BBC Journalism Plumbs new low
Marvin Gaylord, 05-Apr-2005
The BBC, TV company in the UK, and one time paragon of investigative docu-dramas, has descended to a level approaching absolute zero with the broadcasting last night of a 'Property' show which 'addressed the problems of first time buyers' by advising them to either get their parents to buy them a house, or to move to a shed in an area of swapland where property is 'affordable', or 'shack up with mates on a joint mortgage'.
Famous for filling 82% of their publicly-funded schedules with 'property makeover' shows, mixed with a sprinkling of 'how to get rich easily using property', the BBC seem to be the only organisation in Britain without access to the Internet, newspapers, or other media, as they still seem to believe that property prices in the UK 'are rising'. A 2 minute check on the UK's 'Land Registry' would quickly provide any aspiring BBC junior journo with some hard facts and figures on the state of play of the UK's property market (down, for 8 months in a row, in case anyone was still in any doubt).
This level of investigation, however, seems to be beyond the producers of the ' Real Story' programme of 04/04/05, and indicates why the BBC's outrageous 'License Fee' is such stonkingly good value for money. Using an estate agent (Realtor) as an 'expert' instead of researching the issues, the BBC simultaneously managed to provide a completely one sided presentation of highly dubious 'facts', while plugging the website and seminars of the 'expert' in question, a woman with the kudos of having bought a lot of property in one of the worst areas of London at hugely inflated prices.
This qualification, of course, means the 'expert' (Barbara 'Print Your Own Money' Goldman) possesses one of the most vested interests ever seen in a so-called documentary and the fact that she might possibly be wiped out by even modest falls in the property market means she is obviously a great source of unbiased commentary for a BBC journo too lazy even to click a mouse.
Ms Goldman came to the fantastic conclusion that it would 'make sense' for poverty stricken 'first time buyers' in the UK to stretch to a loan of almost ten times their income, using their parent's house as surety. A fabulous strategy at a time when property prices have reached an all time peak in the UK, almost guaranteed not only to lead the first time buyer into bankruptcy, but also to break his parents too. Happy Families indeed, thanks to the BBC and Babs! The BBC, of course, seemed to think this was a 'novel' concept, having not bothererd with the 30 seconds of research necessary to show that such 'guaranteed' loans were, in fact, popular just before the last UK property crash in the early 1990's, and may even have contributed to the severity of that crash.
Next up, Babs offered the even better and more 'novel' idea of 'lowering expectations'. This means settling for a studio flat in a crack-cocaine riddled sink estate on the outskirts of a Moor somewhere, although convenient for the local high security prison and unusually high levels of background radiation. This 'fresh' point of view was almost the low spot of the programme, until Babs managed to pull yet another chunk of carrot from the sick bag with the proclamation that first time buyers should club together. Nice one BBC. So a bunch of young people with no money should move to a peat bog in the Outer Hebrides, get Mummy and Daddy to stump up the deposit, and buy a sheep shed with 16 of their best friends?
So much screen time was given to this 'expert' (who perhaps should be regulated, for offering what amounts to financial advice) that it was hard to believe that the programme was not, in fact a sponsored 'infomercial' for Ms Goldsmith's property-related services and seminars.
Ah yes. Investigative journalism at its best, and confirmation, perhaps, that mass forced redundancies and relocation to pastures cheaper at the Beeb are perhaps long overdue!
By the way - if you are a BBC producer with a string of 'buy to let' properties in the north of England, Razla would like to hear from you. Anonymity guranteed of course.