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Fine article which will pay rereading.

BBC news coverage has detiorated: Victoria Derbyshire retailing gossip about Huw Edwards the other night was truly disgraceful. And now we have Farage, that well known defender of free speech, contriving to turn his spat with Coutts into an attack on the for having reported what Coutts told them about their reason for closing his account.

The lesson is that however deep you crawl in the muck the forces of the right will never be satisfied.

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author

Did she do that? A pity. She’s generally one of the better interviewers.

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Sorry, I posted my reply as a comment.

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Jul 20, 2023Liked by Matt Carr

Great article Matt. People like yourself are an inspiration to me, although I appreciate that saying this might be detrimental to your reputation. I was at one point in favour of defunding the BBC, but your essay persuaded me otherwise. BBC news has become the worst of the worst and I no longer trust its coverage. Much as it pains me to say this, it is has become the sockpuppet of the most right-wing government in British history.

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She did, on Newsnight just over a week ago. Apparently she'd been conducting an "investgation" into Edwards before the Sun broke the story and she felt his identification allowed her to reveal what was no more than gossip on air. Emily Maitlis found it "pretty distasteful". But I agree about Derbyshire and I was disappointed as much as anything. But BBC coverage of the whole episode was following the agenda set by the Sun.

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Jul 20, 2023Liked by Matt Carr

Frosty the Wasteman's piece in all its, er, whatever the opposite of glory is: https://archive.li/xJGkj

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That's very kind of you Al. And don't worry about my reputation! It's good to know that these pieces have an impact. As for the news, I agree with you, but when the choice is between bad and worse...

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I gave GB News five minutes today, with the laughable "Reverend" Calvin Robertson. That is five minutes I will never get back.

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Rather you than me!

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On the other hand, we have Secrets of the National Trust on BBC4. Worth the licence fee alone, a good slice of Northern Ireland history, and one in the eye for the gammons. The story about Castlereagh was a real education.

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author

Now that does sound good!

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