Free Republic

By Nahema Marchal | 2:58 pm, December 29, 2016 When the issue of “fake news” came to prominence at the end of this year’s election cycle, traditional media outlets were the firsts to engage in relentless finger-pointing. Journalists everywhere deplored the spread of misleading, lazily reported and, in some cases, totally fabricated stories that had been facilitated by social media. That’d be ignoring — of course — that in a competitive media climate where virality and accuracy go head-to-head, editors will often go for a catchier headline, at the expense of factual accuracy. And as one writer at HEqual noted,...

This is a really well done documentary series on naval history. It is rather long but worth watching. Empire of the Sea (pt 1 of 4)

WASHINGTON -- On Friday, the BBC enlisted me to defend my support of Donald Trump for president. Though the ensuing television interview was conducted in English, I found it incomprehensible. I was speaking in my native tongue to two apparently intelligent English-speaking women, yet their responses to my clear, if amused, rejoinders amounted to gibberish. They sought to understand Trump's victory but did not have the most elementary understanding of the American democratic process or any grasp of rational thought. I detected no whiff of alcohol on their breath or any other sign of inebriation. They showed no sign of...

A BBC chief insists she is 'proud' of the controversial programme targeting children as young as six about a schoolboy who takes sex-change drugs. Children's director Alice Webb defended Just A Girl after parents reacted angrily to the CBBC show, which depicts an 11-year-old's struggle to get hormones that stunt puberty, making it easier to have sex-change surgery in the future. Concerned campaigners said it could 'sow the seeds of confusion' in young minds. But Ms Webb said the BBC has a duty 'to make sure that we are stimulating conversation'.

I never turn down BBC and today was no exception. But I have to say I was disappointed with his performance... The journalist is the BBC's James Cook. ------ Don't come for me unless you bring your A-game. This is not A-game. Reply 2775

BBC Wales viewers were left fearing that the apocalypse was nigh last night – after the subtitles for a weather forecast predicted that ‘Nazi ghosts’ were on the way.

A documentary about the life of sailors on the HMS Ark Royal Sailor

French journalist Nabila Ramdani contributes to a panel discussion on the murder of 86 yer-old priest Jacques Hamel in Normandy, France; the Clinton-Trump presidential contest in America; and the cheating controversy surrounding the forthcoming Rio Olympics.

At the young age of 18, Regis Giles decided that she had enough of seeing headlines about women who were abducted, raped and murdered so she began to motivate women to take the initiative and learn to defend themselves. She started Girls Just Wanna Have Guns and the website quickly exploded. Although the website received a warm welcome, as Giles began to post articles and YouTube videos, she experienced the dark side of the anti-gun movement. She received numerous threats in response to her support for guns, but she continued preaching her message saying that the comments just proved "that...

The BBC has unilaterally chosen not to report the Munich attacker’s full name, in what appears to be an attempt to scrub any Muslim or Islamic heritage link to its coverage of the incident. Most sources at this point suggest that Ali David Sonboly – the Munich attacker who targeted children and killed nine yesterday – is not connected to radical Islam, but the BBC has gone to extraordinary lengths to try to keep any reference to his heritage out of its coverage, opting to name him only as “David Sonboly”. Other news organisations including the Wall Street Journal, Independent,...

During the Bretton Woods Conference, in 1944, Lord Halifax is said to have “whispered to Lord Keynes: ‘It’s true: they have the money bags but we have all the brains.’” By “they,” Halifax meant the Americans. His frustration with the American mind—often prosaic and anti-intellectual—during the critical Bretton-Woods negotiations seems as valid today. As odious as Britain’s elites are; boy, are they cleverer than ours. Take the impromptu interview, on June 28, which Richard Quest, CNN’s imported British broadcast journalist, conducted with Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party. Farage had emerged exhilarated from the coven that is the...

Mainstream media outlets in Great Britain and the US were running news Sunday of a stunning petition that shows 2 million people want a new Brexit vote. Over “two million” signed the referendum in less than 24 hours! The BBC, The Mirror, France 24, The Telegraph, Manchester Evening News, The Guardian… all reported on the bogus petition. But they got punked. The poll was manufactured by 4Chan and Anonymous hackers who loaded up the signatures with fake names from The Vatican, Ghana, North Korea and elsewhere.

BBC World News Presenter, Katty Kay, offers her insight on comparisons between Brexit and Donald Trump: …This week, polls suggest, Britain may pull out of the European Union. Opinion polls currently have the 23 June referendum too close to call but the Brexit camp (those in favour of the UK splitting from the EU) has been inching ahead in recent weeks. Later this year, Americans will decide whether to elect Donald Trump as the 45th US President, or Hillary Clinton.

The two most surprising political phenomena of this year have been the rise of Donald Trump and the success of the Leave Europe camp in Britain's referendum on Brexit. Few pundits saw either coming (and full disclosure, I include myself here, particularly on Trump) - but we should have and now would be a good chance to make up for past oversight by looking at how the two are linked. Next week, polls suggest, Britain may pull out of the European Union. Opinion polls currently have the 23 June referendum too close to call but the Brexit camp (those in...

The BBC has warned English football fans not to dress as crusaders when attending the Euro 2016 tournament this summer as they might cause offence to Muslims. The advice comes via their ‘iWonder’ website, aimed at a younger audience, which asks such pressing questions as “Was Shakespeare a feminist?” and “How green is my commute?” Posing the question: “Is it wrong to dress as a crusader for an England match?” the answer appears to be a resounding “yes”. “Crusaders were the perpetrators of violent attacks across Europe and the Middle East on Muslims, Jews and pagans,” the website intones, suggesting...

#BREAKING Port Authority says unspecified threat made to plane due to land at EWR this hour. 219 people onboard flight from London. 3 retweets 0 likes

At least 10 percent of BBC employees should be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transsexual (LGBT), a government policy paper has said. The target is nearly twice that of broadcasting rival Channel 4, which, as a broadcaster tasked with promoting diversity, has a target of 6 percent. Most large employers report that between two and five percent of their workforce are LGBT, a figure thought to be roughly in line with the population at large, although the precise figure is difficult to assess as it relies on self-identification.

Fresh from the huge success of their adaptation of War & Peace, work has begun on the BBC's latest literary drama. To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters, written and directed by the award winning Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, Last Tango In Halifax), has begun shooting, with the streets of York transformed this week for the one off, two hour drama. Finn Atkins, who plays Charlotte Bronte and Charlie Murphy, who has been cast as her younger sister Anne, were both spotted on set on Thursday in their elaborate 19th century costumes.

The BBC’s religious output is too Christian, an internal review by the Corporation has concluded, opening the way for more programmes on other faiths. One Muslim leader suggested the review could lead to Friday prayers from a mosque being broadcast in the same way that Christian church services currently feature in the BBC’s schedules. The report is now being considered by Lord Hall, the director general, who could make changes to make religious output less “disproportionate”, the Sunday Times (£) reported. Ibrahim Mogra, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the BBC could televise Friday prayers from a mosque and...

BBC correspondent in North Korea detained over reporting North Korea detained a BBC journalist and ordered his expulsion over his reporting, the broadcaster said on Monday, as a large group of foreign reporters cover a rare congress of the country's ruling Workers' Party. Posted 09 May 2016 12:55 Updated 09 May 2016 13:40 PYONGYANG: North Korea detained a BBC journalist and ordered his expulsion over his reporting, the broadcaster said on Monday, as a large group of foreign reporters cover a rare congress of the country's ruling Workers' Party. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes was detained on Friday as he was about to...