OT a chance to relax with the radio

[Bill Wright]

4.25pm and I was on my own, so it was a good chance to listen to the radio as I worked.

I caught the end of Open Book, but then at 4.30 it was Africa's Digital Poets. This was essentially a sermon about white oppression in S Africa. It's odd how often it happens that when you put Radio Four on it's something like this. Sort of virtuous, concerned with race, and very boring.

I endured it for the sake of what might be on next. This turned out to be a programme concerned with foreign domestic workers in the UK. On several occasions the commentary attacked Teresa May. It was an interesting programme but the repeated comments about Mrs May were unneccessary.

Next was 'Profile' and the subject was Glenda Jackson. This programme told us what a splendid person Glenda was for her Labour Party activities, and contained a vicious attack on Margaret Thatcher.

You know, I just get so sick and tired of the relentless chipping away with this leftist stuff. It wouldn't matter if they had a neutral programme on reasonably often, but they don't. There's always some sort of 'agenda' in every programme where such a thing is even remotely possible.

The other morning the presenter on Today called Trump a racist, narcissistic thug. Fair comment you might or might not think but there is never any balancing criticism of Mrs Clinton.

Bill

[TimW]

But Mrs Clinton _isn't_ a racist, narcissistic, thug. TW

[Alycidon]

That's ok, you can go ahead anyway and post that she is and she won't sue you after the election.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

[The Natural Philosopher]

She is though.

[Simon Mason]

Try this instead - the fastest growing station the the world.

[Brian Gaff]

Often though if you go into listening to these things with a bias yourself, you can normally find one I have a friend who can spot bias in the opposite direction to yours. People are always going to have some form of bias, its who we are and really often its very hard to squeeze out of existence, since depending on who are involved and who are making the programme, they don't actually see any bias themselves. I do have to say though that often its easy to blame things on a monolithic party or leader than it is to just analyse the facts and see where the problems are. Pigeon holing is alive and well.

You see it in the group people put me into 'the blind' No we are really not 'The Blind we are people with poor to no sight either born that way or acquired over the years and no amount of looking at our often normal looking eyes will get them any closer to see as we do and we all see differently. People just leap to a conclusion and use the same paint for all things similar. Bias is a fact of life. Brian

[The Natural Philosopher]

NO, Brian, but prejudice is.

And there is a very good reason.

Data storage. The human mind cannot store and process all the data it has access to, and a huge part of what it does is compress enormous amounts of data into 'filters' that have names.

'blind' is such a filter. 'blind' is a quick'n'dirty category in which to bung anyone with pretty impaired vision. For most purposes its good enough. Of course you as a 'blind' person with a particular form of visual impairment will protest that this is a very blunt instrument indeed, however the rest of the world to a large extent doesn't have time for '50 kinds of snow'. It's snow, that's all.

That is prejudice, that is necessary. Bias is not necessary. Bias happens when people deliberately ignore the fact of their own prejudice by refusing to admit there is another side, or that their categories are in any need of refinement..

[tony sayer]

In article , Bill Wright scribeth thus

Try Radio 3 then Bill;)....

[Bill]

In message , Simon Mason writes

If you want to listen to a machine playing heavily overcompressed uninspiring "music", by the trade aka "product".

[Bod]

[pamela]

With sound quality like that it's no wonder the page says, "Bringing back the golden era of offshore AM radio".

Maybe they could digitally recreate that wow from turntables playing in rough seas which was so characteristic of Radio Caroline.

It gives another meaning to retro music.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Delighted to see you giving an example of the lack of bias on the BBC. Given how full it is of vicious attacks on Blair.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

But does he find the need to post to a DIY group about it?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Given the rant was about R4, would music prog be a suitable alternative?

[pamela]

Why not just point to this web page and save writing your own version of philosophical categorisation?