Tonight (4th June 2007) I saw a snippet of BBC's Newsnight.  In the snippet I saw, the overall tone was that Vladimir Putin was becoming more aggressive (scary!)  Why?  A map was displayed which showed Europe, Russia, and various borders including those of Iran and North Korea.

"The Americans wish to place defensive missiles in the Czech Republic" said the reporter "against missile attacks from Iran and North Korea", which grew bolder on the screen.

No comment WHATSOEVER about the likelihood or the political logic or ANYTHING about this statement.

"In response," continued the journalist, "Russia tested missiles along its border"--followed by pictures of missiles springing up on the now highlighted border between Russia and...us!  Because the next comment was, "Russia has now decided it needs to target european cities with nuclear warheads."

And up they sprouted, malicious mushrooms.

And no, I have nothing but anecdotal evidence.  But maybe you could watch the Newsnight broadcast from their web page?

The national BBC is sick.  Regionally, they seem to be doing okay (from where I get to listen), but their news teams have NO ANCHOR WHATSOEVER.  We're doing torture.  Are they supposed to be outraged?  Hey, they're supposed to be BALANCED.  And the historic webs of intrigue that support ALL stories...are too complicated.  Where be the balance?  In the mouths of spokespeople X, Y, and Z.  It's a joke.  It's like the old story about "When your name gets in the paper, you'll realise how wrong they are."  I've been named in a paper once, when I was fourteen and came twenty fourth (maybe) in a cross-country race.  I was "Raplph".

You can guess that here lay the first moment in my life when I became Ralph.  Such is the news from uninformed journalists.  And the BBC journalists live, it seems, in their Ivory Tower with their political mates, and some know full well what's happening, so the good programmes are still out there, and serious wires can be buzzed...

...but, pace DoDo's excellent diary, there's nothing complicated here.  Nothing you wouldn't expect from a second year student if you were the marking professor.  Historical knowledge; connecting statement to statement, looking for holes.

It's as if the BBC understands there's a wind a-blowing, but it can't get the idea into its news service.

They had a story this evening about how Tyrannosaurus Rex wasn't, maybe, the evil killer it seemed because new research into its weight showed that...hey!...it could only turn in a couple of seconds.

Luckily it had a lot of other slow-turning mammoth reptiles it could eat.  Wow!  News!

The complex analysis of who Putin is and what he is responding to...pffff.

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.