BBC bias. Boris 51.5%: "tight margin". Hollande 51.7%: "clear victory"

The difference is one is state media, the other is private. One is funded by taxes of all teh people and one is commercial and you are free to choose not to fund it.

'The sooner the BBC is made subscription only (so those of us that don't watch it and don't want to pay for left wing propaganda are no longer forced to) the better!'

That day will never come, because then the left wing would lose its funding stream and people might choose not to subscribe.

I track to the left on some issues so am not a conspiracy theorist Tory seeing bias lurking everywhere. However, I do think the BBC is biased in much of its reporting. On economic data in particular some of the more positive data that we've seen of late has been whizzed over with no analysis, yet when bad news occurs it gets the full treatment.

To be fair this prob just balances the right wing bias of much of print media, Sky etc.

Solopower and you do realise that Channel4 is funded by the license fee in part.

The sooner the BBC is made subscription only (so those of us that don't watch it and don't want to pay for left wing propaganda are no longer forced to) the better!

Channel 4 news is worth watching. It's often interesting to see how different their 7 o'clock News is from the BBC (TV or radio). Often they choose completely different stories to focus on.

Not sure how you can avoid being biased when you are reporting the news, tbh. It's in what you choose to report, the angle you look at it from, how long you give it, what time of day you tell it, who reports it - and with new research/studies etc it's also who paid for it to be done. What I don't like is when a news organisation is lazy and just goes with whatever press releases the govt put out for the day, without choosing its own agenda.

I agree with the OP. Emily Mantlis (champaigne socialist yuk) was pratically wetting her knickers as the tories dropped like flies. The bbc are quite dreadful in their bias.

Sarko didn't want growth at the expense of austerity was my understanding...

BBC also reported that Hollande was against austerity and for growth.

Implying what? That Sarkozy was against growth?

Awful biased reporting.

BBC radio is pretty dire as well for the most part. We only really listen to 5live, Talksport and the Absolute stations.

I meant radio

commercial radio is dire

I don't watch them, we don't have any kind of TV service anymore.

do you enjoy commercials, Josephine?

The BBC is a waste of space. The sooner the licence fee is axed, the better.

I don't think Hollande was a clear victory. The margin is very tight. The analysis on the French news last night showed that if Le Pen's votes had gone to Sarkozy he'd have been returned. She must be rubbing her hands with glee!

It does like having a go at the BBC which it thinks is left leaning, but it is only quoting the Director General of the BBC in that article.

The Daily Fail always has a go at the BBC. It's almost their favourite sport second only to misogyny and just ahead of immigrants.

I had interpreted it as being to do with the gap between the first and second placed candidates:

Hollande 18,000,438
Sarkozy 16,869,371

Johnson 1,054,811
Livingstone 992,27

To some extent your view of the game will depend on where you sit in the stands.

As long as the Beeb upset both sides I think they have it about right.

Astr0naut, show your dad this. It is the Director General of the BBC saying that there was a 'massive' lean to the left at the BBC

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1308215/Yes-BBC-biased-Mark-Thompson-admits-massive-lean-Left.html

MY dad's Labour through and through, he's convinced the BBc have a tory slant. HAs done for at least my lifetime.

He only has to hear the first few sentences, then declares in disgust: "Typical BBc, always on the side of (insert current tory leader).

I think, depending on your own leanings, and depth of feeling, you always see the news as biased.

You are so right but then if they really reported on the impending doom it would distract you from building your underground refuge and prepping for world economic collapse/tsunami/asteroid hit/lights out/EMP/HAARP. Take your pick.

Someone's tin foil hat must have slipped this morning.

8-10% of all people suffer a mental illness.
8-10% of Americans watch FOXYNEWS.

Yes but the key point is the editorial preference to characterise the mayoral result as tight was consistent across both the Mail & the beeb so isn't proof of left wing bias.

What is interesting is how the rw of the tory party is claiming the mayoral result to be proof of Boris' popularity & an indication that all Cameron need do is adopt a more Boris-esque policy approach. But really what the result shows is how badly Ken did, any other decent Labour candidate would have won. Cameron knows that but is not likely to say it!

IMO the internal tensions in the tories are the most interesting thing to watch now.

Oh I have missed our looney right-wing conspiracy theorist!

Nonsense. Everybody expected Hollande to win comfortably

\link{http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2140539/France-elections-2012-Will-David-Cameron-pay-Francois-Hollande-snub.html\Dave didn't}