BBC Verify
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
The BBC, Britain’s public broadcaster, announced the launch of a new “disinformation” unit in its newsroom to combat claimed conspiracy theories and fake news.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which is funded by a statutory fee on individuals who watch live television under penalty of fine or imprisonment, stated that its news division will include a new squad branded “BBC Verify” to refute misinformation.
Deborah Turness, the CEO of BBC News, stated that BBC Verify will be composed of approximately 60 journalists “who will form a highly specialised operation with a range of forensic investigative skills and open source intelligence” and will be deployed to provide fact-checking, video verification, counter-disinformation, and “crucially – explaining complex stories in the pursuit of truth.”
Marianna Spring, the BBC’s Disinformation Correspondent, stated that “mistruths can cause really serious harm to society.” Spring, who will host the BBC podcast ‘Marianna in Conspiracyland,’ claimed she has set up some “undercover accounts” on social media to follow “polarisation online,” such as what is recommended to users.
According to the millennial journalist, she is currently studying “the UK’s conspiracy theory movement,” which she claims has “evolved and intensified” since the Chinese coronavirus outbreak. Spring identified “alternative media” as a source of so-called conspiracy theories.
“I’m looking at the way alternative media is funded, I’m looking at its impact on local communities, I’m looking at its connections with far-right figures and also its foreign links,” she said.
“Could January 6th or the German coup attempt we saw there ever happen in the UK?” Spring questioned.
The BBC, which has been restructuring to cut costs amid government threats to end the contentious licence fee from the public, may be attempting to demonstrate its value to politicians in Westminster, who have repeatedly expressed a desire to monitor the spread of ‘disinformation’ on the internet.
A separate study that same year indicated that only 44% of Britons trusted BBC journalists to be truthful in their reporting, compared to 48% who did not trust its news division to be accurate.
https://britmaxnews.com/bbc-launches-bbc-verify-in-newsrooms-to-combat-fake-news/
Evidently left wing media disinformation is OK with Marianna!
As for the idea that the Jan 6th protest was some sort of a coup is disinformation itself.
But if Marianna wants to get her teeth into some real disinformation, maybe she should start with this:
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/06/13/bbcs-institutional-alarmism/
Comments are closed.
NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
This is quite amusing: https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/bbc-vilify-stamping-out-inconvenient-truths/
thanks for the chuckle link Robin, sums this “New BBC” thing up well.
my view, George Orwell 1984 is so worth another read, because his fictional future seems very like our present.
And this is interesting: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/does-bbc-verify-need-to-look-at-the-bbcs-own-output/
Paul I suggest you contact the US guys at Public News , if you haven’t already.
The BBC are obviously acting as an arm of the intelligence services.
Gosh, I am so worried about online misinformation I think something must be done about it……..I know I shall hire a 27 year old Oxford graduate with a BA in French and Russian who started her journalism career at the effing Guardian!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianna-spring-279439b6/?originalSubdomain=uk
Is the BBC for real?????
She will correct untruths – but not those made by the BBC.
Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Something that Goebbels never said.
At least she should be familiar with Правда
That’s true. 😉
First it was Fiat currency, now it will be Fiat journalism
High on the list that unit needs to look at is the BBC itself. Just look at the “climate” scaremongering alone
This is simply an egregious device to permit the Biased Broadcasting Corporation to mark its own homework! The only surprise here is that it took so long.
When George Orwell wrote 1984 , he based his ” Ministry of Truth ” on his time of working at the BBC .
It seems that the story is now used as an instruction manual .
George Orwell also wrote Notes on Nationalism which should be read in this context as it is about this very thing It is available online. New Zealand will continue to pursue misinformation . The former PM J Ardern will continue with the Christchurch Call , though in America, and we will still strive for NetZero
Too bad Macron came out today(?) and condemned the far left for all the violence on French streets.
We’ve had ‘fact checkers’ and BBC Reality Check…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zmknnrd
Time for BBC bias check. Who do they think they are?
Nothing like marking your own homework is there? I still look forward to Justin Rowlatt self combusting in excitement at a 5 min UHI local temperature maximum and then wetting himself in his orgasmic excitement to put himself out.
Will the BBC ever realise the weather is not climate change, and that balance requires that they report cold extremes with the same level of hysteria they currently reserve for a fraction of a degree maximum “since records began” (in 1850 when it was the coldest in 10,000 years). etc.
