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Just finishing the first part on BBC2 - basically a documentary about the bit of a mess of the Tories/government since 2016, with interviews with various leading players.
Proper car crash, rubber necking TV, but fascinating precisely because of that.
She would know having been rather close to the No. 10 press office.
This makes interesting reading
Will watch it, but guess it'll make me even more hacked off at those who voted for this shower of grifters and idiots.
“Johnson at Ten” is worth a read. The section about Covid just beggars belief.
Just read the BTL comments on the Guardian review. Sounds like revisionist history fronted by a client journalist who is partly to blame for enabling this horror show. The Beeb see the wagon wheels falling off the cart and are putting out stuff like this to say "wasn't me Guv".
“Johnson at Ten” is worth a read.
It's an extraordinary book. The first since my undergrad days that I've marked in the margin I think!
Thanks for the tip on the book.
I saw it and understood it to have quite a narrow scope, about the implosion(s) of the Conservative government(s) and the political skulduggery behind that. With that in mind, it seemed OK.
Just to join in the LK pile on...
How did someone who writes as poorly as her make it as a journalist of any sort?
I know she's predominantly a broadcast rather than print journalist but her writing is dreadful.
For balance will the BBC be covering the Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, EU and remainer view of this? Probably not.
For balance will the BBC be covering the Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, EU and remainer view of this? Probably not.
No need. IIRC according to the BBC (at the time) the vote was so overwhelmingly pro leave, there is no need to consider the tiny number who voted to remain.
Bizarrely it had a nice aerial shot of Todmorden in it where you can see STW towers and my local boozer. That was probably the highlight.
LK seems to have zero awareness that she is part of the problem. You can see in the childish excitement she displays that politics is nothing more than a big soap opera to her, and her gossipy hack pieces were central to the dysfunction. And then she tries to do a high and mighty 'how did it all go wrong' doc? Amazing.
Are they still blaming everyone else?
I heard her trailing this yesterday morning and decided I wouldn't watch it because it would make me angry.
She regards the whole thing as nothing more than an opportunity for her to be excited about chaos and to make a name for herself. On the trailer she was actually bemoaning the relative stability of UK politics prior to 2016.
She is barely a reporter - she likes to think of herself as an influencer but still pretends to be a reporter. She isn't, she's utterly complicit in this current mess and she has done it willingly and consciously. She was practically a microphone for Cummings (remember him?) et al.
Dreadful person.
She never did anything to ask "but isn't that made up bollox" to those she was fawning over. Because she knew if she did call out the lies and deceit, she'd not be their pet mouthpiece given the access she had, in the BBC.
I used to be a big supporter of the BBC, in the days of quality journalism. But for the past 10-15 years it's got worser and worserer.
Even I'd just now just scrap nearly all of it - in its bid to be 'unbiased' it totally fails to do anything other than broadcast and amplify the lies and tripe that is given to them.
(And excluding D Attenborough, Spring/summer/autumn/winter Watch, and a couple of other wildlife docs, its all mind numbing dross or dumbed down pseudo-science. What happened to decent intelligent documentaries or insights where the viewer wasn't assumed to had severe ADHD and had to have everything repeated to them 7 times.)
i hated to see the pile-ons on LK at the time, because she was getting it in the neck from all sides - from the tories who are convinced the BBC are lefty revolutionaries, from the lefties who believe it's a neoliberal hellscape, and from the people who thought she was just crap.
But she WAS just crap!
As that Byline Times article highlights - she's great as an energetic, stand out the front of parliament, keeping up on all the latest rumours of who's in, who's out, what's the word on the political streets, type of reporter. But an Editor role means being a lot more discerning. Which, for whatever reason, she didn't do.
Even I’d just now just scrap nearly all of it – in its bid to be ‘unbiased’ it totally fails to do anything other than broadcast and amplify the lies and tripe that is given to them.
This. I wouldn't mourn the BBC if it was abolished tomorrow. Just another 'state broadcaster' along the lines of Russia, China etc.
