The BBC

pqrdef

Or perhaps the 3% fall was the headline on the bank's press release.

A bank's profit figure is pretty much what it wants it to be, within wide limits. It can take gains or defer them, it can revalue assets when it wants to, it can choose when to write down losses.

We don't learn anything about Barclays' finances here, only about what Barclays wants to announce.

And £6bn isn't massive, it's marginal for a company with a trillion-pound balance sheet.

cogito

If the BBC were a commercial organisation earning revenues from its activities, I wouldn't give a monkeys whether its views were to the right of Hitler or to the left of Mao.

Fact is, that everyone who owns a TV set has to pay for it so the BBC should be completely neutral in its reporting. It's institutionally leftist and it's wrong that the taxpayer should have to fund it.

Proxy

UrWntr wrote: »

Oh dear, still missing the point.

Try reading the OP to see what we are discussing here. I'm not saying that BBC shouldn't be reporting all of the facts, in fact they absolutely should point out that the profits are slightly down versus the period before.

The BBC made the decision to lead with a negative headline, at a time when massive profits should be applauded.

I fully understand what you're saying, but you're completely ignoring the context to my post and the BBC report.

Not missing the point. please stop insulting my intelligence.

The BBC made the decision to lead with (what you perceive as) a negative headline (which accurately stated the facts of the story)

"applauding" profits would be the biggest example of bias possible in this case. That is not impartial.

UrWntr

Proxy wrote: »

Not missing the point. please stop insulting my intelligence.

The BBC made the decision to lead with (what you perceive as) a negative headline (which accurately stated the facts of the story)

"applauding" profits would be the biggest example of bias possible in this case. That is not impartial.

Still missing the point :beer:

I'm sorry if that insults your "intelligence", but it's a fair observation.

Proxy

Sigh, whatever...

Ilya_Ilyich

BBC News - Scottish law firms report profits rise

BBC News - Diageo half-year profits rise 15% on emerging markets

BBC News - BP ups dividend as profits rise

BBC News - Cisco sees profits rise over 43%

BBC News - Hyundai profits rise 38% on US and China sales

BBC News - Shell plans production expansion as profits rise

BBC News - Total profits boosted by higher oil prices

Typical disgusting leftist propaganda.

pqrdef

What they could have said:

"Barclays announced their profits today. If the numbers mean anything to you, go and look them up. They don't mean anything to us, but even if they did, we wouldn't be allowed to say, because all interpretation looks biased to somebody."

UrWntr

pqrdef wrote: »

What they could have said:

"Barclays announced their profits today. If the numbers mean anything to you, go and look them up. They don't mean anything to us, but even if they did, we wouldn't be allowed to say, because all interpretation looks biased to somebody."

Or "Barclays report profits of 5.9bn - 4bn more than RBS".

Like I said, BBC are not responsible for reporting profits to shareholders, they're a media outlet. It's up to them how they want to spin things and they chose to put a negative slant on a positive result in the circumstances.

Incidentally, the telegraph headline for the same story was "Barclays unveils 5.88bn profit as bankers bonuses capped".

Both the BBC's and The Telegraph headlines are entirely accurate, but one makes the reader feel positive and the other negative.

Hence the POINT of this thread and my post.

Keep on arguing and missing the point...

nickj_2

i have noticed that when the bbc are reporting pmq's esp on 5live news they often play bits when miliband is trying to get one over cameron , but they very rarely have his replies, esp if he has something to get one over miliband

thor

UrWntr wrote: »

Both the BBC's and The Telegraph headlines are entirely accurate, but one makes the reader feel positive and the other negative.

NOT this reader. I suppose if you keep looking for bias you will find it no matter what the truth is. As long as they are giving you the facts I don't give a monkeys' about how it is reported. Maybe people should employ their intelligence a bit more then all this fuss would be irrelevant.