yewtree as well as news of police investigations relating to Jimmy Savile”. The Adviser noted the point made by the complainant in his appeal that: “Changes could have been made to the filter since that time or efforts made to alter content in the light o f the complaint which have led to fewer results in subsequent searches.” However, she did not consider it likely that the Trustees would be of the view that any evidence had been presented in support of this allegation. The Adviser noted the complainant’s other main point of appeal: “I was also concerned that other stories concerning the Church were being used as an opportunity to flag up the sex abuse scandals and discredit the Church. The papal election and the gay marriage debate are examples of issues that were ostensibly unconnected to paedophilia, yet news reporters frequently mentioned the so called 'sex abuse crisis'. Pope Benedict made very clear that his resignation was due to medical issues, yet even this was skewed by news reporters to suggest that there may have been other reasons.” She felt on that point too that the complainant had received reasoned and reasonable responses at stages 1 and 2 about the newsworthiness of those issues

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and their continuing relevance to the victims of abuse. She noted that on 23 April 2013 the Assistant Editor, Editorial Standards, BBC News stated:
“ The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI raised legitimate issues of how much
the abuse scandal had led to his decision; the election of Pope Francis led to discussion of how he might tackle this issue. So it is only natural that during such a period of upheaval within the Church, there should be mentions of sex abuse. ” The Adviser also noted that the Head of Editorial Compliance and Accountability stated in her stage 2 response on 2 June 2013: “….when you did your search it was natural that a number of the stories related to the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI and the election of Pope Francis I for the reasons he gave. But that was just one aspect of our broad ranging coverage of the change of Pope. There was much analysis of the achievements of the past and the challenges ahead and profiles of the men as well as straightforward reporting of events as they unfolded.” The Adviser considered the complainant’s concerns about. The Stephen Nolan Show, on Radio 5 Live, which the complainant believed was “ a prime example of how the BBC obsesses over the sex abuse scandal”. He said that the questioning of the cardinal had been “completely off topic.”

            The Adviser noted the response of the Head of Editorial Compliance and Accountability, BBC News on 2 June 2013 with regard to this interview, which she believed the Trustees would be likely to agree with: “I think that if an interviewee says something newsworthy it would be very strange for a news broadcaster not to flag up what has been said. It was the Cardinal who volunteered his opinion.”
The Adviser noted that in his appeal to the Trust, the complainant referred to the documentary
“Silence in the House of God: Mea Maxima Culpa” which was broadcast on 10 June 2013. This programme was screened after the complainant had received a stage 2 response on his original complaint and the Adviser noted that it could not therefore be considered in relation to this appeal.
The Adviser considered the point made by the complainant in his appeal: “There have been no new cases of sexual abuse by priests, yet the BBC continue to vilify the Church, leading to lay people and religious being targeted in 'hate crime’”.
            The Adviser strongly acknowledged that it was abhorrent that anyone would be targeted in this way, but she did not believe that the Trustees would be of the view that any evidence had been presented that the BBC’s reporting of sexual abuse within the Church had led to such occurrences. Nor did she consider that the

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Trustees would be likely to find that any evidence had been submitted to suggest that
“the Scapegoating of Catholicism by the BBC has actually intensified since the Savile episode.”
The Adviser did not consider that she had seen any evidence that the Guidelines on Impartiality had been engaged. Therefore, the issue of which stories should be covered was a matter of editorial and creative freedom and it was not appropriate for the appeal to be considered by Trustees on this point. It followed from this that she did not consider the appeal had a reasonable prospect of success and it should not be put before Trustees.

Editor’s note: Quite a few Catholics have contacted CUT regarding the increased level of hatred and verbal abuse experienced by them in the last few years. This hatred and abuse increases after TV programmes particularly documentaries by the BBC on child abuse by priests. We believe that British Catholics should not be subject to this type of hatred simply because of our faith. We believe that the BBC are not exercising proportionality in the reporting of child abuse cases.

            Furthermore the BBC flags up these abuse cases whenever the Church is in the news for any reason like the papal election, therefore countering any good publicity the Church may get. Of course Catholics in general are ashamed by the abuse cases but it should be understood that proportionately there are no more cases within the Catholic priesthood than any other section of society possibly less. With regards to this I asked the BBC how many documentaries they have made on child abuse in the Church of England given that there are quite a few. I did not get a straight reply to my question just an email with a number of web links to minor news reports. It appears the BBC will not treat all sections of society in the same manner. It is because of incidents like this that our strategy of not watching TV and therefore not paying the licence fee continues to be our main philosophy. 

