BBC reply to Cup Final complaint

They can't admit they were wrong and go totally off the subject...

 

They don't care, once again in the Reporting Scotland report on the sectarian law they played the ooh ah up the Ra clip following on from the Billy Boys, basically once again branding anything to do with the IRA sectarian when it clearly isn't, going to check if there's a report and send another complaint, we can't let them get away with this.

 

Is it not [policy} to attempt to lump us all together ie 1 is as bad as the other mentality ? Now we all know {and so do they } that the vast majority of huns are bigots add to that a fair size element of hearts ,falkirk,motherwell ,dundee,.So its no real surprise they cant come down on 1 club they have to be seen to be unbiasd when it comes down to the nitty gritty ,as long as we keep at them .to differenciate where possible

 

I suppose it is but you can have blatant false accusations being made against the Celtic support, it's been proved in a court of law that these songs are not sectarian so you would think that would be enough for them to not say they are but no, they keep at it knowing they will receive complaints. We can't let them keep doing this, I had a look at the Ofcom website and it says the BBC Trust regulate the BBC so they basically regulate themselves, basically if they feel like doing something then they will just do it as they don't have the independent regulator to worry about. However, in saying that, following a 4th inaccuracy, I will be forwarding my complaint to Ofcom to see what they say.

 

Received this reply from the BBC, regarding my follow up in relation to their earlier response. I note that no mention of this appears on the BBC Complaints page, nor has the Summary of Complaints for May 2011 been published as yet... wonder what the delay could be? I also notice that they have given differing case reference numbers, and even though the original was quoted, it appears that this has been disregarded, despite what they have written in reply.

Anyhow, here was what they had to say this time:


Thanks for your further comments, regarding Sportscene: Scottish Cup Final, transmitted on Saturday 21st May 2011.

Your comments were passed to the Head of Sport, who is sorry to hear that you felt the response you received was unsatisfactory. Whilst he appreciates you continue to have concerns with this particular issue, he has nothing to add to the previous correspondence with you.

Should you wish to pursue this complaint further, you can contact the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit, who will independently investigate your complaint. You can write to them at the following address:

Editorial Complaints Unit, Room 5170, White City, BBC Media Village, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TS

Alternatively, you can email the Unit at the address: ecu@bbc.co.uk

Details of the BBC complaints process are available online at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/handle.shtml

Whether or not you choose to pursue your complaint with the ECU, please be assured your further concerns have been registered.

Thanks once again for taking the time to contact us.

www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

In other words, the Beeb have said that the Head of Sport does not give a dead dingo's dong about the actual facts & have basically said that for this to be given further response then the ECU will need to be asked to look int this matter. Well, I guess that's precisely what my next course of action will be.

I would further encourage as many Celtic fans as possible to not allow this matter to rest. The BBC have waited over a month, thinking that the smoke will blow over.

 

I'll be following this up also, put them under presure ! Use their own rules againest them! They were wrong.

 

I will keep tags on this and await their response some very good posts read them all keep up the pressure.

 

I understand why Celtic didn't make a big stink of this, because in fairness the Football Club was proibably looking for a way to deal with this on the quiet, rather than making their outrage public, perhaps in an effort to help defuse what has been a difficult season, where the manager, players & others associated with the club had been sent bullets & bombs etc. I also understand that the BBC at long last were prepared to say this is where we start to comment on it (only a pity it wasn't 20 years ago), but that does not escape the fact that they were factually incorrect.

According to sources there were 3 songs in particular that were supposedly criticized for their 'sectarian' content, those being 'Boys of the Old Brigade', 'Fields of Athenry' & 'Soldier's Song'. First off, there is a political context, not a sectarian one, and whether or not the add-ins to Fields of Athenry are really needed can be debated, what is undeniable is that the Queen laid a wreath in memory of the 'Boys of the Old Brigade', so hard to see how this can be construed anymore, but by far the most offensive allegation is that made against the 'Soldier's Song', which is, after all, the national anthem of a member nation of the European Union.

The BBC have much to answer for in this matter, perhaps Celtic FC are not demanding a public apology, but the fans of Celtic FC, those who have been besmirched by these false allegations deserve if not an apology, at the very least answers to questions that are both reasonable & well founded, rather than being fobbed off as the BBC has seen fit to do so.

 

Completely true. We should be able to sing BOTOB any time we want now, without being told off for it. Why would The Queen herself go to all the trouble of laying a wreath in their memory, if she thought they were Protestant hating terrorists?

As for The Soldier's Song, it's the fecking national anthem of Ireland. Celtic were formed as a charity club to help the poor immigrants of Ireland who came to Scotland because of The Famine, so it's only natural that we will want to celebrate our Irish links. Sectarian my *. The only reason these songs are being labelled as such is because they want to make it a level playing field between us and them. The fact is, our supporters do not sing sectarian songs, but rather, political songs.

The only club with a sectarian problem in Glasgow is Rangers, which is why they have been warned for it countless times before and even fined for it last season.

 

Absolutely agree with everything that has been said, it's a disgrace that they just send a bullshit e-mail then keep up their biased agenda, several times playing the up the Ra clip while referring to sectarianism, what I find really interesting was the bit in the reply e-mail about continuing to report in a balanced manner, is it * being balanced calling political songs sectarian and comparing it to disgusting stuff like the Billy Boys.

 

Send this to the BBC Taz?

 

What a load of * bollocks.

 

Pat Nevin can sook ma plooms:bbpd:

 

Sorry to keep digging this issue up, but once again thought a wee update on this issue.

Every month the BBC release a report on the complaints that they have received & responded to the previous month. After an extraordinary (&unexplained delay) in publishing the report for May, there is NO mention of the thousands of complaints that Celtic fans have recieved an email response to, but nothing further.

It makes mention of over 16 000 complaints recieved, specifically mentioning that some were concerned too much coverage was given to the death of bin Laden, that Radio 1 speculated that the fan that attacked Neil Lennon was actually a Rangers fan (imagine who it could've been that was that complaining about that? ), that a scene in East Enders depicted a character drowning a cat & that Lady Gaga's set ran a little long, so there was a delay in broadcasting Family Guy one night.

Any mention of false accusations made by McLeod or Nevin? Ziltch. Any mention of concerns over editorial content regarding this matter? Also a big fat ziltch.

This is the 'Summary of All Complaints, May 2011':

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/pdf/summary_may2011.pdf

BTW - Perhaps they need a dictionary over at the BBC - Definition of 'All':Used to refer to the whole quantity or extent of a particular group or thing

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/all

The 'Beeb' cannot be permitted to let this just die a quiet death. We need to keep up the fight.

 

Shitebags.

 

I saw that earlier Taz and immediately complained again

 

Keep this up lads, im like a * dog with a bone im not letting go.

 

The Family Guy Fan Club "Its FOUR minutes past 11 and Family Guy still isnt on" lol

 

I've read the word racist a few times in this thread. Since when are Irish people a race? Or English people? Are Dutch people a race too?

 

must admit I was raging when that happened !!