Even I’d just now just scrap nearly all of it – in its bid to be ‘unbiased’ it totally fails to do anything other than broadcast and amplify the lies and tripe that is given to them.
It does do that, and has programming that manages that just fine. I think the issue for Kuennesberg was two fold. 1. Her first job was to absolutely report the goings on at Westminster in a "live outside No10 way" that could leave the careful analysis, combative interviewing to others. She was literally just Johnny on the spot. which was fine, but she didn't seem to change that when she became the person that should be carefully analysing and combatively interviewing what politicians were saying,
and 2.The sorts of barefaced lying and contempt for norms that was amplified by the Johnson Govt threw any notions of fairness out the window. The sorts of political reporting that the BBC is set up to do only works when both sides have agreed to a set of working principles that broadly fall into "This is really what we think or what we'll do, and you can report it verbatim in the knowledge that we'll stick to it" when one side of that has determined that they will use the BBC (that they hold in contempt); to broadcast crap, and at the same time hold them to ransom if they do not means that rather than hold the Johnson govt to account, people direct their ire at the BEEB who're are just trying to do their job. They failed becasue the Johnson gvt made it their business to make sure that happened, and there was nothing (realistically) the BBC could do about it via Kuenesberg.
TL:DR Cummings was smarter than the directors of the BEEB and used it to his advantage becasue he's a psychopathic scheming sack of shit with no morals.
Just another ‘state broadcaster’ along the lines of Russia, China etc.
Have you ever watched state TV in Russia or China, especially the domestic feeds? It's quite eye-opening if you have.
Her first job was to absolutely report the goings on at Westminster in a “live outside No10 way” that could leave the careful analysis, combative interviewing to others
She was the politics EDITOR, wasn't she ? Wouldn't the editor be exactly the person expected to lead or at minimum, direct, "the careful analysis, combative interviewing"
Well that all may be true about LK but it's an interesting and possibly significant thing to have made.
Despicable,complicit, arrogant, stupid, moronic, unethical, immoral and uncaring without a shred of humanity.
Snake eyed and worm tongued.
I wouldn’t mourn the BBC if it was abolished tomorrow
I'd miss BBC4. Other than that (maybe some sports coverage - athletics particularly) YMMV
Just another ‘state broadcaster’ along the lines of Russia, China etc.
I was thinking exactly that as I watched the new documentary ‘Putin - 20 Years of Chaos’ on Russia Today
The thing that did it for me was the amount of air time they gave farage 'in the interest of balance'.
LK pretty much compounded the issue, and gave the nastiness a friendly face to the hard of thinking ... she may as well call her self 'tory correspondent' rather than news reporter.
She's complicit in the decline of the UK, absolutely complicit.
I'm far from a fan of LK but the vitreol in this thread I find a bit puzzling, in fact, possibly troubling. Nobody woke up hating Kuennesberg that much so somebody is feeding that hatred, and if you really believe that you just happen to have all the insight into how evil she is just from your one intellect - then surely most people in the country with a fraction of your intellect could see through her.
I wouldn’t mourn the BBC if it was abolished tomorrow.
I bloody well would. It needs protecting from govts and perhaps reform, but we need it. Everyone needs a state funded impartial, free and non-commercial broadcaster. The BBC doesn't currently tick all those boxes but it could.
@poly - honestly, have a read of this -> https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/30/laura-kuenssberg-bbc-political-editor-was-a-catastrophic-systemic-failure/ < The case is not that she's evil, rather that she was the wrong person for that particular job (of Political Editor), with the wrong bosses (terrified of the Tories) at the wrong time (arguably the first time the UK Prime Minister's office had been known to lie so brazenly and frequently)
Nobody woke up hating Kuennesberg that much
I don’t hate her at all, just don’t really think she is very impartial in respect of this particular time in her career
Everyone needs a state funded impartial, free and non-commercial broadcaster. The BBC doesn’t currently tick all those boxes but it could.
Is that really the case?
