Wednesday, June 24, 2009

BBC Radio 4 PM on the Iran election result

Eddie Mair interviews a Dr Siabi (?sp.), a supporter of President AhmadiNajad, in America, and we are treated to a long rant against UK "interference" into Iran affairs, an admission of "minor irregularities" in the poll, and a bald assertion that the result was "irrefutable".

In the interests of balance, we then interview the BBC reporter John Leyne, who quotes a couple of pieces of evidence, beginning with the impossible rapidity with which the Iranian authorities declared that the vote went to AhmadiNajad.

It is a great pity that despite its enormous research resources, the BBC is unable to collate and evaluate the available evidence about the poll. I have drawn together what I have seen here, and it all backs up John Leyne's view that the idea that ANajad won is "incredible".

Democracy is vital to the sustainable quality of life for every human on the planet, and indeed for life itself, since dictatorship destroys the environment as well as its citizens. The BBC belongs to the people who pay the licence fee, and its remit is to educate and inform (and entertain). It is not doing its job well. It joined the rest of the world media in underplaying and ignoring George "Idiot" Bush's cheating in his elections, and now it is under-reporting and obfuscating the issue of the Iran election.

The BBC is falling down on the job. It need to be reformed and brought back to its basic task. Its leaders should be subjected to the same scrutiny to which the MPs are subject.

We should be told how much people like Eddie Mair receive in salary and expenses.

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