Sir, Lord Donoughue (letter, July 29) makes a plea for the BBC to adopt higher journalistic standards, reduce its bloated bureaucracy and recommends “balanced accuracy”.
Accuracy is a rare commodity in reporting on a Government that has shoals of advisers, the most senior of whom was recruited from a tabloid, who are charged with various elements of spinning.
Judging from the number of stories planted in BBC’s flagship Today programme, spinning is regarded as a proper exercise of government time and taxpayers’ money.
I would be interested to hear of the doctrine of balanced accuracy applied to the question of whether the UK went to war on a false prospectus.
Yours faithfully,
DAVID LAND,
12a Columba Road,
Edinburgh EH4 3QS.
July 29.
Advertisement
From Mrs Pamela McDowell
Sir, In the “accuracy of reporting” stakes, I’d back the BBC against the Government any day of the week.
Yours faithfully,
PAMELA McDOWELL,
1 Finstock Heath, Witney Road,
Finstock, Oxfordshire OX7 3DF.
July 29.