C4 and Sky are none of those, but I consider their News to be higher quality than the the BBC.
if you really believe that you just happen to have all the insight into how evil she is just from your one intellect – then surely most people in the country with a fraction of your intellect could see through her.
Depends what you expect from the BBC, I guess. I didn't want a TV version of the Sun, thanks
I hate the failure of the BBC news "machine" to provide anything other than almost totally unthinking non-crtical reportage of whatever shite was fed to it, particularly from the Johnson/Cummings perspective. The individuals principally responsible for that critical thinking/review were its editorial staff. Sure, their managers might've made them do it but those with anything about them made that implication clear enough to get themselves moved sideways (or, yeah, sacked). Those who didn't were complicit in the <whatever> and should have the slef-awareness to at least not now look back and say "ooooh, they were bullshitters, weren't they?" when their job was to do that several years ago. They should leave that to the ones with some moral credibility
C4 and Sky are none of those, but I consider their News to be higher quality than the the BBC.
Yes - earlier versions of the BBC raised the bar for all broadcasters systemically. Just look at the cesspit that is the US media, where every news outlet is nothing but a political campaign platform. You don't want that.
poly
Free Member
I’m far from a fan of LK but the vitreol in this thread I find a bit puzzling, in fact, possibly troubling.
I you are not referring to me! I've had her pegged as a tory mole within the BBC ever since I was aware of her existence.
Or at least a sympathetic shill.
Probably sometime in 2015.
David Attenborough can't have much left in him... He's getting on a bit... Once he's dead... What is the BBC really for?
Just another ‘state broadcaster’ along the lines of Russia, China etc.
Have you ever watched state TV in Russia or China, especially the domestic feeds? It’s quite eye-opening if you have
Exactly - it has many faults, and her not challenging when she should have been was one of them, but the state broadcaster line just displays a magnificent level of prejudice and/or ignorance regarding genuinely government controlled media.
Controlled directly /controlled by proxy.
Same/same.
The purposely loaded panels and audiences in QT to be in favour of brexit..
That's an open mental wound for me that won't be forgotten in a hurry, if ever.
Having balanced views is one thing, but pandering to the extreme right and preying on the prejudice of certain demographics of the unintelligent public is not balance.
It's corruption and abuse.
And now we reap what was sowed.
This site is really becoming a conspiracy site - what a bunch of weirdos
I'm not talking about conspiracy... I'm talking about documented history!?
On the 'precious' BBC, no less!
Sadly it's not just been the Tories that have been responsible for the decline in the BBC's reporting, I remember it being described as declining greatly following the David Kelly affair under New Labour. It became much more timid and cautious about challenging the government after that mess.
The purposely loaded panels and audiences in QT to be in favour of brexit..
The first QT with Nigel Farage on it broke records for audience viewing figures. It feels like a better explanation (to me at least) as to why a broadcaster would repeat it so often.
the vitreol in this thread I find a bit puzzling, in fact, possibly troubling. Nobody woke up hating Kuennesberg that much so somebody is feeding that hatred, and if you really believe that you just happen to have all the insight into how evil she is just from your one intellect
Echo chambers exist to re-enforce people's preferred narratives, and to banish any self doubt they might have. Obviously without any counter balance this spirals into ever increasing positions of extremism.
It is almost as if people are trying to outcompete each other for who can express the most hatred. And yes, it is troubling. It's certainly not the basis for intelligent debate.
Political threads on stw might have different titles but the texts remain largely the same...... "We all despise the Tories, and all Tories are thick and stupid" and crucially, so are most voters, in other words everyone who doesn't vote correctly.
I am not Laura Kuennesberg's number one fan. As far as I am concerned she was part of the establishment stitch up of Jeremy Corbyn.
It doesn't however lead to make ridiculous comparisons with the state media in Russia, a country where journalists who don't tow the establishment line are simply murdered.
Or claim that she is a despicable,complicit, arrogant, stupid, moronic, unethical, immoral and uncaring without a shred of humanity and personally complicit in the decline of the UK.
