Wednesday, March 14, 2007
You Can't Believe Anything
(From the BBC) The BBC has apologised for faking the results of a competition on children's programme Blue Peter last November.
I must admit, this has surprised me more than any of the other revelations that TV phone-ins are either rigged or fake. What really galls me is the "casualness" with which lying and deceit has become so acceptable.
How can we expect children to become good citizens when all around them people in power are abusing that power: BBC officials are faking phone-ins; politicians are doing all they can to circumvent the law; concepts such as "sharing" has become bogged down with copyright laws, and injustice is rife. Just browsing the news today, I can see:
* Three men who spent years in jail after being wrongly convicted of murder will have to pay for their prison board and lodgings. [Why promote justice when justice is an ass?]
* The BBC has announced it is suspending its online education service, BBC Jam, pending a review. It follows complaints from commercial online companies; They say the service, designed as a learning resource for children aged five to 16 in support of the national curriculum, damages their businesses. [Oh no! Education is getting in the way of business!]
* Britain's commitment to fighting bribery is to be investigated. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's move is prompted by the UK's decision to drop a probe into defence firm BAE Systems. [Bribery is okay as long as profit is to be made!]
And this is just today. Sad.
I must admit, this has surprised me more than any of the other revelations that TV phone-ins are either rigged or fake. What really galls me is the "casualness" with which lying and deceit has become so acceptable.
How can we expect children to become good citizens when all around them people in power are abusing that power: BBC officials are faking phone-ins; politicians are doing all they can to circumvent the law; concepts such as "sharing" has become bogged down with copyright laws, and injustice is rife. Just browsing the news today, I can see:
* Three men who spent years in jail after being wrongly convicted of murder will have to pay for their prison board and lodgings. [Why promote justice when justice is an ass?]
* The BBC has announced it is suspending its online education service, BBC Jam, pending a review. It follows complaints from commercial online companies; They say the service, designed as a learning resource for children aged five to 16 in support of the national curriculum, damages their businesses. [Oh no! Education is getting in the way of business!]
* Britain's commitment to fighting bribery is to be investigated. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's move is prompted by the UK's decision to drop a probe into defence firm BAE Systems. [Bribery is okay as long as profit is to be made!]
And this is just today. Sad.
