The BBC’s Chris Mason just ADMITTED being Labour’s client journalist sell-out

The BBC’s Chris Mason just offered a masterclass in how to be a dutiful little ‘client journalist’ sell-out – this time, for the Labour Party during the general election.

The political editor has been sucking up to the Labour Party and one of its billionaire backers ahead of the election. A BBC News bulletin revealed how Mason has colluded with the party to show off its shiny new ‘trophy’ toff.

Boot-licking for a billionaire and its political pet should be an astonishingly shameful revelation for anyone in news media. Evidently however, it wasn’t, since it was Mason himself boasting about this.

Chris Mason shilling for a billionaire-backed Labour

As the Canary’s James Wright previously reported, the Labour Party has courted the support of billionaire Tory donor John Caudwell. Wright articulated that the self-professed:

“Commercial capitalist” Caudwell has backed lowering the minimum wage for young people so they are “a much more attractive value proposition” to employers. He said, in 2011, otherwise “a new society of young social scroungers” would arise.

Caudwell was also rooting for Thatcher-wannabe lackluster Liz Truss while the rest of us were backing that indisputably more prime ministerial lettuce.

Naturally then, the BBC has plastered this billionaire shithead all over its print and TV media to talk about his new-found fling with Starmer’s Labour:

Phones 4u billionaire John Caudwell on @BBCNewsnight:
“What @Keir_Starmer has done…is taken all the left out of the @UKLabour, and he’s come out with a set of values and principles in complete alignment with my views as a commercial capitalist.” pic.twitter.com/VI4drc5QoL

— Eamonn O’Tierney (@EOTierney) June 19, 2024

As one poster on X pointed out however, the corporate profiteer should have no business bleating out vapid, vested takes on the election. Unfortunately, money talks – and hell, does it have a big mouth:

Not elected by anyone but he’s got a lot of money so naturally @BBCPolitics @BBCNews is giving John Caldwell a platform in a skin-crawlingly obsequious Chris Mason interview. What a fookin country!

— Neil Jenkins (@tweetjenksy) June 18, 2024

Why are billionaires like John Caudwell appearing on BBC news trying to influence elections?
Are these people given a platform to pontificate about politics, on account of their wealth? https://t.co/f1Etjgskp4

— Ross Ahlfeld ☧ (@BremenBod) June 18, 2024

Then, the truth came out (for once). In a BBC Newscast bulletin, Chris Mason said what was probably meant to be the quiet part out loud. Specifically, he stated during the broadcast:

So, you know, political parties really sort of cherish these kind of endorsements, particularly if they can steal an endorser from their principal opponent. And so, you know, Labour were sort of proudly wanting to invite us along because he’s something of a kind of trophy if you like from their perspective.

One person on X graciously translated the media bluster from Mason:

The BBC’s Political Editor boasting about working with Labour to push their ‘trophy’ of billionaire Liz Truss supporter John Caulfield on every news bulletin pic.twitter.com/OrZy4O5WIq

— j (@jrc1921) June 19, 2024

Client journalism 101

So, the BBC’s recipe for political coverage this election? One part reporting any self-serving drivel from its current political darling Starmer. Two parts cozying up to the corporate capitalists that actually run this country ragged:

John Caldwell now supporting Labour
Starmer was so pleased he told the BBC they had to interview Caldwell (according to the 6 o’clock report)
“It’s not the Conservative Party I support,it’s Conservative Principles”- so he’s switched to Labour

🤔It’s All you need to know really!

— 🍀AlwaysTweet🍀 (@TweetNotPost) June 18, 2024

Of course, this is the BBC’s shill media in a nutshell, or as one person on X rightly called it:

Client journalism (cont.)… https://t.co/CU3V9UgUuF

— Jim McCabe (@Macca00) June 19, 2024

The Canary’s Steve Topple has previously summed this form of journalism up (if you can call it that):

“Client journalism” is where the government uses reporters for its own agenda.

Essentially, it describes how some in the media, as former corporate journalist Peter Oborne put it:

yearn for privileged access… And they are prepared to pay a price to get it.

This price involves becoming a subsidiary part of the government machine. It means turning their readers and viewers into dupes.

Sometimes, the government’s diligent client journalists take that one step further and swan over to this PR machine altogether. Maybe Chris Mason has one foot in the revolving door already. In mainstream media, it’s capitalist chummy churnalist today, party political broadcasts tomorrow:

It was a shameful piece of fake journalism. A client courtier, rushing to obey Labour’s finger crooking & producing a PPB for them. It certainly wasn’t an interview.

— Child of Alba 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 💙 (@ChildOfAlba) June 19, 2024

Not that it would be all that surprising. Topple has also previously highlighted that this is exactly what client journalists have made an ostensible art form out of doing:

We saw this with Johnson making former ITV journalist Allegra Stratton his director of comms – before she had to quit anyway over partygate.

Tony Blair had former Mirror political editor Alastair Campbell, David Cameron had former News of the World Editor Andy Coulson, and Theresa May had former BBC journalist Robbie Gibb – who’s now back in charge at the Beeb, pushing Tory agendas on the party’s behalf.

One poster on X expressed the effect of mouthpiece Mason outing this, although we might add the Beeb to that sentiment:

A good thing actually because it plainly shows that #Labour is for the billionaire class, not the working class. https://t.co/HipcwKp2DY

— JeanneTomlin (@TomlinJeanne) June 19, 2024

At the end of the day, there’s nothing remotely impartial about the BBC or the corporate media covering this election.

Of course, the Beeb is bristling in sycophantic journalists clamouring for the prime-minister-in-waiting to dish out the next government’s guff. The only difference this time, is that a client journalist said it with his chest.

Not that there’s much commendable about bragging that you’re a slippery political lickspittle – but at least Mason said it as it is for once.

Feature image via X