The BBC's venom for all things BA...
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The BBC's venom for all things BA...
If you happen to be reading this and you are connected (or indeed integral to the BBC's editorial content of BBC News), could I pose a question to you please?
Why do you seem to take such a skewed view of the aviation market? Who upset you SO much in BA that you continually report on its troubled state. In other words why are you so personal?. .I've seen you give the same treatment to Marks and Spencer who could equally complain that if the 'airtime' dedicated to their company was proportional to their turnover, then the monopolies commision would have intervened long ago!
Examples of poor/skewed/corrupt journalism abound from your articles.. .1) If an incident that involves a near miss is reported that does not specify a company name, what do you invariably show from your comprehensive library? You've guessed it, BA aircraft taxying at LHR (quite often in the OLD colours!). .2) Your coverage of crashes or serious incidents is usually a little better than 'the others', but why do you never mention that many of these incidents arise due to poor attention to both the training of pilots and poor servicing of aircraft.. .3) Why do you never return to the report (unless it is sensational posturing such as the AF Concorde crash)
Please, BBC news, could you revisit your manifesto, and question whether your journalistic position has not just become another part of the global media 'junk food', that SKY always was, ITN always hoped it wasn't, and YOU are slowly becoming!
Regards
A disgruntled BA pilot.
Why do you seem to take such a skewed view of the aviation market? Who upset you SO much in BA that you continually report on its troubled state. In other words why are you so personal?. .I've seen you give the same treatment to Marks and Spencer who could equally complain that if the 'airtime' dedicated to their company was proportional to their turnover, then the monopolies commision would have intervened long ago!
Examples of poor/skewed/corrupt journalism abound from your articles.. .1) If an incident that involves a near miss is reported that does not specify a company name, what do you invariably show from your comprehensive library? You've guessed it, BA aircraft taxying at LHR (quite often in the OLD colours!). .2) Your coverage of crashes or serious incidents is usually a little better than 'the others', but why do you never mention that many of these incidents arise due to poor attention to both the training of pilots and poor servicing of aircraft.. .3) Why do you never return to the report (unless it is sensational posturing such as the AF Concorde crash)
Please, BBC news, could you revisit your manifesto, and question whether your journalistic position has not just become another part of the global media 'junk food', that SKY always was, ITN always hoped it wasn't, and YOU are slowly becoming!
Regards
A disgruntled BA pilot.
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1. BA has a long established PR department - why don't they provide the BBC with up-to-date footage of the latest colours along with footage of other airlines so that they have a better choice. I'm sure it's no-one's job in the Beeb to keep the aviation library current - let the industry do it for them.
2. These two reasons can only be established long after the incident and long after it's headline news.
3. Again, public interest is soon gone - only enthusiasts are interested in aircraft if they haven't crashed.
Maybe it's just BA's time to be in the news - grin and bear it - make a fuss and you'll be in it even more! I can see it now in the Sun " Pilots shun publicity - What are they hiding?"
2. These two reasons can only be established long after the incident and long after it's headline news.
3. Again, public interest is soon gone - only enthusiasts are interested in aircraft if they haven't crashed.
Maybe it's just BA's time to be in the news - grin and bear it - make a fuss and you'll be in it even more! I can see it now in the Sun " Pilots shun publicity - What are they hiding?"
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I think the point being made was why when a story is related to the airline industry in general, especially if it is negative is the library footage of BA aircraft. Maybe it's because there are so many of them that you can't switch a camera on at an airport and not film BA.
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Or maybe its just the Media's apparent enjoyment of "Kicking a Man When He's Down". It sells papers and attracts TV viewers. Says a lot about the state of the country though doesn't it.
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BBC's alledged venom for all things BA is probably matched historically by BA's venom for all things easyjet.
Sorry guys but recently in another thread I and others from easy were criticised for always jumping to the defence of our company when it was under attack - see why?
Incidently, the library footage of BA aircraft with the bad news of the general aviation industry, is the probably the there for the same reason that BA always get free advertising library footage whenever the aviation industry in general is on the news for whatever reason - nobody complained then did they!
Where is Augustus Nutwinkle?
Sorry guys but recently in another thread I and others from easy were criticised for always jumping to the defence of our company when it was under attack - see why?
Incidently, the library footage of BA aircraft with the bad news of the general aviation industry, is the probably the there for the same reason that BA always get free advertising library footage whenever the aviation industry in general is on the news for whatever reason - nobody complained then did they!
Where is Augustus Nutwinkle?
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Land ASAP - I can't claim to be integral to the news machine, but I'll do my best to come up with some answers:. .- BA is on the news agenda because of its importance, both as a national airline and as an employer. When jobs are lost (or likely to be lost), it will make the headlines because of the huge impact on people's (viewers/listeners) lives. That's why the loss of jobs at Dyson's Malmesbury factory is in the news this morning. . .- if a near miss is reported, there won't be any pictures, so tv has to fall back on library pics. It should be clear, either on screen (with the caption 'library pictures') or in the script that the aircraft shown is not the one involved in the incident...do ring the Information Office at the Beeb if you feel the pics are misleading. And you're right, that footage should not be showing the old BA colours.. .- Sir Kitt makes a good point about why news doesn't attribute blame when reporting a crash or serious incident, and I'd add another: it would be potentially defamatory to report that a person or a company is at fault.. .- Sadly, news rarely returns to report the results of an investigation/inquiry because it will not be deemed to be newsworthy enough, as Sir Kitt suggests. The AF Concorde crash was an exception because of the number of lives lost, the symbolic importance of that beautiful aircraft to this country, and because France is a neighbour.
Regards, SM
[ 06 February 2002: Message edited by: sleepy meerkat ]
[ 06 February 2002: Message edited by: sleepy meerkat ]</p>
Regards, SM
[ 06 February 2002: Message edited by: sleepy meerkat ]
[ 06 February 2002: Message edited by: sleepy meerkat ]</p>
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Gypsy - pot, kettle, black? Ring any bells? When was the last time Easyjet ran an advert that didn't allude to BAs 'rip off' fares, often to the point of gross dishonesty. Have they ever done one? If BA did that to Easyjet you'd all be screaming 'dirty tricks', but it seems quite OK for you to do it. Its your double standards that wind us up.
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Land ASAFP obviously did not see the oleaginous grovelling from Frost when Rod managed to stagger out of bed early a couple of Sundays back.....not one pertinent question put to the Biffa Bull****ter, perhaps excessive use of Concorde addles ones journalistic instincts..... <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">
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I think it is simple and true to say that BA is quite simply the 'Yard Stick' when it comes to anything aviation. When you are the size of BA and still one of the worlds best airlines you have got to expect the jealous and envious jibes to always come your way. They can say what they like but it's how we perform on the day that counts. . .As Oscar Wilde so famously said, " There is only one thing worse than been talked about,And that's not been talked about". So say what you like BBC and any other <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">
Pete
Pete
