At around 7.45 this morning, BBC Radio 4’s ‘flagship current affairs programme’, interviewed Dylan Jones, the editor of GQ magazine. GQ have just released the cover of their latest magazine, due for publication next week, featuring a picture of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn:
Jones was allowed several minutes to describe Corbyn in a variety of disparaging ways, from a ‘grandpa’ pushed around by his ‘minders’ to a ‘wizard of Oz’ character lacking in substance, as well as describing the supposed disillusionment of young GQ staffers who had expected him to be able to ‘turn water into wine’.
Jones was also allowed to describe the interview as ‘torturous’ and to describe Corbyn as ‘myopic’, ‘divisive’ and shallow, claiming that when asked he was unable to name his business advisers or any book he had read.
All without serious challenge or probing from his BBC interviewer.
The interview prompted a ‘pile-on’ by the usual suspects, such as right-winger Julia Hartley-Brewer and pavlovian Corbyn critic Jane Merrick. But it was challenged by some who are not known as fans but know more about him, such as Buzzfeed’s Jim Waterson, who identified the dissonance of the claim that Corbyn could not name advisers, or books he had read:
Indeed. Or that he simply didn’t trust GQ not to misrepresent such details and was taking a cautious approach. Rightly so, in light of the magazine’s editor going onto national radio this morning to talk him down.
The Huffington Post has already been able to verify that Dylan Jones was not even at the interview and was at best reporting hearsay. But as Buzzfeed’s editor, Janine Gibson, pointed out above when she responded to her colleague, there was another, quite major issue with Jones’ comments.
The fact that he is closely linked to a Tory party that is currently terrified of Corbyn and desperately scrabbling around for a way to undermine him:
Jones’ Wikipedia entry describes his support for the Tory party. The Times reported in 2008 that he paid David Cameron almost £20,000 to write the former PM’s biography.
Not exactly a neutral (non-)witness.
This is, of course, far from the only time that the BBC has ‘failed’ in its responsibility to fairly represent the leader of a major political party.
The BBC’s Newsnight programme was forced to issue a public admission of its ‘mistake’ last week, when it broadcast what it said was Corbyn’s response to Philip Hammond’s Budget speech – and the SKWAWKBOX revealed that it showed an eight-month-old clip instead.
Then BBC News subtitles showed Corbyn’s speech congratulating Prince Harry on his engagement – and substituted ‘Hezbollah’ for the words ‘his brother’.
Now we have the BBC interviewing a Tory about Corbyn – and failing to mention either that he is a Tory or that he did not see the events himself.
One such ‘slip’ can be a mistake. Two in ten days could be considered a coincidence.
Three times starts to look like a pattern.
The SKWAWKBOX asked Radio 4 why there had been no mention of Jones’ Tory affiliations in the interview and why he was not probed about these or his second-hand knowledge of events. The station has not so far responded.
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Agree that Dylan Jones was given free rein to ‘neg’ Corbyn, however may I suggest you check the ‘Hezbollah’ assertion as I suspect this was simply a computer speech recognition error.
This was checked with technical experts – it’s a speech-recognition system but not working from Corbyn’s own words. A re-speaker repeats the words so the machine can be calibrated to his/her voice for consistency. Not perfect, but not conclusive either. In isolation, yes, it’s an error – but the ‘errors’ keep mounting up all on one side of the scale
The BBC is on a mission. On PM the other day they had a long discussion between some big wig in Progress and a journalist who was said to be a Momentum Supporter about “deselection” of Labour Rightwing candidates. Three times the Progress guy reduced his argument against the hard left by recourse to the “riddled with anti Semites” theme. Unfortunately the journalist didn’t probe what on earth that had to do with Harringey Council but it did make the point that the real difference between Labour left and right is one of foreign policy, not housing or re-nationalisation. Israel First or an ethical policy. Nobody in the media dares point this out because of course that would be anti Semetic. The presenter Muir, long seen as resolutely anti Corbyn, put on his best doom laden voice to thank the pair for helping.
Absurd, Corbyn is known to be very well read
Not as bad as Ed’s tussle with the S*n [shudders]
But a lesson that whenever you co-operate with the mainstream media, they will use it against you.
Every time, without fail.
BBC doing it’s rotten best to support the Tory Party time and again, it’s a disgrace, to think the Tories and the BBC kick off over people doing interviews for RT because they say it’s biased and tells lies, laughable.
I know who Jeremy Corbyn is!
Who the f, is Dylan Jones when he’s at home?
He reads like a proper want-t-be!
Get a life, stop trying to hard to make your name mean something!
I neither wish to be vulgar nor to objectify Mr Corbyn but let’s be honest, he does look the absolute dog’s bollocks on the GQ front cover doesn’t he.
He looks simply prime ministerial. It is a quite magificent photo.
Here comes CORBYN!
I’m not knocking him, but has this cover got just a hint of air-brushing to it, perhaps…?
Reblogged this on The Night Owl and commented:
I’m really sickened by the so-obvious way that the BBC is using their clout to blacken Jeremy Corbyn’s character.
This is a man of principle, who is doing a brilliant job against the mounainous odds against him – with the Tory machine gunning for him at every turn.
The sooner the tories are chased out of office, and Jeremy replaces May, the better for this country!
Yes as we Pro-JC working class socialist people would perhaps say – Jeremy can scrub up!
Please submit the accompanying prepared letter to Theresa May, and circulate as widely as possible. Thanks
BRILLIANT YOU ALL MUST DO THIS ! NOW
Reblogged this on disabledsingleparent.
Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.
At the bottom of every BBC webpage is a line saying “Why you can trust the BBC News”… it links to all their ‘editorial’ and journalistic policies, where their supposed ‘impartiality’ is stated clearly. The problem is, they aren’t impartial, as this [again], clearly illustrates.
Perhaps people could complain more *to* the BBC??
IF I SAID IT ONCE I SAID A NUMBER OF TIMES!
DAILY POLITICS, MARR, PESTTON, QT, THIS WEEK AND NEWSNIGHT, ARE ALL A RIGHT WING FRONT FOR A PARTY POLITIC BROADCASTS ON BEHALF OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY!
99% OF POLITICIANS AND PUNDITS THAT APPEAR ARE RIGHT WING, NO MATTER THE PARTY!
NO BALLANCE WHATSOEVER!
AS THE TORIES SAID “THE BBC WAS BIASED TOWARDS LABOUR”, WILL THEY SWITCH THEIR ALLIANCE FROM THE TORIES?
OR, WILL THEY BECOME LIKE THE REST OF THE MEDIA, COMMERCIAL?
THEY THEN CAN FLY THEIR TRUE BLUE COLOURS?
WE CAN STOP PAYING THROUGH THE NOSE, TO VIEW WHAT WE CAN GET FOR FREE!