Pervert the language and soon the acts of killers become benign. Ok, how about militant terrorists ? Wow, talk about PC and walking on eggs. Once upon a time in a world that if not saner, and I believe it was, a rose by another name was a what? Once upon a time the Beeb, as the BBC was called and sometimes still is, was the last word in objective reporting. Who, what, where, when and why if known. It’s said that now the network has a left bias they hardly even try to hide. I remember listening to the BBC when the staff spoke English. I mean the Queen’s English. Now however, some of the peaple who do interviews and are part of the news programs have accents that are jarring to the ear. Forgetting Hollywood, have you ever listened to someone from Scotland try and speak English? It has been my misfortune from time to time, to call somewhere and find myself at a call center in Scotland. What I’m trying to say is that there was once a standard but there no longer is. And so it is here. The vermin who killed so many innocents in Nairobi must not be called ‘terrorists’ but ... militants. They were murderous bastards who enjoyed what they did and they caused terror. So what’s with this militant crap? btw ... there are some reports of rape having occurred as well as the killings, and mutilations. Not sure yet if that is confirmed. BBC under fire over guidance preventing reporters from using the word ‘terrorist’ when covering Nairobi massacre BBC has continually referred to those behind the terror attack as ‘militants’ By Damien Gayle The BBC has come under fire for referring to the perpetrators of the Kenyan shopping mall massacre as ‘militants’ rather than ‘terrorists’. In coverage of the violence at the Westgate mall in Nairobi which has killed more than 60 the Corporation’s journalists have repeatedly described the attackers as ‘Islamic militants’. It is understood that BBC guidance issued to staff tells them to avoid using the term ‘terrorist’ without attribution, but politicians have reacted with anger to the choice of language. ‘Most members of the British public would see the planned and systematic murder of dozens of innocent people in Kenya as terrorism. ‘Sadly, the BBC looks like it has made a bad judgement call on this and is out of touch with ordinary people on a very important issue.’ In four news bulletins this morning, Neal Sleat, newsreader on Radio 4’s today programme, did not use the word ‘terrorist’ once. Instead he referred to the culprits as ‘Islamic militants’, while reporters on the BBC website describes those responsible as ‘suspected al-Shabab militants’. The BBC has come under fire before for apparent influence of political correctness on the choice of language in its journalism. In January it was criticised for calling the gang behind the Algeria hostage killings ‘militants’ rather than ‘terrorists’. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said he was disappointed that the broadcaster was ‘consistently’ using the term. The BBC has specific guidance about the word terrorist, warning its reporters that it can imply value judgements. In one report on its website about the attack at BP’s gas plant, it described the killers as ‘militants’ 12 times. The word ‘terrorist’ appeared only in a quote. Mr Bridgen quizzed David Cameron on the issue and the Prime Minister agreed that he had a ‘good point’. He added: ‘These are terrorists and they should be described as such.’ Prior to that, in 2011’s summer riots, the BBC repeatedly referred to rioters as ‘protesters’ - even as they were filmed looting shops and attacking police.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 10:58:29 +0000
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