BBC - Ignoring the Killing of Christians

The BBC and the secular media - Ignoring the killing of Christians worldwide

When Catholics look to the saints for inspiration they often see the holy Martyrs of the Roman and the Reformation eras as being a particularly rich source of witness. But what many fail to realise is that today, in the 21^st century, there are more Christians (and in particular Catholic) Martyrs than ever before. Why then is there not a national outcry? The simple reason is that the media and – yes, in particular the BBC - will not report on Christians and especially Catholics getting killed for their faith. What does get occasionally reported is just the very tip of a holocaust of Catholic martyrdom in many countries. The BBC of course would rather make another documentary on child abuse, and given that there have been about 37 historical cases by Catholic priests the BBC must have made at least one documentary (or two) on each one. And yet Catholic priests, bishops and sisters are getting slaughtered on a regular basis in many countries. Surely this warrants at least one documentary by the BBC? But no; this would have the wrong effect as far as the BBC is concerned, whose aim is solely to create an atmosphere of anti-Catholic hatred. They can’t be making programmes that might cause a little bit of sympathy for Catholic priests, could they?

       However, as Aid to the Church in Need has pointed out Christians and in particular Catholics are being murdered at an alarming rate. If they will not leave the countries of persecution, they are killed. Iraq before the 2003 invasion had 1.4 million Christians, the vast majority of them Chaldean Catholics. Today there are barely 150,000 and yet the continued persecution goes unreported by our national treasure the BBC. This persecution takes place mainly in Muslim countries but not exclusively. Christians are being killed. Catholics are bearing the brunt. Just recently a Catholic priest in Iraq was visited by local Muslim militants and ordered to close his church ‘or else’. The priest said ‘I cannot close a house of God’. A week or so later he and three of his deacons were driving on a pastoral mission and were ordered to pull over, where they were summarily executed in their car on the side of the road. Ordinary people are been told to convert to Islam ‘or else’. If they refuse, as most refuse, their houses are blown up in front of them.

The holocaust of Christians, (100,000 killed during the last year).

Often the BBC wheel out a useful Catholic idiot to say how he thinks Pope Pius XII did nothing to help the Jews during the WWII, contrary to all the evidence, for this great Pope did more to help Jews than any other person during the war. See the latest film by EWTN ‘Under the Roman Sky’. But what is the BBC doing to help Christians today who are suffering at the hands of Islam – absolutely nothing! 100,000 Christians have been killed over the last year and yet this barely warrants a news item. Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria are places of particular concern; the rebels of Syria, which the European and British governments including the BBC support, are among the greatest killers of Christians. According to Aid to the Church in Need, the Damascus based Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham of Antioch said ‘We cried aloud in prayers and supplication, like the father of a sick child calling out to the Lord Jesus Christ: “if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us”’ (Mark 9:22). So who are the British Government and the BBC supporting – the rebels (although the BBC will claim to be impartial whilst ignoring the deaths of Christians and their news reports in our opinion in favour of the rebels). Egypt too is of particular concern – the BBC has immense power to help but what do they use all this media influence for? – to attack the Catholic Church and promote same sex marriage – disgusting! Support: Aid to the Church in Need, 12 -14 Benhill Ave, Sutton, Surrey SM1 4DA.

Egyptian riots - are the BBC reporting on Muslim Brotherhood killing Christians and burning churches?

Actually the BBC are completely ignoring the killing of Christians in Egypt. We say BBC are culpable and complicit by their non reporting of the killing of Christians and the burning of many churches in Egypt. Just like elsewhere in the Muslim world Christians are the main targets but the British media will not report it. Even the monastery of the Virgin Mary in Deir Mawas has been burnt even a cathedral has been destroyed. But what are the BBC interested in? – More sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church? Yes you guessed it even though as our Prayer Crusader under the patronage of St Gerard wrote in his Scapegoating Catholicism article, Catholic priests make up only 0.1% of sex abuse crimes yet get 45% of BBC’s sex abuse coverage. At the same Christians are being killed by their thousands in Muslim countries. Why on earth do Christians still pay the licence fee?

Our Crusader has been in a long discussion with the BBC over his research into anti-Catholic bias at the Corporation but has drawn a blank - the BBC establishment appears to be covering up and denying this evidence just like they covered up and supported their own child abusers.

