# Fsck the BBC **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 13, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797 "2008-06-13T13:03:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/1 "2008-06-13T13:03:13Z")
A barrage of 50 rockets and mortar shells is launched at Israel from Gaza. Three serious military assaults are made against the border between Gaza and Israel. What’s the one and only story on the BBC? Someone videotaped some settlers allegedly beating up some Palestinians, with sticks. Is the Middle-East bureau at the BBC run by complete, or just useful, idiots? ---
**Author:** ![MJinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@MJinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJinks)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/2 "2008-06-13T13:10:55Z")
We’re busy. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/3 "2008-06-13T13:16:55Z")
When you think BBC, just think FNC but with blindness in the opposite eye. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/4 "2008-06-13T13:49:03Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] A barrage of 50 rockets and mortar shells is launched at Israel from Gaza. Three serious military assaults are made against the border between Gaza and Israel. What’s the one and only story on the BBC? Someone videotaped some settlers **allegedly** beating up some Palestinians, with sticks. Is the Middle-East bureau at the BBC run by complete, or just useful, idiots? [/QUOTE] You forgot to say there was an _alleged_ barrage of 50 rockets and mortar shells… ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/5 "2008-06-13T13:52:36Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] A barrage of 50 rockets and mortar shells is launched at Israel from Gaza. Three serious military assaults are made against the border between Gaza and Israel. What’s the one and only story on the BBC? Someone videotaped some settlers allegedly beating up some Palestinians, with sticks. Is the Middle-East bureau at the BBC run by complete, or just useful, idiots? [/QUOTE] No one else is reporting this barrage either so far as I can see. So fuck those anti-semite commies at Drudge, the Washington Times and the Jerusalem Post (the latter mentioning yesterday’s barrage). Except the BBC, who mention Hamas are claiming they have done so today. [link](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7450477.stm) > [@](#): > > Shortly afterwards, Hamas said it had fired a barrage of 50 mortar shells and rockets toward southern Israel. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/6 "2008-06-13T14:07:26Z")
As of now on the [BBC Middle East news site](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/default.stm), there are several stories about the explosion and subsequent rocket attacks. The story is developing. [There’s a story about Israel denying involvement in the explosion and Hamas claiming that they were involved, but investigating.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7450477.stm) That story mentions other incidents and gives background. Then there’s a later story that says [Hamas caused the explosion whilst preparing for an attack](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7452540.stm) and initially tried to blame Israel. And various other stories about Israel, Hamas, Jordan, the UAE, etc. The “settlers with sticks” story is one of about 40. Do you sit there waiting for the BBC to rile you up \*\*mks57 \*\*? Your complaint is poor. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/7 "2008-06-13T14:07:54Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] A barrage of 50 rockets and mortar shells is launched at Israel from Gaza. Three serious military assaults are made against the border between Gaza and Israel. What’s the one and only story on the BBC? Someone videotaped some settlers allegedly beating up some Palestinians, with sticks. [/QUOTE] I saw that story on BBC’s “World News Show” yesterday, and I was pretty astonished at the unquestioning acceptance of the story as fact. The BBC dropped a clanger, with this one. There was no critical analysis of the story what so ever. No questioning who had made the tape, nor was there any analysis into who had held possession of it before the BBC. The camera work was ridiculously bad—you could barely make anything out! The men were masked, with no indication at all that they were Jewish, and of the attack, the only thing we saw was brief glimpses of a skirmish at a distance (due to the bad camera work). ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/8 "2008-06-13T14:19:44Z")
[QUOTE=Capt. Ridley’s Shooting Party] I saw that story on BBC’s “World News Show” yesterday, and I was pretty astonished at the unquestioning acceptance of the story as fact. The BBC dropped a clanger, with this one. There was no critical analysis of the story what so ever. No questioning who had made the tape, nor was there any analysis into who had held possession of it before the BBC. The camera work was ridiculously bad—you could barely make anything out! The men were masked, with no indication at all that they were Jewish, and of the attack, the only thing we saw was brief glimpses of a skirmish at a distance (due to the bad camera work). [/QUOTE] It was provided by an Israeli group documenting these attacks, which are not unusual. [Settlers attack village](http://www.imemc.org/article/54610) > [@](#): > > The Christian Peace Maker Teams (CPT) reported on Friday that extremist Israeli settlers, including the guard of the illegal Ma’on settlement, broke into the At Tuwani area, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and attacked local residents and members of the CPT. [Settlers attack](http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/957130.html) > [@](#): > > Members of the Taayush Jewish-Arab coexistence movement were assaulted on Saturday by residents of the nearby Maon settlement as they escorted Palestinian shepherds to their West Bank grazing land. Etc etc etc. Settler violence is a common issue. So your ‘skepticism’ is nothing but ideological or ignorance-driven hand-waving. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/9 "2008-06-13T14:23:42Z")