10 or 15 years ago political threads on stw were very different. There was a healthy mix of political opinions, and I dare say that some people's opinions on issues were probably changed through persuasion. Today it is a far more hostile and toxic, and people's opinions simply become more entrenched through validation.
Still, it no doubt fulfills a need so I don't expect it to change, just to become even less tolerant. It is clear imo that some people need a vehicle to express their anger and frustrations, stw provides that.
The first QT with Nigel Farage on it broke records for audience viewing figures. It feels like a better explanation (to me at least) as to why a broadcaster would repeat it so often.
but an impartial state broadcaster should not be swayed by such considerations. And now we have a special segment on the news whenever Nigel Farage farts. Meanwhile the Farage Seat on QT has been filled by Kate Andrewx, ex Tufton St recipient of murky cash and arch opponent of the NHS. Easy to make funny jokes about Russia Today but at the end of the day the BBC are headed down that path. Ch4 news has been better than bbc for ages and now Sky are also better. Even ITV seem to have better news coverage. Time to pull the plug on this shower and stick to documentaries. Oh. But the Beeb didn’t broadcast David Attenborough’s last film for fear of offending the Tories. Oh well. Reruns of Fools And Horses it is, then.
Pook
Full MemberHow she can be so rubber necked to report this way and not take a single morsel of responsibility is beyond me.
I constantly expected her to giggle, turn to camera and whisper "I did that". Was also a bit surprised to not hear "grim", the Kuennesberg code for "I know this didn't really happen but I am reporting it as if it did"
(Peston did pretty much the exact same thing after the financial crisis, lots of articles etc about how SOME people had been irresponsible and had spread misinformation and scare stories or represented things in ways that would be misunderstood by their audience. PSSSST, "I did that!")
Nice to see the BBC making more use of Victoria Derbyshire, especially now she seems to be a permanent fixture on Newsnight. No softball questions to Tory ministers on her watch. She’s a Rottweiler. She should always have got the QT gig instead of Fiona Bruce
It doesn’t however lead to make ridiculous comparisons with the state media in Russia, a country where journalists who don’t tow the establishment line are simply murdered.
Jeez it was a tongue-in-cheek comparison. I don't know about STW becoming a platform for people to vent their anger, but it's certainly lost any sense of humour it once had. Not everything everyone says has to be forensically and pedantically deconstructed. 🙄
Besides, you already reference LK's part in stitching Corbyn up. The UK govt might not murder the likes of Owen Jones but it doesn't need to, the UK establishment have long since mastered the art of getting what they what without resorting to violence. You can take that as a good or bad thing depending on your point of view.
Echo chambers exist to re-enforce people’s preferred narratives, and to banish any self doubt they might have......It is almost as if people are trying to outcompete each other for who can express the most hatred. And yes, it is troubling. It’s certainly not the basis for intelligent debate.
Sometimes it comes across that way
I am, unfortunately, exposed to the right wing Brexity echo chamber that my parents inhabit, and I can assure you, the cause of this great nations decline is the tofu eating woke leftie marxists that run the BBC and brainwash us with their communist propaganda.
I figure if you can outrage both ends of the spectrum, the truth probably lies in the middle.
Somewhere in the middle. But when it comes to preparing people for their voting responsibility… not “the” middle.
Anyway, I like LK. As a political gossip gatherer, stirrer and deliverer she was ace. That she was promoted and had so much exposure based on that skill… well, that’s the fault of others. I don’t mind her obvious bias either, but only when it’s watered down by balanced (or indeed biased in other ways) content from others. We had far too much of her, during a time when UK politics was failing and flailing. It’s no surprise that she has riled so many people.
Haven’t watched yet… but I will.
what a bunch of weirdos
That's rich coming from a privately educated, elite university product with views closer to Rees-Mogg than anyone on the fourm. 🙂
The BBC: Gulf war and Brexit facilitating cap doffing to the wrong people.
Laura Kuennesberg: a useful fool.
Laura Kuennesberg: a useful fool.
I'm sure she gets paid very well. She knows what side her bread is buttered on.
