How to Manufacture A Row Without Even Trying

Have a look at THIS story on the BBC Website about a supposed "row" over an exhibition of golliwogs in a Hampshire museum. This from a correspondent...

"Note how the piece begins: "A row has broken out..." and then provides NO evidence of the existence of said row. Indeed, the story even quotes the owner of the collection as saying that no-one has complained - i.e no row at all. All the BBC has done is to ring an obscure rentaquote academic, and then presents his misgivings as if they are part of some racially-inflamed brouhaha. It's clear that Molyneux has never visited the exhibition. I'd lay big money on Molyneux having never heard of the exhibition until the BBC phoned him. The whole thing stinks.

I'd guess what happened is something like this:

The BBC notices that there is an exhibition of gollies.
The BBC decides that it is wrong for us to like gollies.
The BBC decides that it must produce a story telling us how people don't like gollies.
The BBC rings up the exhibition's organisers to see if anyone has complained.
The BBC is shocked to discover that no-one has.
The BBC cannot let this go, and decides to find someone who doesn't like the gollies.
The BBC phones obscure academic who says that gollies are evil etc.
The BBC then presents his quotes in such a way as to make it look as if there has been an exchange of views between the exhibition's organisers and obscure academic - ie, a 'row'.
The BBC can now be satisfied that it has presented a version of the 'truth' that fits in with its ideology.

Frankly, this is same methodology the Germans used in August 1939 when they dressed up a load of concentration camp prisoners in German uniforms, shot them, dumped their bodies at the Gleiwitz radio transmitter, and then said it was the work of the dastardly Poles."

UPDATE courtesy of Tim Worstall 1. They ran the story on last night's South Today, in which they didnot have complainant, but were apparently itching to find one.2. Now, the real meat. Check the wikipedia entry for the academic the BBC found. He's a well known Trotskyist. Extraodinary. So the story is not 'row erupts over golly exhibition', but 'BBC phones Trotskyist to make it seem as if there is a row'.

Now, no doubt you will think I am using this to have a go at the BBC. And of course I am. But you could easily delete the letters BBC from this story and insert any mainstream media organisation you like. They all do it. From The Guardian and Independent to the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph, they all do things like this. It's called filling space and creating a story. And it's creating a story to fit your own agenda. This sort of thing is not a preserve of the left or the right. But at least if The Guardian or the Daily Telegraph do it they're not charging a poll tax licence fee to pay for it.

UPDATE: It seems the BBC has been reading this story because the website page referred to above now reads like THIS. It now starts off: "An exhibition of golly badges at a Hampshire museum has been criticised."