Jeremy Corbyn schools a BBC reporter for the trivial media coverage of his murmurings

Jeremy Corbyn
Avatar


Jeremy Corbyn has schooled a BBC reporter for the wall-to-wall corporate media coverage of trivial matters, while outlets sideline real issues.

Across the UK press and broadcasters, the main story has been suggesting the Labour leader called Theresa May a “stupid woman”. But, on 19 December, Corbyn returned to the commons chamber to confirm he’d muttered “stupid people”, after the Conservatives had, in Corbyn’s words, turned “a debate about the national crisis facing our country into a pantomime”.

“Obsessed”

The BBC, meanwhile, continued to report on the MP for Islington’s murmurings with more rigour than it seems to apply to climate change. And Corbyn wasn’t very impressed:

“Deeply unsettling”

Speaking to the BBC, Corbyn accused the media of marginalising real issues:

You and your colleagues in the media seem utterly obsessed with this. The fact that a homeless man died outside parliament has got no coverage whatsoever.

On 18 December, a 45-year-old man without a home became the second to die outside parliament this year. Since the Conservatives came to power in 2010, rough-sleeping has increased by 169%.

In the context of such important issues, BBC Newsnight faced criticism for dedicating its show to the accusation against Corbyn on 19 December:

Accusations of bias against the BBC go beyond the opinions of viewers. Numerous academic studies have revealed systemic bias against progressive politics at the BBC. A major content analysis from Cardiff University, for instance, revealed that the BBC is pro-business and conservative-leaning in its coverage, no matter which party is in power.

“Attackdog”

As well as the BBC and the broadcast media, the UK press ran to the moon with the accusation against Corbyn:

 

But the UK press does not appear to have much credibility when it comes to the Labour leader. The London School of Economics and Political Science found strong media bias against Corbyn, claiming the press had turned into an “attackdog” against the opposition leader. According to the report, 56% of the Corbyn-related articles analysed did not give the Labour leader a voice at all.

Corbyn represents an existential threat to the status quo. With that in mind, the corporate media only exposes itself as an institutional defender of the establishment when journalists so brazenly try to damage the Labour leader’s credibility. The real story is the concentration of power over our institutions in the UK.

Featured image via BBC Politics/ Twitter

We need your help ...

The coronavirus pandemic is changing our world, fast. And we will do all we can to keep bringing you news and analysis throughout. But we are worried about maintaining enough income to pay our staff and minimal overheads.

Now, more than ever, we need a vibrant, independent media that holds the government to account and calls it out when it puts vested economic interests above human lives. We need a media that shows solidarity with the people most affected by the crisis – and one that can help to build a world based on collaboration and compassion.

We have been fighting against an establishment that is trying to shut us down. And like most independent media, we don’t have the deep pockets of investors to call on to bail us out.

Can you help by chipping in a few pounds each month?

The Canary Support us
  • Show Comments

    1. Imagine treating the Leader of the Opposition like this who has 4X the number of party members. And the press treating him like this. I’ve wondered about the English “madness” for a long while. The poem about “under the noon day sun” with the accompanying English madness.
      Just substitute ” Brexit” for the noon day sun.
      It seems only the well off can afford this madness, as is evident from hearing Sarah’s miserable plight from another article on food banks. She sounded civilized. I’m sure she has had enough of the madness in her life to have an appetite for it.
      Your human Honourable Corbyn on murmuring the Tories “stupid people’ after realizing it was a No Vote, No Backstop, No article 50. for a no deal Brexit. This is what prompted it. Who can blame him for realizing the Tories have been wasting Englands time instead of dealing with an issue the Tories created in the first place.
      Using fraud nonetheless.
      I’m in anticipation of reading the news on April Fools Day if an election is never held.

    Leave a Reply

    Join the conversation

    Please read our comment moderation policy here.

Related articles