The journalist and broadcaster Michael Crick has had a swipe at the BBC, accusing it of losing its impartiality in its coverage of Kamala Harris and the Democratic convention, which he described as a “love fest”.
I’ve a lot of time for his dogged style of interviewing when he was on Channel Four News. One politician said the most frightening sentence an elected representative could hear was: “Michael Crick is waiting for you in reception.”
His tweet opened up a debate about whether the Beeb was balanced in its reporting, with the usual suspects denouncing the “lefties” and others suggesting Trump is a felon and a maniac – and so doesn’t deserve to be treated like a normal politician, as we don’t “balance Putin” or Hitler.
Personally, I hate the idea of another Trump victory.
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) August 23, 2024
BUT the BBC's obligation to be impartial extends to USA too. Yet too much of the BBC's US presidential campaign coverage is lazy - just a Harris love-fest. Most of their Democrat voices aren't being challenged.
But I think perhaps Crick has been a bit hard on the BBC. It’s true they have probably got a little excited about Harris – but not because they see her as the answer to all those who can’t stomach another Trump presidency. It’s because the media is always attracted to the new and the fresh.
The “Biden is too old” story is over and we already know the Donald movie – so let’s have a look at the new kid on the block.
Ok, she’s not so new, having been vice president for nearly four years. But Veeps are kept in the shade, never allowed to really shine, lest they take attention away from the boss.
I don’t know if Harris has enough to win. She’s smart, attractive and probably well up to the job, but she needs to be tested on policies. It remains to be seen whether the bandwagon that is rolling with her will be enough to flatten the Trump cult, now joined by conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr.
But the more we see of the nastiness of the Make America Great Again brigade, the more you wonder what it has done to American society.
If ever there was a moment to question the soul of Trump’s supporters, it was the reaction to Tim Walz’s son Gus, who has learning difficulties, whooping and crying out “That’s my dad” in response to his speech at the Democratic convention.
They were led by the right-wing journalist Ann Coulter, who described Gus as “weird”, while others called the 17-year-old a “retard” and compared him unfavourably with Trump’s son, the unsmiling Barron.
No politician’s children should be considered fair game. They didn’t choose their parentage, so should not be open to criticism. Obviously, I make an exception in the case of Ian Paisley Jr. But then he was a politician too, between holidays.
Maybe the media should give us more coverage of Trump’s mad, rambling speeches, or weird tweets, like his latest where he talks about once playing football with OJ Simpson and, remarkably, was easily able to outrun the athlete. “Not many people know about it,” he said, because “I don’t like to boast”.
It was particularly amazing that he was able to run so fast and not be encumbered by the bone spurs on his ankles that prevented him serving in Vietnam.
I don’t know if Harris has enough to win. She’s smart, attractive and probably well up to the job, but she needs to be tested on policies
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Two recent events have had a devastating impact on the rights of women.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s latest decree now forbids women and girls to be seen or heard.
A woman’s voice has been deemed “intimate” so should not be heard singing, reciting poetry or talking aloud in public. They must completely cover their faces and bodies at all times in public places. They must be, in other words, invisible.
Meanwhile, in Australia, a federal court judge has ruled that sex, in its ordinary meaning, is changeable.
He was speaking after a transgender woman won a discrimination case against a females-only social media app, when she was denied access on the basis of being male.
The trans woman was called “Roxanne Tickle” and the app was “Giggle”. Sadly the outcome will be no joke for women’s spaces and activities in Australia.