BBC Totalitarianism

THE BBC AND CULTURAL TOTALITARIANISM

Despite the news reported in the Telegraph that there have been 157 cases of child abuse against BBC employees and former employees since the Jimmy Savile case broke last autumn, there has been very little reported about this by the BBC themselves. It’s not surprising for the BBC has officially gagged its employees. However, is this not legitimate news? But like all bullies everywhere, whether for cultural or self-interest reasons they are not afraid to browbeat others. They continue to bash the Catholic Church whenever they can, from the Vatican to local Churches, and yet most of these stories are very minor compared to their own problems. They have very clear cultural core values to maintain and to give airtime to their own corrupt practices and paedophile cover-ups would be damaging to these core values and  would undermine their idea of what society should be. This is a tried and tested practice of the Communist system and is called agitprop, using the media to brainwash the people and then maintain the values, beliefs and knowledge that they approve of. Today the BBC maintains a form of Cultural Totalitarianism; it supports, for example, homosexuals, Gay Marriage and abortion and at the same time it utterly dislikes Catholic moral teaching, that homosexual acts are grave (mortal) sins and so is abortion. Therefore it will attack the Church, blowing out of proportion any problems in the Church while ignoring its own problems and those in sections of society its supports such as the homosexual ‘community’ and child abuse there. This is very similar to tactics used during the Protestant Reformation; for example, the German Princes who supported foul mouthed Martin Luther did not do so for religious reasons but for secular, some because they wanted a divorce to marry their mistresses, - just like Henry VIII.

Enough of the BBC’s indulgence of their Celebrity Paedophiles!

A member of the Culture Media and Sport select committee Angie Bray has said that the “indulgence” of  Stuart Hall bore striking similarities to their approach to Jimmy Savile. Therefore, how can the BBC justify yet another documentary on child abuse in the Catholic Church re Silence in the House of God: Mea Maxima Culpa screened on the 10 June 2013 when there is just so much material under its own roof? It is becoming clear that the child abuse scandals in the Catholic Church were small in comparison to those in the BBC and other sections of society. We are making no excuses for those few bad Catholic priests.

Has the Licence fee turned the BBC into a bunch of anti-Catholic thugs?

At CUT it is becoming clear that British Catholics are getting fed up of BBC bias and bigotry and its fanatical Catholophobia. Is it time to break the BBC up? It has too much power and it has been damaging society for too long. Despite the fact that the numbers of people who actually watch the BBC continues to plummet, the licence fee is still intact. The BBC still has enormous influence and this influence is growing abroad, especially as English is now the one genuine world language. This may be a reason for pride to many British Catholics. However, if the main multi-media outlet in the English language supports abortion, contraception, homosexuality, and all the hideous bio-based innovations going on and at the same time does its level best to undermine the Catholic Church, ignoring all her good works in the third world and never mentioning the murders of her priests, sisters and lay people, we can see this as Cultural Totalitarianism being extended past our borders as a form of cultural colonialism And people must pay for the BBC via this out of date tax whether they watch BBC channels or not. And Fat Cat BBC managers continue to get pay cheques and pay offs that would make pop stars’ eyes water.







The Summer Newsletter

The Summer 2013 Newsletter has now been printed and will be in the post to members and anyone who request them in the next few days. If you would like to receive one and are not a member please let us know by email mazzalfa@tiscali.co.uk the newsletters are free. You may request more than one and pass them on if you wish.

The TV and the Powerful Media Pyramid

Two Pieces here, one on media influence of the Church and the other on the media’s distortion of the words Pope Francis on ‘Gays’.

The TV, the Powerful Media Pyramid,

and the Church

The effect of the TV on the Church

If the bishops are the successors of the twelve apostles, then perhaps you may find among them the occasional Judas? After all if one of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus could be led astray it must be even more difficult for their successors, particularly when the mass media is so powerful and continuously promotes lifestyles that are the opposite to that required of a Christian.

            It would be very surprising if members of the teaching authority of the Church sat in front of the television and watched many of the shows and programmes broadcast. Perhaps they should and see what the television is teaching people. There are many wise and holy members of the Magisterium, yet are they out of touch? I do not mean that they should get ‘in touch’ by changing the teaching of the Church to suit the TV. God forbid. However, it is the television, the most powerful form of the media that is controlling what many Catholics think and believe and not the teaching of the Church. It is not for us lay Catholics to tell the Magisterium what to teach us; perhaps we would like them to stand up to the media bullies and lead us safely to salvation. With salvation in mind, point out the sources of evil and impurity and urge their flock to avoid them. They would soon identify the television as a major occasion of sin. Sadly many in authority are either ignorant of the problem or too afraid of the power of the television to speak out. Yet all is not lost, for it is the experience of CUT that proportionately the number of clergy that have given up the TV far outnumbers that of the catholic laypeople.