Brian, the BBC doesn’t give a toss about the weather or climate: these are mere tools with which to fashion their Master’s plan. (Not a typo)
The verify unit will just try and discredit all those that disagree with the BBC bias. Thus hoping to prove their is no bias at the BBC.
Using its coerced funding to attempt to destroy the non-mainstream competition with fake accusations.
‘The BBC, Britain’s public broadcaster, announced the launch of a new “disinformation” unit in its newsroom to combat claimed conspiracy theories and fake news.’
‘Conspiracy theories’ gives it away. When does a theory become a conspiracy theory? When they don’t like it.
“mistruths can cause really serious harm to society.”
Gamecock can translate: “Disagreeing with us can cause really serious harm to society.”
If you want to DESTROY society, take away free speech.
“Marianna Spring, the BBC’s Disinformation Correspondent”
All their correspondents are disinformation correspondents. Every one.
‘“I’m looking at the way alternative media is funded, I’m looking at its impact on local communities, I’m looking at its connections with far-right figures and also its foreign links,” she said.’
NO DISSENT WILL BE TOLERATED !!!
One of few examples of an accurate title unlike Minitrue, Miniluv etc.
Marianna Spring rightfully got hammered on Twitter when she boasted about her pet project.
Next, she then whinged about the supposed abusive and misogynic responses, but on being challenged to name & shame the supposed perpetrators, she went silent.
Her ego is so enormous, she repeatedly retweets herself.
She should be great fun, especially on Twitter and other real media that provide replies. Her handle should be callmestupod.
60 BBC Journalists should be enough to ensure that the copy and paste climate reporting is accurate and verified.
You cannot be serious, BBC.
If the 60 journalists are already employed by the BBC, then they will be fact checking themselves.
Dear BBC, I wish to complain about hate speech directed at the Nazis. Hitler was charismatic, Goering was brave, Goebbels was clever. It seems so unfair to dwell only on their vices (mass murder and starting wars, mainly) and not mention their virtues. What do you plan to do about it?
Dear dearieme, we can’t possibly allow any mention of any supposed virtue of anyone in politics to the right of Jeremy Corbyn. Truth can be misinformation too, you know.
British Board of Control.
“Forensic investigative skills? ”
This lot called the Cardiff police liars for saying “the police were not chasing 2 teenage boys” who tragically died in an RTA.
Turns out it was physically impossible (dead end road barrier in the way) for the police to have chased the boys to the site of the RTA.
All the BBC idiots did was verify the date and time on an online video, then didn’t bother to cross check with the Police. BBC Verify think on line social media is reality, what a bunch of numpties there is no hope.
Do you remember Simon Cowell doing a lot of serious damage to himself when he did an inadvertent wheelie on his e-bike? I reckon that with a second rider over the back wheel that a similar fate befell these two when they tried to accelerate away from the perceived police chase (that was not).
Re Cardiff: the BBC have demonstrably molested the video footage of the non-chase to create a story where there isn’t one.
Still from fake BBC video footage on iplayer
[url=https://postimg.cc/FYsTFqXp][img]https://i.postimg.cc/T3nF0Mkz/Cardiff-BBC-fake.jpg[/img][/url]
approx six minutes into the programme:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001mfm9/breakfast-27052023
Trying again with the still image of the BBC fakery
‘to refute misinformation’
My Webster’s Ninth, ©1983, does not have the (alleged) word ‘misinformation.’
It’s a BS fabrication of the Leftards.
My 2014 Chambers does.
It is curious. My 1963 dictionary doesn’t list it either. Yet the interweb says first use ~1600.
Any bets on how long it will be before BBC Verify is caught promoting a falsehood as the truth?
Shouldn’t licence payers get a say in how the BBC wastes its money on projects like this?
The BBC itself is already doing this (amongst other things) with its “climate” hysterics.
>>promoting a falsehood as the truth
Perhaps the licence payers should also get a say on whether St Gary of Crisps & Illegal Immigrants should be paid anything at all let alone a ridiculous £1.35m.
St Gaey who ckained Just Stop Oil’s protests were absolutely right and disruptive protests were justified, then called people objecting to illegal immigration Nazis?
The BBC and its employees are now wholly political but too dim and bigoted to see it.
Disinformation/Misinformation….Mistruth/Untruth….perhaps rather than play with the fine points of definitions, the BBC could explain the straight LIES they peddle first – https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2023/01/18/bbc-caught-using-photoshopped-image/
Droll. VG
Meant to be a response to Dearieme.
New kid on the block and 27 years old. Extraordinary cynical appointment of some talent but with the experience deficiency of youth. Smacks of window dressing backed up by 60 journos many of whom are the authors the quandary the BBC now have to address.
