September 18, 2003

PREDICTION ASTRAY

Wasn’t the Hutton inquiry meant to be a crisis for Tony Blair? Anyone know what happened with that? Perhaps Andrew Gilligan can tell us.

Posted by Tim Blair at September 18, 2003 02:36 PM
Comments

Perhaps Andrew Wilkie can tell us.

Posted by: ilibcc at September 18, 2003 at 05:16 PM

It's actually the way Tony Blair governs the UK that's the crisis for him.

Posted by: Ginger at September 18, 2003 at 06:53 PM

I read the sydney morning herald EVERY DAY and i'm sure that if these facts were'nt reported there then they obviously are'nt TRUE!

Posted by: roscoe p coltrane at September 18, 2003 at 07:59 PM

What planet are you on Tim? Blair is getting nailed in the media every day over here on this - easily as badly as the BBC. Anyone who is surrounded by UK media will tell you that.

Posted by: Tom at September 18, 2003 at 08:19 PM

Mr Gilligan is in strife over revelations at the inquiry
Life imitates art - again
or Nostradamus and the "sexed-up dossier" which turned out to be more "spinster in a twin-set" after all.

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale [THE FINAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSION]
A tale of a fateful trip [THE STORY OF HOW JOURNALISTS WHO START TO BECOME PLAYERS IN A STORY NOT REPORTERS OF IT ARE DOOMED TO FAIL]
That started from this tropic port [LONDON]
Aboard this tiny ship [THE BBC]

The mate was a mighty sailor man [ANDREW GILLIGAN]
The Skipper brave and sure [HEAD OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS - OR PEOPLE NOT-GOVERNING AT ALL - DEPENDING ON YOUR VIEW OF THE BBC]
Five passengers set sail that day [THE TOTAL VIEWING AUDIENCE WHO NOW TRUST THE BBC]
For a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour [IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SHORT-LIVED DIG AT THE BLAIR GOVERNMENT BEFORE IT WAS DISCOVERED AND THINGS BLEW TRAGICALLY OUT OF CONTROL]

The weather started getting rough [THE WAR TO TOPPLE SADDAM HUSSEIN HAD SUCCEEDED AND THE ANTI-WAR LEFTIES WERE LOOKING PARTICULARLY STUPID AND IRRELEVANT]
The tiny ship was tossed [CYCLONE "TRUTH" STRUCK WITH DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES]
If not for the courage of the fearless crew [ANDREW GILLIGAN'S ATTEMPT TO MANUFACTURE A CONSPIRACY OUT OF NOTHING]
The Minnow would be lost, the Minnow would be lost [THE BBC WOULD HAVE TO CEASE TO BE A POLITICAL PLAYER AND BECOME AGAIN AN ACCURATE AND RESPECTED REPORTER OF FACTS]

We hope the Skipper does more to this Gilligan than slapping him around the head with his sailor's cap (which they have done to date)

The Elephant

Posted by: The_GOP_Elephant at September 18, 2003 at 09:40 PM

Feel I have to qualify what Tom has said. What you read in the press in the UK depends on their point of view. The BBC is has been desperate to nail Blair but as the story unfolds they are being nailed themselves and are now starting to sound contrite, lots of apologies yesterday. Each of the main papers has an axe to grind mostly based on the editorial stance they took in relation to the war itself. So to get an over all view you have to read at lest two. The Guardian and the Times give a pretty good example of both sides of the less extreme points of view. I'm in Europe and have followed this story every day in a number of papers and on websites. But the real fun is to compare the transcripts of the evidence from http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/ with the stories printed and reported in the media. It is laughable how they all spin the story to suit their take on the situation.

Posted by: Chap at September 18, 2003 at 09:59 PM

The ship set gound on the shore of this
uncharted desert network,
with Gilligan, Pete Arnette too,
Jayson Blair, and his liiiies,
Maureen “Mo” Dowd,
Prof Krugman and Baghdad Bob,
Here at Al Jazeerah!

It is psychologically impossible for almost anybody who grew up in the USA to think or read about the Gilligan epic without that old TV show theme song running on a loop in the mind.

Gilligan is a repeat perp who, in Baghdad, & with colleagues’ help, covered up his own twice-in-two-days misreporting about American troop movements by shifting the critical focus to his favored targets, to make questions of American veracity the story of the day, as detailed in “Bizarro Broadcasting Company” by Denis Boyle in Duck Soup, April 7, 2003, now available at http://www.NationalReview.com/nr_comment/nr_comment072903.asp.

It was a microcosm of the left’s & news media’s obsession over uranium intel claims, distracting from their own miserable record of claims about the Iraq war, on offense in defense to regain trust & advance their agenda. It’s a pattern that has continued with Gilligan & the BBC in the Kelly affair. Now Christianne Amanpour cries censorship by Murdoch’s competition, when CNN & others kowtowed to dictators as NY Times star reporter John F. Burns (saying that even Eason Jordan missed the point) discussed in “John Burns: 'There Is Corruption in Our Business'” in Editor & Publisher Sept. 15, 2003 (Amanpour’s jibes were an extension of the blatantly Orwellian Free Press = Censorship arguments against Murdoch’s SkyNews in Britain).

Posted by: ForNow at September 19, 2003 at 05:40 AM

This the problem posed by BBC, ABC, SMH et al : they are hardened liars.This is something the living monologue, David Marr, Media Watch, can't quite get a grip on, and so is reduced to commenting on trivia as a warm up to his weekly theme bash those who for, according to Marr, some fathomless reason find the afore - mentioned trio inveterate liars.

That's a gas, GOP, Cyclone Truth hit with devestating consequences.

Posted by: d at September 19, 2003 at 11:00 AM

my two friends and i were listening to The Media Report last night on RN, and David Aaronivich (sp) from Guardian/Observer was analysing the Hutton Inquiry.

Excellent analysis, suggests that while Gilligan is well exposed, he's not going to be alone. Too early to celebrate if anyone thought a BBC reporter was going to wear the blame alone.

Good 8 cents worth.

Posted by: chico o'farrill at September 19, 2003 at 11:18 AM