The purposely loaded panels and audiences in QT to be in favour of brexit
Not really. But forever trying to strike balance when there are 100 economists who think brexit is a shit idea and 1 that thinks it's brilliant, and giving both views equal representation, the beeb was definitely guilty of.
But the Beeb didn’t broadcast David Attenborough’s last film for fear of offending the Tories.
Jeez not this shit again 🙄
IT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE BROADCAST
Jeez not this shit again 🙄
IT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE BROADCAST
because … ?
DrJFull Member
Jeez not this shit again 🙄IT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE BROADCAST
because … ?
it was an iPlayer only commission. Happens a lot these days.. will happen a lot more in the future
Don’t believe all you read in the daily mail.
it was an iPlayer only commission. Happens a lot these days.. w
really? Can you give us some more examples of where the Beeb commission 5 programmes for prime time broadcast and commission a 6th for iplayer only?
Oh god...just do a bit of reading. Even before it was released the BBC had said it was 5 broadcast episodes and one on iplayer.
Oh god…just do a bit of reading. Even before it was released the BBC had said it was 5 broadcast episodes and one on iplayer.
oh god … just do a bit of thinking. What was it about the 6th episode that made them treat it differently?
Of course! Why didn't i think of that!
Why didn’t i think
of that!
FTFY
It's cos i forgot to wear my tinfoil hat i suppose 🙄
Come on - my hat is made of aluminium, not tin, And Kitty's!
Now if you dont believe They are at it - how the Swear Filter Avoidance, did I get redirected to Space Karen's zombie social media site when I first tried to edit in Kitty?
Tell me that! Do your own research!
It is inspired by the Wild Isles series but not part of it and therefore BBC have acquired it for iPlayer.
“therefore” ? What logic is being alluded to ?
Anyway, ignoring the conspiracy theory nutjobs for a minute...the best thing about the program has to be Geoffrey Cox's trousers. Truly magnificent 😂
Tell us you’re clueless without telling us you’re clueless…
Watching RT in the run up to the Ukraine invasion before the ban was uncomfortably like watching the BBC in the run up to Iraq. Both events viewed with German Eins Extra and French TF1 reporting as the alternative.
RT and the BBC demonising the enemy, both carrying misleading propaganda, both peddling government lies.
Anyway, ignoring the conspiracy theory nutjobs for a minute
I hadn't even been aware of the extent of the BBC conspiracy theory, but it's obviously a popular one.
Truly magnificent
It's been a while since I've seen trousers that skim the sternum. Fabulous
Just watching it and the Brexit vote feels like a lifetime ago, due to everything these bastards have inflicted on us all since then. Not a single one of them with any nobler motives than their own personal advancement. Boris *ing Johnson being at the forefront of that. More than happy to wreck the whole system of government to serve his own interests
It also has the feel of a post-mortem of something that died quite some time ago, namely the Tory party. I’d very much like the death of the Tory party to be the legacy of that self-serving * Johnson
Political party makes appointments beneficial to themselves.. Hardly mind control radar from Atlantis.
Nice to see the BBC making more use of Victoria Derbyshire, especially now she seems to be a permanent fixture on Newsnight. No softball questions to Tory ministers on her watch. She’s a Rottweiler.
Funny you should say that, Victoria was on Newsnight last night with an American Bully XL and the hound looked uncomfortable.
Liked her 5 live breakfast.
Geoffrey Cox’s trousers/dungarees really are quite something
Behind the stupid cartoon persona, Rees Mogg really is a fully paid up fascist, isn’t he?
What's remarkable is that people like LK are still employed as journalists/presenters. I've just had a look at some of her past achievements which are mainly a series of gaffs, manipulations, blatant bias and warnings yet she's still there poisoning the airwaves and digital streams.
The whole first part is obviously setting the scene for Johnson's arrival just in time for the pandemic. Be interesting to see how he is treated by her, that will tell us a lot about how close exactly she was to Cummings etc.
It is a bit Car Crash TV but strangely I want to watch the next part.