成人快手

The Libyan Bombing - 1986

The 成人快手's coverage of a U.S. bombing raid against Libya brings it into conflict with the government.

The Thatcher government took a strong stance against terrorism in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, and as the Carrickmore (1979) and Real Lives (1985) rows illustrate, it had particular views about the way broadcasters reported both acts of terrorism and the war against terrorism.

The Libyan assault of 14 April 1986, when the US launched bombing raids on Tripoli and Benghazi following a terrorist attack on a German nightclub used by American servicemen, fell into the second category.

At the time, Conservative Party Chairman Norman Tebbit complained that the 成人快手's reporting portrayed the raids, for which the Americans were granted use of British air bases, as bullying.

Six months later he produced a detailed analysis of the 成人快手's reporting of the raids and of the way the reports were presented in bulletins. Headlines, emphasis and the wording of reports were compared with ITN's reporting of the same story.

The Tebbit dossier said the 成人快手's coverage was "riddled with inaccuracy, innuendo and imbalance", and it called for a review of managerial and editorial standards.

The 成人快手 responded with a point-by-point rebuttal of the Tebbit critique and a letter from Marmaduke Hussey, new in the job of Chairman following the death of Stuart Young, saying the Corporation would not be intimidated.

The row simmered briefly, Tebbit describing the rebuttals as an exercise in "statistical gymnastics", and promising to continue monitoring 成人快手 output.

Four months later a new chapter in the 成人快手 opened with the dismissal of Alasdair Milne as Director-General, after which relations between the Government and the 成人快手 began to thaw.

Kate Adie reports from Tripoli, 1986.

Rebuild Page

The page will automatically reload. You may need to reload again if the build takes longer than expected.

Useful links

Theme toggler

Select a theme and theme mode and click "Load theme" to load in your theme combination.

Theme:
Theme Mode: