The BBC have finally sunk as low as fox news!

[Darth Sea Bass]

The BBC have officially sunk to the level of fox news. Setting the scene yesterday a school teacher was stabbed in front of a class of pupils by a 15 year old.

[link]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27201812[/link]

Today a news report on the BBC didn't actually say as much but commented on his Facebook page and how he likes videogames and rock music.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b041st4s/BBC_News_at_Six_29_04_2014/

Skip to 4:20
(Apologies if the link doesn't work)

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

Well to be fair, they haven't outright said that "VIDYAGAEMS R TEH DEVILS WURK!" which still puts them miles ahead of Fox's usual reaction. Even then, if they were trying to find videogames on his page which may have caused him to twinge a teacher surely they could have found a better example than Crash Bandicoot of all things!

 

[shootthebandit]

Crash bandicoot, seriously? At least go for GTA or something like that.

It doesnt really make sense why they say these things. I personally dont see any causal link between liking heavy metal (if you could call bring me the horizon heavy metal) and video games to killing someone

 

[Able Seacat]

To be fair they didn't say those hobbies were a link to what he did or anything. Though I wonder if they would have included it in the report if his facebook showed classical music and cricket.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

The BBC have officially sunk to the level of fox news. Setting the scene yesterday a school teacher was stabbed in front of a class of pupils by a 15 year old.

[link]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27201812[/link]

Today a news report on the BBC didn't actually say as much but commented on his Facebook page and how he likes videogames and rock music.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b041st4s/BBC_News_at_Six_29_04_2014/

Skip to 4:20
(Apologies if the link doesn't work)

BBC still has a ways to go to be as bad as fox news. This "video game" stuff aside.

Once they start leaving people more uninformed then if they haven't watched the news period, then they're at Fox's level.

Maybe they're not that bad yet but they should definitely drop any pretense that they're politically impartial, It's kind of ironic that they're accused of been left wing by the government when i'd say they have a distinct leanings to the right.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

To be fair they didn't say those hobbies were a link to what he did or anything. Though I wonder if they would have included it in the report if his facebook showed classical music and cricket.

They wouldn't. They don't have the balls to directly say what they think. So they just imply things. It's cowardly and it has nothing to do with real journalism.

 

[Evonisia]

I remember playing Crash Bandicoot and thinking I wanted to stab my teacher several times.

God damn it BBC, don't give me less reasons to tolerate you. Even if they don't say that it has any relation, they don't bring up anything else. THESE ARE HIS HOBBIES, hint hint wink wink.

 

[Treeberry]

I originally had a slight tirade referring to ineffectual parents and gormless leg-spreaders but I'm just going to say: when are they going to blame Catholicism?

Also - who's going to take that seriously? I mean I had a poster of a grim reaper riding a fiery horse of death almost dominating an entire wall as a teen.

ineffectual parents and gormless leg-spreaders
Damnation.

EDIT: And the BBC has significantly dropped in quality lately. Bunch of brown-nosing non-reporters.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Hmmm... No, not even close. It's called background information, they do it all the time with young people in the news. Pretty much every time a kid dies we get a peek at their Facebook page- it's lazy journalism I'll grant you that, but it's not insinuating what you're saying it is.

Even the Beeb isn't implying Crash Bandicoot and Enter Shikari is dangerous- although the grim reaper thing might raise a few eyebrows I think you're just looking for controversy and blowing this out of all reasonable proportion here. Neither his music tastes nor his hobbies are mentioed at all in the article and they're only passingly mentioned in the report to humanise the story (seriously guys, basic GCSE level English stuff here).

 

[Platypus540]

I actually think it's weirder that they mentioned he liked rock music. What is this, 1965?

 

[Rellik San]

I don't see it, at what point did they claim he was directly influenced?

They gave a peek into his life and some kid commented that the dude was a loner, who as a 16 year old rock fan didn't have grim reaper posters? At no point do they say "SHIELD YOUR KIDS FROM THE LAWDS WRATH! THESE HERE SATANIC IMAGERYS ARE BLASPHEMOUS TO HIS EYES!" If they did that I'd probably say you have a point, but for the most part, they seemed to just want to paint a portrait of the kid, get a few sound bites and speak a little about the schools policy.

In no way was this Fox news level.

As for the web article, it seemed more to focus on the victim and community impact beyond saying "A 16 year old is being held by police", it doesn't even mention the killer. Isn't this actually EXACTLY the kind of coverage most people and psychologists say we need more of? A focus on the victim and community not the killer.

I'd probably say the British non-murdoch funded media has a pretty good relationship with rock music and videogames compared to many other countries. Hell there is a famous clip of Charlie Brooker being trolled by a Channel 4 news caster about this, you can practically hear the guy sniggering "U MAD BRO!" that's how seriously the UK's media takes games as causing violence... we're far more concerned that some teens will see titties on the internet (Ironically enough most of the papers leading that charge also feature "glamour models").

As for the BBC's political leanings, they lean to whatever direction the particular show wants, after all you could hardly call the network that produces Mock the Week or Have I Got News For You right leaning.

 

[dyre]

BBC isn't anywhere near as low as Fox News...in fact I'd go as far to say that it's one of the best English-language mainstream news sources in the world (though that's not a particularly high standard). While BBC does let its bias slip a bit on some issues like Scottish independence or the Ukraine crisis, they're actually rather fair in their coverage towards video games. They also have lots of great programmes that expose viewers to different cultures/parts of the world.

But go ahead, judge BBC's quality as a news source by one (actually unbiased) report they make that mentions video games in a manner other than sycophantic flattery. It's rather disheartening that some people here will post as political "activists" (more like insecure children than activists...) when it comes to defending videogames while remaining woefully uninformed about the real world around them.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Well...Which Crash game was it? If it was Crash 1, I'd understand. Those bridge levels are hard as balls. Q_Q

 

[Bertylicious]

Couldn't see any reference to Crash Bandicoot in the linked article but I'll take your word for it.

I, for one, am quite fascinated to find out more about this lad as there is very little info to go on. All we know is that he's a he, his victim was an old lady and he really, really, wanted to hurt her to the point he stabbed her more than once. People like me, which I think is fairly reflective of everyone in the country on this matter, want to know anything they can get so I'd be a bit hesitant to write it off as shoddy journalism.

I reckon he either had a psychotic episode or there's more to this old lady than meets the eye.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

They've done as the BBC always has and just presented facts that they believe will cause discussion, without commenting directly themselves.

This is the same here and you've proved it works by opening a discussion about it.

And, like it or not, people will consider these facts relevant to this, also because it helps better understand what the teenager involved is like, to humanise him more. It is you that has insinuated the connection between video games and violence.

 

[chikusho]

They are naming a few of his interests that are posted on his facebook page. A few interests, mind you, that any normal kid would have.
You, on the other hand, are the one making associations between his interests and violent conduct.

This seems more like some kind of persecution complex on your part, rather than a misplaced allegation from the BBC.

 

[putowtin]

I, for one, am quite fascinated to find out more about this lad as there is very little info to go on. All we know is that he's a he,

15 Year old, considered a good student,

his victim was an old lady

Ann Maguire was 61, was only working a four day week ahead of retiring in September

and he really, really, wanted to hurt her to the point he stabbed her more than once.

We don't know if he wanted to hurt her for being her (IE held a grudge/ she gave him a bad grade) and it's believed that he stabbed her over 10 times

I reckon he either had a psychotic episode or there's more to this old lady than meets the eye

Can't comment on the first, but according to the school and colleagues of mine who had the pleasure of working with her say she was the nicest, most down to earth woman you will ever meet. In a forty year career at the school she did everything she could to help her students, arranging extra lessons/tuition.