Wasn’t there an air attack on Palestine last week? It is so hard to keep track. Sort of a 'dog bites man" thing. This stuff is rarely noteworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/10 "2008-06-13T14:41:32Z")
Here it [is,](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/world/middleeast/13mideast.html?ref=world) seems a house in Palestine blew up and everyone assumed it was an Israeli air strike so they fired off their rockets. Obviously even people who live there cannot keep track. Five people dead on one side. Probably more on the other. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/11 "2008-06-13T14:59:45Z")
Why are you Pitting a news outlet in another country for not reporting news in a _third_ country? I don’t see many English people pitting American news outlets for not reporting… well, anything not directly affecting Americans or involving more than 10 deaths, really. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/12 "2008-06-13T15:04:57Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Why are you Pitting a news outlet in another country for not reporting news in a _third_ country? I don’t see many English people pitting American news outlets for not reporting… well, anything not directly affecting Americans or involving more than 10 deaths, really. [/QUOTE] And pitting one news outlet specifically for not reporting something for which there is as yet no confirmation when no other outlet, even the Jerusalem Post (at the time of the OP) is reporting it either. Just another ax-grinding ass-hat. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/13 "2008-06-13T15:33:52Z")
What is a fsck? Is it like a tsp? ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/14 "2008-06-13T17:15:29Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] What is a fsck? Is it like a tsp? [/QUOTE] It’s one of those misspellings the Brits have to use because of the metric system, like ‘colour’ and ‘centre.’ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/15 "2008-06-13T17:17:10Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] What is a fsck? [/QUOTE] It’s a [Unix utility used to check the file system](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fsck) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/16 "2008-06-13T17:18:26Z")
[QUOTE=42fish] It’s one of those misspellings the Brits have to use because of the metric system, like ‘colour’ and ‘centre.’ [/QUOTE] The OP is American. Maybe it’s Baltimore-speak. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/17 "2008-06-13T18:23:26Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] When you think BBC, just think FNC but with blindness in the opposite eye. [/QUOTE] A statement that could only come from someone who’s never watched the BBC, or is too stupid to understand what he sees. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/18 "2008-06-13T22:46:35Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] A statement that could only come from someone who’s never watched the BBC, or is too stupid to understand what he sees. [/QUOTE] The BBC has its blind spots and biases, like any other news organization. At the time I made my original post, they had zip on their site about the events in Gaza and southern Israel, even though it was “old news” in Israel. They do have reporters, don’t they? The BBC is an international news organization, so comparisons to American news organizations that don’t pretend to serve an international audience are not useful. Maybe they would care if the IRA was rocketing London on a daily basis. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/19 "2008-06-13T23:31:14Z")
[QUOTE=tagos] So your ‘skepticism’ is nothing but ideological or ignorance-driven hand-waving. [/QUOTE] What the fuck are you talking about you tit? I know full well that the footage was provided by an “Israeli group”, although what relevance that has is unclear. The footage wasn’t filmed by the suppliers of the cameras, it was filmed by Palestinians (supposedly goat herders), and then returned to the Israeli charity. As I said, who exactly provided the footage, and the true identity of the attackers, was never questioned by the BBC. It’s not like there’s no history of propaganda coming out of the occupied territories. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797/20 "2008-06-14T05:17:28Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] The BBC has its blind spots and biases, like any other news organization. [/QUOTE] Never said it didn’t. But the idea that it is the left/liberal equivalent of Fox News Channel is just so far removed from reality that it could only be proposed by someone who is completely unfamiliar with the BBC, or who has no grip on reality. I remember a few occasions recently when i thought the BBC didn’t do a great job of covering a story, or missed some key points, or demonstrated some unprofessional biases or poor journalistic standards. But the fact is that the BBC still produces outstanding news programs and reports, and is still, in many ways, the standard by which other news organizations are judged. And for good reason. The type of baiting, and sniping, and rabid idiocy, and plain poor journalistic ethics that are everyday occurrences on FNC are so different from BBC standards that it’s like comparing apples with spiral galaxies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fsck-the-bbc/452797.md?page=2)