The censorship of the Beeb

RAENORTH · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:38 am

Something more than an idle historical curiosity is the intriguing tale of the BBC's "dirty tricks" against the offshore pirate radio stations of the '60s, and its campaign to take them off the air. What is particularly chilling is the way the BBC was able to ban all its own presenters from broadcasting any reference to Radio Caroline, the most popular of the pirates. It also suppressed audience research on the stations' popularity and put pressure on the Conservative Party not to support the pirates.

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Peter · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:49 am

It is worth remembering that the BBC bought all the DJs and took them into the fold.Where I might add they prospered mightily.

permanentexpat · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:14 am

Caroline....ah, those were the days, or at least some of them. As for the BBC...people over the breadth of occupied Europe risked and sometimes lost their lives to hear it.
The outbreak of peace ended the glory days...and not only for the corporation but for the rest of Britain as well and, like fish, the rot starts at the head. I am glad to have experienced different &, arguably, better times.

Quote:

It is worth remembering that the BBC bought all the DJs and took them into the fold.Where I might add they prospered mightily.

Also worth remembering that everyone has his/her price.

the man from uncle · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:38 am

Danger Man was indeed a good show, inferior to the Avengers in my opinion, but then the Prisoner Patrick McGohan's next foray onto the small screen was sublime. Come to think of it, the village with its bristling spy cameras and insane laws and regulations does rather seem like life in this Sceptic Isle today.

Bee seing you.

Bert Rustle · **Joined:** Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:49 am **Posts:** 307

... The actions did nothing to dent the popularity of the [British National Party] – and how could it. For a public broadcaster that still thought [Egalitarianism] was popular [politics], there was a ready audience out there which did not want to hear what the Beeb had to offer.

What people thought – and wanted – though - didn't matter to the Beeb – not when it thought its own monopoly was at stake. As a result, we saw the exercise of naked power, culminating in [1999] with the introduction of the [The Lawrence inquiry/Racist Murder and Pressure-Group Politics]. That was a "pork-barrel" Act if ever there was one. It made it illegal to work for, advertise on or supply [nationalist groups], closing down all but one, [British National Party], which struggled on in a sort of half-life.

The point of course is that this display of raw power demonstrated what the Beeb could do when it felt threatened by the relatively modest power of the [Electorate]. Anyone who thinks the Beeb could not or would not exercise such power again – or does not – is in the land of the fairies. If government turned the screws, it would very quickly fall into line, and we would never even know. ...

Bishop Hill · **Joined:** Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:01 am **Posts:** 24

I was reading Richard Black's recent article about climate change and was struck by his failure to mention Steve McIntyre with regards to the recent Steig paper on Antarctica. I wonder if this is part of the same phenomenon.

Man at work · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:55 am

Perhaps it's just me

Quote:

Anyone who thinks the Beeb could not or would not exercise such power again – or does not – is in the land of the fairies. If government turned the screws, it would very quickly fall into line, and we would never even know.

The second sentence doesn't flow from the first. Is the "it" the BBC or the government?

A leftist reading this would think of the David Kelly/sexing up case and would imagine the BBC falling into line. Is that what you intended? If so then the BBC has a limit to its power and the first sentence is effectively negated by the second.

Sorry to be a pedant.

FU (Fed Up) · **Joined:** Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:47 pm **Posts:** 4434

You can make the same arguement about the Net, except in this case the Al-Beeb realises it can't be banned so it is trying to swamp it, though that too will not work.

In the case of the Pirates, the Al-Beeb had the Performing Rights Society on board as well, another pernicious bully still going strong, along with the Record Co's as the Pirates weren't paying royalties. Here too the Net has caused chaos in the same way as the Pirates did and the result has been a boom in live music, the only "losers" are the people who can't play and the leeches.

JeremyP · **Joined:** Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:57 am **Posts:** 54

Still going on. From Hatfield Girl

http://hatfieldgirl.blogspot.com/2009/02/occupation-of-bbc-denied-coverage-by.html

Sceptical Steve · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:35 pm

FU (Fed Up) wrote:

You can make the same argument about the Net, except in this case the Al-Beeb realises it can't be banned so it is trying to swamp it, though that too will not work.

You obviously weren't listening to this morning's BBC Breakfast TV coverage, with its approval of the notion that "something must be done" because it is still theoretically possible to access certain extreme pornography on the Net, despite an agreement with 90% of the key ISP's to prevent this.

If the government can introduce a mechanism to ban access to certain material from the Net, we know from past abuses of (most obviously, anti-terrorist) legislation that it will use the powers in whatever other areas it deems fit.

Robin · **Joined:** Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:03 pm **Posts:** 1050

Part of the answer is to clip the wings of this organisation. The best way is to deny it funds.
So remember to cancel your direct debits, only pay in cash and put your name down as the occupier or one of TV Licensing`s own personnel names.
Even better is to not pay at all. Ignore their stupid letters and dont communicate with them.

Robin · **Joined:** Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:03 pm **Posts:** 1050

Here are some places that can give you info

www.tvlicenceresistance.info/forum/index.php
www.tvlicensing.biz
www.scrap-the-bbc-tv-licence.co.cc

A good place to start;
www.televisionlicence.info gives the basics.

www.onebillionpageviews.org is for a site called No to TV Licence and has some U Tube funnies and clips of TV goons.

www.bbctvlicence.com is a really good site that tells you all you need to know.

www.uk-tvlicensingresistance.co nr is for Marmalade.net which is extensive.

This one;
www.tvlicensing.co.uk is our actual freinds site ,the one that sends the letters to ignore and the goons that you can watch standing in the rain while you dont open the door.

Is there any need to part with £139.50 a year ?

FU (Fed Up) · **Joined:** Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:47 pm **Posts:** 4434

sceptical steve

Take yr pick from 193, 000 Google pages.

such as.

If your employer or corrupt, undemocratic, dictator-based government uses a filtering service such as Secure Computing's SmartFilter to block access to BoingBoing.net -- or anything else online -- you can try the following workarounds:

* Distributed BoingBoing mirrors everything on BoingBoing.net at random IP addresses to foil filters.

* Read "Technical Ways to Get Around Censorship," a helpful primer from Reporters Without Borders: Link.

Jim Carr · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:00 pm

The Wilson-led killing of the pirate stations and the assumption of the BBC pop music monopoly was responsible for the end of the golden age of British pop music.
The BBC mindset has led us to where we are today: pop charts polluted with unimaginative dreariness such as Coldplay and tedious "R'n'B" divas.
I remember when R'n'B meant the Stones and the Yardbirds, not Leona Lewis and Mariah Carey.

Andrew · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:15 pm **Posts:** 90

So what else aren't the BBC telling us, apart from not every single school and classroom in the country having a non-white person in it? Come on, this is the net - let's hear it.

The censorship of the Beeb

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