Don't have to click this one, I've just seen it on TheSite. Believe me, people, it's worth a look (and none of that 'Buffering...' nonsense, either).

*how* much spin???

OK, can't get this to play, what is it exactly?

Yes, definitely an element of spin - but you do also have to remember that the section that it's from is called "My Word" as in editorial. It's therefore the opinion of the journalist, not necessarily the channel.

I don't recall anything about Gilligan reporting in Iraq. Is that true?

He probably said something along the lines of "The American forces aren't having it all their own way" when areas kept flaring up despite the American commanders declaring the areas "Clear"..

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by Kate
Yes, definitely an element of spin - but you do also have to remember that the section that it's from is called "My Word" as in editorial. It's therefore the opinion of the journalist, not necessarily the channel.

I don't recall anything about Gilligan reporting in Iraq. Is that true?

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IIRC, the Yanks had a press conferance where they said that they had taken Baghdad airport, Gilligan then did a piece where he said that he was at the airport and he couldn't see anyone there. But the airport's a pretty big place and he was outside the perimeter so was unable to confirm that they were there. If course, if you're Fox News, you just broadcast whatever the US Army tells you as unquestionable fact.

I couldn't play the excerpt, but I just have to add that you cannnot consider anything that comes out of Fox News as serious journalism. Fox News is basically a 24-hour cheering and propaganda section for the Republican Party and the Bush Administration. The "news" it presents is so totally biased that there's no point in either looking at it or considering it seriously. Its "reporters" and commentators are generally mouthpieces for Bush and those who think like him, or attack dogs set against anything, any person, or any nation the Bushies don't like. Another great Rupert Murdoch contribution to American society.

Nice to hear from you again Sandia

I don't envy your choices in the election, you basically got Kerry the Blood Brother of Bush (Both Yale Skull and Bones Members), Wes Clark the War Criminal, or a couple of good people that nobody will vote for..

Then of course you've got Hillary Clinton pencilled in for president in 2008.. Fuuuuuun..

For the second time, what does this thing say because I'm having real trouble getting Media Player to play on the uni network? Anybody? *echoes*

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by Alan
For the second time, what does this thing say because I'm having real trouble getting Media Player to play on the uni network? Anybody? *echoes*

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Sorry Alan

Basically, it's a Fox News editorial on the fallout of the Hutton report stating that the BBC are horribly biased against America and that's why they backed a "lying" reporter (Gilligan). It's a few minutes of a fat TV newcaster frothing at the mouth, really.

You really need to listen to the clip to appreciate the intemperate delivery of the piece (like Jerry Springer without the compassion), but:

Independent Media

'John Gibson is the host of The Big Story, an hour-long, early-evening show that Fox says "provides in-depth coverage and analysis of the day's top stories". Each day, Gibson, who sports a bright white bouffant hairstyle that would require planning permission anywhere outside New York City, spends the last moments of his programme delivering a sermon on the day's great events.

Here is the presenter's on-screen analysis of Andrew Gilligan and the BBC, five hours after the Hutton report was published.

"The British Broadcasting Corporation was forced to pay up for its blatant anti-Americanism before and during the Iraq war. A frothing-at-the-mouth anti-Americanism that was obsessive, irrational and dishonest.

"The BBC - the 'Beeb' - was one of the worst offenders in the British press because it felt entitled not only to pillory Americans and George W Bush, but because it felt entitled to lie. And when caught lying, it felt entitled to defend its lying reporters and executives.

"The incident involved the reporter Andrew Gilligan who made a fool of himself in Baghdad when the American invasion actually arrived in the Iraqi capital. Gilligan, pro-Iraqi and anti-American, insisted on the air that the Iraqi army was heroically repulsing an incompetent American military. Video from our own Greg Kelly of the American army moving through Baghdad at will put the light to that.

"After the war, back in London, Gilligan got a guy named David Kelly to tell him a few things about pre-war assessments on Iraq's weapons' programmes. And Gilligan exaggerated about what Kelly had told him.

"Kelly committed suicide over the story and the BBC, far from blaming itself, insisted its reporter had a right to lie, exaggerate, because, well, the BBC knew the war was wrong and anything it could say to underscore that point had to be right.

"The British government investigation slammed the BBC Wednesday and a Beeb exec resigned to show they got it.

"But they don't."

At this point, Gibson made a grab for the small badge on his jacket, and held it up to the camera. Referring to claims from the BBC that the audience for BBC World, the corporation's international news channel, rose during the Gulf War because of its impartial take on events, he continued:

"So the next time you hear the BBC bragging about how much superior the Brits are delivering the news [he adopts a British accent] rather than Americans who wear flags in their lapels, remember it was the Beeb caught lying." '

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by Stoo
I don't envy your choices in the election, you basically got Kerry the Blood Brother of Bush (Both Yale Skull and Bones Members), Wes Clark the War Criminal, or a couple of good people that nobody will vote for..

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In my usual way of really knowing how to pick a winner, I was hoping for a Howard Dean victory--for a number of reasons I won't bore you with here. At this point, of the choices I've got left who can get more than 1% of the vote, I'm also liking John Edwards.

As for Kerry, well, he's not the one of the pack I would have chosen. He's pretty good on many of the domestic issues I care about, but he's one of that pack of Washington Democrats who have been bending over backward to accommodate Bush for the last three years instead of giving him the tough opposition he deserves, and I have no patience for that crowd. He also voted to authorize the war in Iraq, which bothers me no end. Of course, I'd vote for any Democrat over George Bush. I think I'd vote for my cat over George Bush. More brains. Knows how to play well with others. So if Kerry is the nominee, I'll be pulling the lever for him in November. But I just wish we could have had someone a little less "establishment" than Kerry in the lead. But then again, there's a lot of time left and a lot of delegates left to get picked before someone actually gets the Democratic nomination. We'll see.

Ta Kate and Host, that makes things lots less confusing...

Damn, I just want to crack that guy over the head with something very big and of very little value in case I break it in the process. Hang on, I know just the thing! *calls out across the Atlantic, gets guillotine ready* Oh, George! Over here! Free pretzels!