Is it too much to ask if she is aware of Pauls recital of “Climate Complaints”? That must be her starting point.
Stop paying licence fee, stop watching TV, ignore all BBC output, life improves. BBC declared debate over on climate years ago and is expanding that thinking into all areas as far as I can tell from coverage of their BS elsewhere.
Anyone who imagines that the BBC can be trusted for two seconds to identify and manage “disinformation”, would likely have been enthusiastic at a proposal to make Dr. Harold Shipman responsible for Care for the Elderly.
10-4, Martin.
Quis custodiet custodies ipsos?
BWTM: It takes SIXTY EMPLOYEES ?!?!
Screaming incompetence AND inefficiency.
Presumably they all have to check each other continuously to ensure that they are not disinforming people – hopefully this will help keep their output down /s
Let’s see a cost estimate for this project.
Color me unbelieving.
Who are these 60 journalists? How did they report on the Trump/Russian collusion and Hunter Biden’s laptop events? Did they retract anything they wrote when it was found that the ‘conspiracy’ theories were true?
If not, they should be called out for the hypocrites they are and their findings ignored.
Verify was announced last Monday on the same programme that Justin Rowlett presented on the WMO report into natural disasters. I have made a formal complaint against Mr Rowlatt due to his misrepresentation of the report.
Doran
Please keep us up to date with their response. Will be interesting.
Will do. One part of the complaint is his failure to mention the health warning the authors had put in the report: • ‘Mr Rowlatt also failed to refer to page 70 of the report under the heading ‘Challenges associated with disaster loss databases’. The opening sentence is: Significant challenges have constrained the creation, expansion and use of disaster loss databases despite their widely recognised value…’ In the third paragraph on page 70 the report states; ‘…data for losses have typically dwindled as one goes back in time’. ‘ For this to appear on the same programme as the announcement of ‘BBC Verify’ just made me laugh my socks off.
Thanks, Doran. I wonder what their response will be to that?
Q … What’s the difference between a conspiracy theory & the truth ??
A … About 5 years !!
Where they should start is watching the film (oddly presently on i-Player) ‘Mr Jones’. That described the lengths the western and Russian press would go to in order to try suppress Stalin’s attempts to hide how he was starving the Ukraine to death in the 1930’s in order to build a communism empire. He was one very brave man – and trying to expose the real truth – cost him his life. The film was released in February 2020. If there was ever a timely reminder of the dangers of global propaganda?
When will the BBC broadcast the fact that there is no proof that humans are responsible for dangerous climate change?
The irony is all this stuff about conspiracy theories on the Right is almost entirely Left-wing conspiracy theory! The Left constantly claim everything is a conspiracy theory, from Brexit, through Russian influence on US Elections to climate change denial. The latest is ultra-processed food. It is the Left that constantly engages in conspiracy theories as it cannot cope with people disagreeing with them.
Lefties tend to hold a lot of conspiracy theory type views without even realising that they are conspiracy theories. As they tend to control the media, their conspiracy theories are ‘respectable conspiracy theories’.
https://quillette.com/2023/03/31/the-rise-of-the-respectable-conspiracy-theory/
Nowhere above is it mentioned that omission can be just as grievous as misinformation. The BBC is great at it. Has anybody seen the beeb make the connection between rising CO2 levels and record world production of grain? No.
not sure if you all missed comment above by – Robin Guenier May 28, 2023 8:05 am – “And this is interesting: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/does-bbc-verify-need-to-look-at-the-bbcs-own-output/”
partial quote from the link – “The footage aired by Sky News shows an electric bike caught on CCTV whizzing through the streets of the Welsh capital, followed 15 seconds later by a police van. But the footage aired by the BBC this morning shows the police van materialising Star Trek-like out of thin air, just behind the bike.”
the BBC take every police related story, and run a “bad police” meme, if only for a few days, then it gets dropped as more facts come in. but the 1st meme will stick with Joe Public.
I have been studying the various video clips and stills and from the time stamps it is quite obviously faked in the BBC version. What strikes me is whether or not the BBC themselves are committing a criminal offence in doctoring the images.
Surely there must be something in their statute that prohibits them from doctoring “evidence”?
“Incitement to riot” would be good charge to stick on someone senior at the BBC.
bet the get out will be, somebody else doctored the video & our crack 60 odd Verify team forgot to check time stamps. so not our fault guv.
Tony Thomas has a good piece at Cliscep.