October 04, 2016

BBC Media City, Manchester

BBC Media City, Manchester

Source: Bigstock

And did you know that BBC Radio programming was once so atrocious that people built artificial islands out at sea and even killed each other to escape it?

Pile all that onto Auntie’s notorious, self-admitted bias, and it’s a wonder the BBC’s brand is still as strong as it is.

Because we really have to talk about those perverts.

To put “€œOperation Yewtree“€ into a U.S. context: Imagine an American network looking the other way while Captain Kangaroo, Dick Clark, and Merv Griffin molested girls (and the occasional boy) for decades”€”and got Congressional Medals of Freedom.

Then, after what it deemed a decent interval, churning out (or just cheering on) oh-so-“€œthoughtful,”€ big-name, BAFTA-bait programming “€œexploring”€ (cough) its own scandal, like a dog turning back to its vomit.

And everybody clapping.

It’s that BBC corporate culture”€”the same one that just fired a comedian for being too white“€”that I dread gaining even a toehold here in Canada, fooling everyone else with their sexy accents, adorable slang, and nifty Union Jack paraphernalia. Our existing media landscape is incestuous, insular, and ignorant enough as it is.

But during the couple of weeks that they”€™ve been in operation, the Beeb’s tiny Toronto staff (none of whom even appear to be British) has simply added “€œ& Canada”€ to the BBC.co.uk’s “€œUSA”€ tab, and only posted a few paltry stories, like “€œBrits Befuddled by Tim Hortons.”€

When they reported on a topic I know quite well”€”anti-oil activist and rig worker “€œBernard the Roughneck,”€ i.e., “€œCanada’s Joe the Plumber”€”€”I was actually let down that they got everything right, and without a whiff of the usual downtown Toronto snark, yet.

Dammit. Everyone knows the media’s only true purpose these days is to serve as an object of hatred and ridicule. Don”€™t take that away from me, BBC!

It’s been so much more fun all this time to survey your blatant bias, boundless arrogance, and bloated self-regard and mutter, like “€œThe Germans”€ about their hapless English host, “€œHowever did they win…?”€

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