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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: thames_sider who wrote (100159)6/4/2003 8:01:13 AM
From: John Carragher  Respond to of 281500
 
do not have a source .. remember reading it on posts perhaps here and in papers... Maybe someone can add to subject... I understood the British Navy during Iraq invasion would not allow bbc on their ships due to imbalanced reporting...



To: thames_sider who wrote (100159)6/4/2003 8:49:00 AM
From: Ish  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 281500
 
<<I've never heard that, and it seems most unlikely - got any source? I can certainly ask around, if you can provide any meaningful substantiation.
There may be censorship/restrictions on broadcasting to/from vessels in battlezones? but I do doubt anything BBC-specific.>>

It was the HMS Ark Royale, the flag ship, that turned off BBC because the felt it was slanted pro Iraq. It was mentioned in the electronic media but I didn't see it in print.



To: thames_sider who wrote (100159)6/4/2003 11:13:29 AM
From: mistermj  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 281500
 
HMS Ark Royal switches off BBC
Richard Hargreaves of the News
Tuesday April 8, 2003
media.guardian.co.uk


HMS Ark Royal: sailors angered by BBC's war coverage

Military leaders have axed the BBC from the nation's flagship amid claims of pro-Iraqi bias.
The navy has switched off rolling news channel News 24 aboard HMS Ark Royal following weeks of grumbling from the crew.

Sailors on the Portsmouth-based aircraft carrier currently in the Gulf have become increasingly disenchanted with the BBC's slant on the war.

Ark Royal is one of a handful of taskforce ships to receive live TV directly from Britain.

Rolling news and two entertainment channels are beamed into the warship as part of the navy's efforts to improve the crew's creature comforts.

The sailors appreciate being kept in touch with home and world events but officers and ratings alike have been angered by the BBC's coverage of the war to date.

A BBC correspondent has been on board the flagship. The crew has no gripe with his reports but they were particularly incensed by remarks presenters and commentators made about the carrier's Sea King tragedy a fortnight ago, when the BBC suggested poor levels of maintenance played a hand in the deaths of seven troops.

Sailors also believe the BBC places more faith in Iraqi reports than information coming from British or coalition sources.

"The BBC always takes the Iraqis' side," one senior rating complained.

"It reports what they say as gospel but when it comes to us it questions and doubts everything the British and Americans are reporting. A lot of people on board are very unhappy."

Ark Royal switched off News 24 on Sunday, replacing it with rival Sky News.