BBC toes Blair line

Coxsoft Art is appalled that BBC News has failed to report the plight of British artist Michael Dickinson, who faces up to 3 years in a Turkish jail for displaying a collage that lampoons the Turkish Prime Minister. The BBC can't deny that it knows this story - reported in The Times and The Guardian - as it has been featured on BBC Turkey! It appears that the BBC has withheld this important news from the British public because it doesn't want to queer Tony Blair's pitch to support Turkey's bid for EU membership. It is clear from this story that Turkey is a backward, primitive and dictatorial country which is totally unfit to join the European Community, where all PM's are seen as fair game for political cartoonists. That Blair is "proud to champion" Turkey's bid shows how little he cares about democracy and human rights. And that BBC News is withholding this important story from us proves it is toeing Blair's line. Independent? Apolitical? Unbiased? Come off it, Auntie, you've been in Government's pocket ever since you came unstuck in the Hutton Report.
To view a thumbnail of Michael's "criminal" collage, scroll down to find my blog for Monday 18 September: UK Artist Faces Jail. To view the dastardly work for real, visit the Go West exhibition at London's Spectrum Gallery from 6 October to 4 November. Gallery Director Royden Prior is "absolutely appalled" by what has happened to Michael.