Thread - #Orgreave and BBC
34 years ago today, June 19 1984, a BBC News and Current Affairs meeting described its own coverage of Orgreave the day before as "not wholly impartial" with a "marginal imbalance" though "not enough to ‘justify the NUM’s view that the BBC was biased"
34 years ago today, June 19 1984, a BBC News and Current Affairs meeting described its own coverage of Orgreave the day before as "not wholly impartial" with a "marginal imbalance" though "not enough to ‘justify the NUM’s view that the BBC was biased"
BBC's film coverage of Orgreave had altered sequence of events to show, pickets provoking police before they charged. Miners returning bloodied from Orgreave were amazed + angry to see the film. One them complained to BBC which made no response when it was discussed months later
In 1991 the BBC finally accepted that the sequence of events had indeed been reversed but issued no apology, explaining that this had been done ‘inadvertently’ in ‘the haste of putting the news together’
In 2015 The IPCC report on Orgreave confirmed that the BBC had reversed their film. But still no admission of responsibility/apology. Same IPCC report found police had "made up an untrue account and exaggerated miners' violence" to justify their charges of riot against 95 miners
Paul, an ex-miner arrested and charged at Orgreave and OTJC activist,was at a miners demonstration in Wakefield in 2015. Asked for an interview by the BBC he told them "not if you're going to show me marching backwards"
More on the media and miners strike in Granville Williams' 'Settling Scores' and 'Shafted' reviewed here newleftproject.org/index.php/site….
Thanks to Granville Williams @davidconn @cpbfreedom and @ta_mills
Thanks to Granville Williams @davidconn @cpbfreedom and @ta_mills
Hear Nick Jones, BBC Industrial Correspondent during miners strike, speak at "It Isn't History: Why the Miners Strike Matters Today" Sheffield @FestOfDebate event Wednesday 21 June with OTJC's @cpeace313 chaired by Granville Williams of @cpbf
