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    Re: Extinction Rebellion protestors outside the BBC Bristol office Archived Message

    Posted by Ian M on December 22, 2018, 6:40 pm, in reply to "Extinction Rebellion protestors outside the BBC Bristol office"

    Was at the London demo, pretty feisty with the whole building on 'lockdown'. Dunno if there were any arrests but a few people got wrestled by police after jumping barriers.

    Speakers a bit wishy washy for the most part (okay some of them were children) - liberal demands that 'our' bbc tell the truth with no analysis of why they might be +incapable+ of telling the truth. Too much respect shown to the graun too. Best speech I heard was from a guy called Jonathan Fuller who had a list of a bunch of climate headlines that were ignored by the beeb. You can watch most of it here from around the 30 min mark:

    http://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellion/videos/vb.239675493315233/135063250704199/?type=2&theater

    Initial XR report:

    'London

    Several hundred activists in London were banging pots and pans, making a noise to wake up the corporation. They also lit candles, to request for a light to be shone on the truth. Activists also blockaded the front and back doors of the BBC’s Broadcasting House and the main entrance of Wogan House with super-glue and lock-ons.

    As Alex, 30, said: “the BBC needs to do something about climate heating. They’re simply not providing enough information – even Planet Earth (the tv nature show) didn’t discuss it! They have a massive platform and can reach a big audience. I am a taxpayer and I want my voice to be heard”.

    Six people, incensed about the BBC’s inaction on the impending climate emergency, locked-on outside onto the BBC office entrance by the George Orwell statue. In an interesting twist of fate, the quote on the wall next to George Orwell’s statue reads ”If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”.

    One of the London activists, Rachel, felt it is the BBC’s responsibility to tell the truth about climate heating. Rachel said: “I care about the future of all children on the planet, we must all change our behaviour to protect them from the climate emergency. If our public service broadcaster will not tell the truth, people will not know about it and change their behaviour; they will feel betrayed”.

    Jenny Shearer, who super-glued herself at the back entrance, said: “I was brought up on the World Service. It was like a family member. It was an umbilical cord to the world. When I lived in Africa i became politicised when I saw colonialism in action. I was told the BBC told the truth, that they could be trusted when I needed the truth. Over the years they have become less direct and more concerned about where their money comes from and more allied to government. At this time when we need them, where are they? We need education and to change fast and the BBC needs to be involved.”

    Bristol

    Between 100 to 150 people attended the protest in Bristol, urging the BBC to take the climate emergency seriously. Pamela, an activist at Bristol, said that it has been a “peaceful and positive protest where people want the BBC to sit up and take notice of the impending climate emergency”.

    Three XR activists locked on to the front of BBC Bristol’s offices. One of the locked on activists Kirsten, 53, said: “this action really spoke to me… I am really shocked by the silence of the BBC on this issue”. Another locked on activist Yanay, originally from New Zealand but who has lived in the UK for nearly 30 years, said he is “feeling very inspired as I am surrounded by a group of friends committed to avoiding an ecological emergency… hope our presence here encourages the BBC to reconsider and speak out with their powerful and respected international voice on behalf of the urgent need for action to protect our sacred ecological systems”. ' - http://rebellion.earth/extinction-rebellion-actions-at-a-dozen-bbc-sites/

    Morning Star article: http://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/extinction-rebellion-protest-against-the-bbc%27s-failure-to-report-the-true-dangers-of-the-climate-crisis

    graun article: http://www.dumptheguardian.com/media/2018/dec/21/bbc-london-headquarters-put-on-lockdown-over-protest-by-climate-change-campaigners-extinction-rebellion?CMP=share_btn_tw

    No BBC news or other TV coverage (that I'm aware of) of the protest so far, but I think a few representatives got themselves interviewed by Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 fwiw.

    cheers,
    I

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