April 24, 2005
WHY WOULD YOU GO TO A TORY RALLY OTHERWISE?:
Fury at BBC sabotage of Tory speech (MURDO MACLEOD, 4/24/05, The Scotsman)
FURIOUS Tory chiefs have accused the BBC of trying to sabotage their election campaign by sending hecklers equipped with microphones to a meeting addressed by Michael Howard.The Conservatives have made an official complaint to the corporation after the hecklers - who were ‘miked-up’ by corporation technicians - were caught at a party event last week.
The Tories accuse the BBC of a "premeditated" attempt to disrupt the meeting and say the corporation should not be involved in creating news.
The BBC last night insisted the filming formed part of a programme on the history of heckling, but the revelation threatened to plunge the organisation into its biggest crisis since the David Kelly affair in 2003.
The admission that hecklers were equipped with microphones for a programme that will be viewed before polling day on May 5 leaves the BBC open to allegations that staff showed political bias, in breach of corporation regulations.
At least PBS is subtle. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 24, 2005 4:32 PM
"The BBC last night insisted the filming formed part of a programme on the history of heckling"
And Billy Bob Clinton was ministering to Monica - really!
Posted by: oswald booth czolgosz at April 24, 2005 5:09 PMThe documentary on the history of heckling is just Part I, to be followed by the history of slander and the history of rioting.
Posted by: Peter B at April 24, 2005 7:06 PMLet's hope they don't do a piece on lynching (Wild Western or Southern).
Posted by: jim hamlen at April 24, 2005 9:33 PM