Monday, June 09, 2008

The BBC Hurls at Bishop Minns

Well, it's clear that the BBC - or at least this reporter - has a big time ax to grind and has his tinfoil hat firmly in place while he hurls away at the bishop. One can only imagine such badgering with Bishop Robinson. Imagine the protests! It's also quite a contrast to the tea party they had with Bishop Schori here. Bishop Minns holds up quite well and each time he scores a rhetorical point, the reporter quickly changes the subject. It looks like the TEC activists wrote out his questions for him. This can scarcely be called journalism - this is badgering a bishop and the bishop keeps his cool through it all, staying to the point - quite remarkable. Watch carefully and keep away from sharp objects. We recommend you follow up the interview with this.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the video and the warning. I was eating dinner watching it and had a knife in my hand. I think the bishop held his cool very well. That reporter was hardly impartial!

Thanks for the second video. Loved it. I have some Reynolds Wrap in the kitchen. I might make a tin foil hat for future use!

:)

John B. Chilton said...

I think perhaps you should watch other videos with the reporter. We think of the British style as being very genteel, but actually in radio and TV they rarely are. It's very different from American TV where we think of Barbara Walters as a tough interviewer. The upshot is this interview was no different than what you'd become accustomed seeing if you watched on a regular basis.

Unknown said...

Hmmm ... I do recall the BBC at General Convention 2006 and I don't remember the hurling, alas. They seemed rather polite, actually. Of course, even dear Stephen Bates was quite charming, I think he's hilarious when he gets going and still think he and Joanthon Petre formerly of the Telegraph now at the Daily Mail, should have their own iTunes podcast. What a hit!

I do recall, now that you mention it, the BBC hurling all over Israel the last time I was in London. It was quite a spectacle really. You'd think Israel was our enemy the way they covered the story, so I suppose hurling at Bishop Minns put him in rather good company.

I do enjoy BBC America on PBS where you actually get World News for a change(remember that? American network news does not seem to kno there's a whole world out there, alas) though I still don't recall such hurling at a bishop before. Wonder what they'd do to the Bishop of Rome? Do you suppose the BBC will hurl at Gene Robinson next month? Or Rowan Williams? Or Katharine Jefferts Schori? Guess we'll stay tuned - and perhaps take a few barf bags off the airplane, just in case. ;-)

bb

Anonymous said...

The reporter quotes ABp Akinola using the word abomination to describe homosexuality. After he tries several cheap lawyer tricks to make Bp Minns to say something bad about ABp Akinola, the interviewer states that it isn't even in the Bible, it isn't even scriptural. Well sorry, ABp Akinola is using the word straight out of Leviticus.

Of course, quoting scripture will soon be against the law in England and this sorry interviewer will see the cost of losing the freedom of speech.

Ann said...

Listen to the BBC news on your local radio station each day - it is almost always in this style of confrontative questioning.

Anonymous said...

Seems to me Brit speak and Brit interviewing tends towards the aggreddive side. Once saw a documentary revealing the aggressive -class conscious- techniques used in managers at the British Navy training schools - very different than those used in the USA - finally, is it possible the interviewing style was different since Minns background is indeed British? In brief I believe you are reading more into this interview style than exists in reality.