The effect of the TV on the Laity

Is there a problem with the Magisterium today? For it is becoming a Magisterium of the lay Catholic and the media – a false Magisterium. Lay Catholics are influencing the Church, and members of the laity are being influenced by the modern media. Some members of congregations are heavily under the influence of that electronic drug, the TV. Occasionally members of the clergy are afraid to preach on the Catholic truths for fear that they may be collared after Mass by an irate media influenced truthophobe. Therefore, we may hear many wonderful sermons regarding love, peace, charity and justice, which of course are extremely important to a Christian. However, equally important is avoiding the occasions of sin and the possibility of eternal damnation. Our Lady herself showed the seers of Fatima the horrors of Hell and the multitudes of souls lost through impurity. The television on the other hand often shows us scenes of impurity or lifestyles and arguments that deny Christ; if we enjoy them or are influenced by them, they will lead us away from the teaching of the Church. This is just one of the many ways the mass media are the new teaching authority and not the Church.

            During Pope Benedict’s visit to Britain, The Independent newspaper had for a front cover a picture of the Pope’s back upon which was a long ‘laundry list’ of changes the paper had decided British Catholics want. What The Independent does not understand is that even if the list were true, it’s not up to lay Catholics to demand changes to the Church’s teachings. For Jesus is the source of divine revelation, and through sacred tradition and sacred scripture Christ teaches us about Himself and about eternal salvation. Therefore, let’s hope that soon the majority of the clergy will throw out the television and urge their flocks not to pay too much attention to the media, not only for Health and Safety reasons, but also for Health and Salvation.

On the Pope’s recent trip to World Youth Day:

Media nonsense on the Pope’s words on ‘Gays’

There has been much media interest on the Pope’s words on ‘Gays’ some have gone as far as to suggest the Pope has said that ‘Gay is OK’ But he has not said anything of the sort. We who study the media should understand the media will seize anything they can twist it and then serve it up as the truth. The pope was answering a question from a journalist and at the same time quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church – the Pope has been condemned by Peter Tatchell for doing this. Here is what he actually said:

“If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge that person?  The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this point beautifully but says, wait a moment, how does it say, it says, these persons must never be marginalized and “they must be integrated into society.”

Remember a ‘Gay’ who seeks the Lord and has ‘good will’ is celibate and follows the Church’s teachings.

NEWSCUTTINGS JULY 2013

Huge pay-offs for bosses are wrecking confidence in the BBC, says Cameron

• Annual accounts released yesterday reveal the corporation handed its top directors £4.1million in 12 months
• Cost of the executive board rose by 63 per cent, boosted by golden goodbyes of nearly £1.5million

By Alasdair Glennie and Paul Bentley

PUBLISHED: 02:06, 17 July 2013 | UPDATED: 08:35, 17 July 2013

Huge pay-offs to senior bosses have jeopardised public support for the BBC, David Cameron warned last night.

Annual accounts released yesterday reveal the corporation handed its top directors £4.1million in 12 months. The cost of the executive board rose by 63 per cent, boosted by golden goodbyes of nearly £1.5million.

Read more:

CUT – Are we missing something here? Shouldn’t the pay-outs be going to the children damaged and abused by BBC employees instead lacklustre but well paid managers and others at the BBC who failed to put into operation an effective Safeguarding structure for children who were on BBC premises? One good thing about the pay-offs though, this money is not being used to make dreadful pro-abortion, pro-homosexual and anti-Catholic programmes.

BBC ‘put public trust at risk’ with size of redundancy payouts to top execs

Gavriel Hollandar Press Gazette 01/07/2013

The BBC's redundancy payouts have been called "deeply worrying" after a Government watchdog found it spent £25 million on handouts to senior managers over the last three years.

CUT – It’s the sheer scale of the money being paid out to the top BBC executives that is exasperating. That these people who have managed the de-Christianization of Britain along with the promotion of every vice under the sun should get such enormous amounts of money is truly galling. So we suppose they will take their money bags and go and sit by their pools; at least they can’t do any further damage there. But don’t expect the new crop of managers at the BBC to be any better.

 Savile fallout has damaged trust in BBC, Patten admits

Ben Webster Media Editor

Published at 12:01AM, July 17 2013

Public confidence in the quality and independence of BBC journalism has fallen to its lowest level for seven years after the Jimmy Savile scandal, according to a BBC Trust survey.  Read more:
CUT – The Savile case has just confirmed for many Catholics the corrupt state of the BBC. The size of the pay-offs to the managers is just another manifestation of this appalling situation.

