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You: "...I went to a lunch-time fringe meeting to hear what I thought might be an interesting discussion about future British defence policy. But instead of finding myself among party activists, I soon discovered that every other person in the room was either from a campaign group or was a lobbyist from a defence company. Not a paid-up party member to be seen."
Bingo! You win!!
Lobbyists, unelected representatives of, in this case Defence, but in most US cases, it is defence, pharma, Israel (and more) - the biggest and most power lobbysists. You know those lobbyists that Obama promised to get rid of, or at least significantly reduce? Last count: 13,000 American lobbyists!
What does one call a Government run by lobbyists - Lobbyism - nothing near democracy!

Party conferences are a bit like Crufts (the dog show), an anachronism, but nevertheless like the Royal Tournament one would miss them.

Politics itself is full of nose and fury that signifies almost nothing (in both the UK and the USA) and indeed much of the World. There is very little difference between parties - they are all representatives of the establishment - swapping sides of the Commons in buggins's turn.

We have not seen any revolutionary change recently, even the SDP actually signified very little. Will we see revolutionary change again? Of course we will. But how soon. [Revolutionary Change is where a group comes to power that heretofore was not an integral part of the Establishment.]

Do we need Revolutionary change? Probably. As corruption is now so all pervasive that it is really necessary to divet the river and clear out the stables. Tinkering at the edges is how we got where we are today, see banker/establishment corruption.

The whole point of revolutionary change is that the actors are not visible as part of the establishment so don't ask me who they are! But the rot within the establishment is there for all to see - so many of our institutions have become limp and feeble shadows of that which they once were - we need to revitalise our politics!

I am also afraid that the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is itself perhaps the worst anachronism, in that by its structure defective engagement with the public and its overweening arrogance in its protection of the establishment it actually stifles debate and so actually increase extremism and the tensions in society. The rise of the far-right in the UK and Europe (and the USA) is partly/substantially attributable to the media.

All the media really ought to remember that "nation shall speak unto nation" is a reasonable standard for running any media service. (where nation is its people and speak does not include 'fomenting hatred of') However even the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ falls far short of this standard more often than it should. To meet this standard of promoting pan-national concord, knowledge and understanding it is necessary in fact to censor - even the 'Yanks' have just arrested the maker of their terrible anti-Muslim film. The first amendment privileges have to be tempered by a realistic appreciation that to incite violence and discord is stupid and not the proper function of the media (or in the name of religion) - Google please note!

Hope the weather stays OK in the USA, Robin!

I see from an article in The Editors that you are leaving the World Tonight, Mr. Lustig.

Any regrets? By regrets, I mean to ask whether you consider that there might have been any deficiencies in your reporting for the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ (and indeed in the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ itself) all those years.

While at work in a foreign country where English is not often spoken I used to tune in frequently to the World Service to hear news and other programmes in my mother tongue. There was an excellent programme called 'Masterpiece' which unfortunately ended right after I became aware of it. And it was small comfort to listen to the left-wing ideologues who leave no room for moderate voices on the World Service with their snubbing of their adversaries and promotion of their political fellow-travellers, as when they virtually ignored the Republican primaries before the last US election while following the Obama-Clinton contest with breathless anticipation; and as when they completely ignored George W. Bush's visit to Israel at the beginning of those primaries.

I was unfortunately also glued to the World Service during one of the most shameful episodes in its history - the pro-Hezbollah and anti-Israel bias it displayed during the 2006 war, with ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ journalists going out of their way to sneer at Israel while being careful to treat Hezbollah with fawning respect, taking as gospel the propaganda Hezbollah pumped out, and ensuring that their audience's attention was continually directed towards Israel's attacks on Hezbollah with very little in the reverse direction.

The World Service even went so far as to haul one of their anti-Israel activists from her post in Johannesburg to contribute to the onslaught: once she'd landed up in a Lebanese village she proceeded to wildly exaggerate the extent of the damage the Israelis had done to the village.

And when Obama came to power you yourself posed the following question, "Will Obama get tough with Israel," as if Israel is the intransigent one, despite the Israeli withdrawals from Sinai and Gaza - which were met by Mubarak turning a blind eye to weapons-smuggling from Egypt into Gaza and Hamas continuing to use those weapons against Israeli military and civilians - and Israel's numerous and generous peace offers, spurned by the Palestinians.

So I come back to my original question: any regrets? Any perception that the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ and you yourself might have been fairer and more even-handed in your reporting - which was always and inevitably couched in left-wing dogma?

Questions being asked. What to expect? Answers? Or a closing? I of course refer to the article headline.

#3 TrueToo



microfilm copy --



--what are your complaints ?

The lefties and Commies are to blame ?



-- not Zionist Fascism itself ?

QuietOakTree, I have no idea what you are talking about and no intention of clicking on your links if you can't be bothered to explain yourself.

# 6 TrueToo

The links explain themselves if you read them.

"and more even-handed in your reporting - which was always and inevitably couched in left-wing dogma?"

Your ignorance of the role of ´left wing dogma´ in fighting anti-semitism and Fascism is apparent.

If you claim the Right to ´ethnic cleansing´etc. for Israel -- then you must give it to others. The ´lefties and Commies´are consistent on their stance --and your #3 suggests you are also consistent.

You have just complained that neither the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ nor Mr. Lustig are willing to give Fascism (from any source)-- its ´justifiable´ Right to be propagated over the air waves -- and thus spread its hatreds.

Many fought and died in the Spanish Civil War to stop Fascism --the ´lefties and Commies´-- non-Jews and Jews



-- just don´t use their valor and sacrifice (in any battle) to vilify their ideals -- while attempting to claim they fought (and are still fighting) the wrong war.

If any descendants of ´Cable Street´participants are occupying Palestinian land --I am sure you would understand any outcry ?

--or have you not thought that far ?

#6 TrueToo

-- " and no intention of clicking on your links "

--

--not even to hear a lone voice in the wilderness ?

In the race to who gets the last word, I find I am minded of the new ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ practice of, under prompting, pointing elsewhere across its extensive media estate to claim that the context was made clear, if not where it probably could, and professionally should have been.

In turn prompting a link of my own in complement...



Funny in satire; more of a concern in compelled funding 'news' via the edit suite filter.

It suggest standards on par with Labour pols being granted special dispensation to invoke Godwin's Law when it suits some.

£4Bpa can buy a lot of company too.

Ìý

A different perspective?

No, I look upon the person doing the press conference as something like a trained dog. If you throw a question that s/he is not prepared to catch, it may be entertaining to watch the look of confusion before comes the inevitable: "I'll get back to you on that.", which of course never happens.
I do find the press is getter more aggressive, and I am pleased about that.

'I do find the press is getting more aggressive, and I am pleased about that.'

Were the word more 'tenacious', I'd tend to agree. Then of course there still is the issue of where and when they are tenacious, and when not.

I just came here from the Newsnight FaceBook feed. Now a sorry backwater compared to the blog that preceded their move to this and twitter.

It has taken them over a week to update it with a few stories that could hardly be described as 'top of mind'.

Perhaps conscious of being a bit too coy for a professional 'news' entity they have alluded to one story they still appear to wish would go away.

However posting a link to an old 'broadcast only' post in its own right, that managed all of 42 comments before being closed as the topic still unveils new and damning material daily, perhaps served more to confirm the points many outside the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ have and are making, as opposed to answering anything.

Power does need to be held to account. Even the powers that presume this does not apply to them.

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