By Paul Homewood

  

From the Guardian:

The BBC’s central London headquarters has been put on lockdown due to a protest by climate change campaigners who are demanding it uses its status as national broadcaster to declare a “climate and ecological emergency”.

Extinction Rebellion, a direct action group that has recently shut down key London roads, has demand the BBC makes the environment its “top editorial issue”.

Broadcasting House was locked down early on Friday afternoon, with BBC staff and guests unable to enter or leave the building while security kept the peaceful but noisy protesters away from the entrance.

Extinction Rebellion activists, who are demanding a meeting with the BBC director general, Tony Hall, said the corporation had a duty to broadcast about climate change with “the level of urgency placed on informing the public about the second world war”.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/dec/21/bbc-london-headquarters-put-on-lockdown-over-protest-by-climate-change-campaigners-extinction-rebellion

  

 

A case of the biter bit!

The BBC have given unwarranted prominence to Extinction Rebellion in recent weeks. News reports have regularly given the impression that the group are a large, serious organisation who we should be paying attention to, rather than the tiny ragbag of eco nutters which they really are.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=extinction+rebellion

 

  

Prominent reports about various blockades have regularly given the impression that the number of protestors was much greater than in reality, helped by carefully focussed photographs.

There have even been two items devoted to the background of Extinction Rebellion. One is a BBC News video, entitled “Extinction Rebellion: The story behind the activist group”.

The second is a 13-minute “Profile” of Gail Bradbrook, one of the group’s leaders, on Radio 4.

It is deeply ironic then that the activists have turned their ire towards the BBC, who they rather ridiculously accuse of not paying enough attention to climate change.

  

It is worth noting just what Extinction Rebellion are really about, according to their own website:

https://rebellion.earth/next/

  

The Rising Up network’s website gives more detail of what this fundamental chande encompasses:

Our shared vision (draft) is of:

An inclusive world, where individuals are supported to express their unique gift and where we work together to support our community, to create beautiful things and to tackle the major problems of our age. Our lives will have the meaning we long for; we will uphold the best in our humanity for the greater purpose.

This implies:

• A functioning democracy, where people have real agency in decision making. Devolution of power to the lowest level, with structures to facilitate decision making locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, where appropriate.
• An economy designed to maximise well-being for all people and minimise harm to each other, our fellow creatures and our home planet. Policies and law focused on greater equality, localising production, reducing consumption, zero carbon and zero waste, are urgently needed.

And this needs:

• A revolution, meaning a rapid change in wealth distribution and power structures, preventing rich elite from perpetuating a self-serving ideology. Our democracy, our media, our academia, our think tanks and businesses (organisations whose purpose should be to meet our needs) must serve all people and a healthy ecology.

https://risingup.org.uk/about

 

I don’t recall the BBC ever mentioning that this is the real agenda.

Extinction Rebellion are in reality little more than Wolfie Smith’s Tooting Popular Front, and should be treated with the same disdain by the BBC.