The pay-offs must end

The Daily Telegraph 3 April 2013

The BBC should not dole out large sums that apparently reward both success and failure. Lord Hall of Birkenhead has made a good start in his new role as director-general of the BBC by criticising the culture of pay-offs. The generosity that the BBC shows with licence fee payers’ money is astonishing. Lord Hall’s predecessor, George Entwistle, walked away with £450,000 after just 54 days on the job, and Caroline Thomson, the former chief operating officer, received £670,000 when she stepped down in 2012. Incredibly, there has been speculation that Mrs Thomson’s sum was “compensation” for failing to get a promotion.  Read more

 

CUT – Does anyone know when Caroline Thomson got her £670,000 pay-off? Was it before she blew the lid off the sexual gymnastics going on at the Beeb or was it after?

The BBC is not alone in losing public trust

Peter Kellner The Guardian  13 November 2013

While the BBC's reputation has tumbled after recent scandals, the problem of trust in our institutions extends far wider. On public trust, the BBC still beats ITV and journalists on upmarket papers narrowly – and party politicians and officials in Whitehall by a mile. Read more

CUT – This was published soon after the Jimmy Savile and other scandals were discovered.... well, the Guardian does get a lot of its revenue from the BBC. They are right, though; we would add the Guardian to the list of media outlets with poor public trust. However, perhaps the Guardian is right and the whole of secular broadcast TV is rotten to the core, - see below:

Why Channel 4's plan to air the daily Muslim call to prayer during Ramadan is a divisive and cynical stunt

By A. N. Wilson

PUBLISHED: 23:19, 2 July 2013 | UPDATED: 11:50, 3 July 2013

Channel 4 is well known for gimmickry. Its latest trick is to have a month-long daily broadcast of the Muslim call to prayer. 

Does this cheer you up? Does it make you think what a happy, tolerant, multi-cultural society Britain has become? Or does Channel 4’s move nauseate you, as it does me? Does it make you think that new depths of bad taste have been plumbed? Read more

Channel 4 to 'provoke' viewers who associate Islam with terrorism with live call to prayer during Ramadan

The broadcaster will provide extensive coverage of the Muslim period of prayer to challenge those who associate the religion with extremism and terror. Channel 4 has said it will broadcast the Muslim call to prayer live every morning during Ramadan as a deliberate act of “provocation” aimed at viewers who associate Islam with terrorism and extremism. Read more


CUT - Channel 4 being provocative and using religion to do so, is simply wrong. Channel 4 are a sub-set of the BBC mentality, at one moment using porn to gain publicity, the next bashing Catholics, then broadcasting the Muslim call to prayer.

The BBC don't let the truth get in the way of a good story

The media’s use of expertise

The editor of “The Psychologist” (journal of the British Psychological Society) recently reviewed two BBC 1 programmes. One of the programmes concerned memory, while the other was about people who hoard things compulsively. “The Psychologist” is written for, and read by, professional psychologists. The review appears in the June edition of the journal.

BBC One logo - from Wikipedia

The reviewer notes that a number of eminent psychologists, experts in their own field, had been invited to contribute to each of the programmes, and had in fact done so, although in many cases their contributions were not used in the completed programmes. He notes further that “there was enough material to make a really decent standalone documentary about memory” but that nearly all of it had been discarded in favour of the programme makers’ preference for “a good story”. The reviewer asks: “Are psychologists aboard for the ride, or simply being taken for one?” One of the psychologists involved is quoted as saying: “You don’t know what you’re getting into. They’re just making a television programme, it’s just whatever fits”.    

A letter in the July edition of “The Psychologist” responds to this review. The writer explains that he has made several radio and TV appearances, and warns that “the media always have an agenda! Whether dealing with a director, producer or journalist, they will have already decided what direction they want the programme to go in, what they want from you, and how they want to present you, the contributor... As the producers of the programme have the editorial control, their agenda will always take prominence”.

To be fair, the letter-writer goes on to say that programme makers are usually prepared to disclose and even discuss their agenda, if asked; and suggests that any expert psychologist invited to appear on television should make a point of doing just that, and refuse involvement if it seems that his or her contribution is going to be distorted or discarded, or indeed if the programme itself is likely to involve unethical activity of any sort.

The message to be extracted from all this by viewers and listeners is: suspect bias in all documentaries. You are not seeing what the experts, enthusiastic about their own subject, would like to pass on to you; you are seeing a patchwork of pictures and comments, each taken out of the context in which it belongs, and designed to make you feel complacent, or comfortably superior, or self-righteously indignant, or simply amused, - anything just so long as you will switch on again for the next documentary programme and boost the viewing figures.    

By prayer crusader under the patronage of St. Teresa of Avila.