Originally Posted by
Chugalug2
.......concentrated my mind wonderfully on the Beeb's haughty attitude to HM Forces. As the boss gave me the task of being responsible for liaising with the family of one of the deceased, I can only say that I have never felt more inadequate or humbled in the face of such grief stricken stalwart courage.
But never mind that, we are the Beeb and we've got a scoop, nothing on the other side until four hours later! ......
Not easy, I agree. One of the points I made to the Beeb was high loss rate I'd known over the years and the misery misinformation causes.
But being wrong isn't failing to achieve balance - it's just being wrong.
Regarding the scoop point you make, that's precisely were I'm coming from. Since they are financed through the licence fee, they don't need scoops. They must achieve accuracy, though. If they have the right to demand payment of the licence fee (where independents have to make a commercial gain) they have the responsibility to get their story straight, and be known for doing so.
And on that point, we need to keep complaining when they get it wrong and cross reference back to other times where they got it wrong.