James O’Brien
@mrjamesob.bsky.social
Broadcaster @lbc.co.uk
Author: https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-they-broke-britain/james-obrien/9780753560365
Author: https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-they-broke-britain/james-obrien/9780753560365
Reposted by James O’Brien
Anybody who had a vision to bring American levels of political, cultural and social polarisation to Britain - whether their motive was clicks or cash, ideology, boredom or anything else - would make it their top strategic priority to abolish the BBC, or to damage and diminish it at the very least
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Anybody who had a vision to bring American levels of political, cultural and social polarisation to Britain - whether their motive was clicks or cash, ideology, boredom or anything else - would make it their top strategic priority to abolish the BBC, or to damage and diminish it at the very least
Reposted by James O’Brien
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
Reposted by James O’Brien
Trump Threatens To Sue BBC Over Misleading Edit Of ‘The Vicar Of Dibley’ https://theonion.com/trump-threatens-to-sue-bbc-over-misleading-edit-of-the-vicar-of-dibley/
November 10, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Trump Threatens To Sue BBC Over Misleading Edit Of ‘The Vicar Of Dibley’ https://theonion.com/trump-threatens-to-sue-bbc-over-misleading-edit-of-the-vicar-of-dibley/
Reposted by James O’Brien
Thread 🧵 | My Experience with Bullying
#AntiBullyingWeek 1/8 Everyone says school
days are “the best days of your life.” I wish
that were true. Here’s what I went through.
#AntiBullyingWeek 1/8 Everyone says school
days are “the best days of your life.” I wish
that were true. Here’s what I went through.
November 10, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Thread 🧵 | My Experience with Bullying
#AntiBullyingWeek 1/8 Everyone says school
days are “the best days of your life.” I wish
that were true. Here’s what I went through.
#AntiBullyingWeek 1/8 Everyone says school
days are “the best days of your life.” I wish
that were true. Here’s what I went through.
Reposted by James O’Brien
Incredible that Robbie Gibb - most influential person on BBC board by many accounts and from journalists I speak in BBC - was involved in setting up GB News.
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Enforced veganism’: Ofcom lets GB News flout accuracy rules, say climate campaigners
Exclusive: Regulator has received 1,221 complaints about UK broadcasters since 2020 but found no breaches of its code
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Incredible that Robbie Gibb - most influential person on BBC board by many accounts and from journalists I speak in BBC - was involved in setting up GB News.
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
What’s really going on at the BBC.
More income tax incoming.
‘NEETs’ & the casual cruelty of generalising. tinyurl.com/4rrn2mkx
More income tax incoming.
‘NEETs’ & the casual cruelty of generalising. tinyurl.com/4rrn2mkx
James O'Brien Daily
Daily News Podcast · Updated daily · Welcome to the best bits of James O'Brien's LBC phone-in show.
Listen back to all the highlights in a 60-minute bite sized chunk of his show with new episodes ever...
tinyurl.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:50 PM
What’s really going on at the BBC.
More income tax incoming.
‘NEETs’ & the casual cruelty of generalising. tinyurl.com/4rrn2mkx
More income tax incoming.
‘NEETs’ & the casual cruelty of generalising. tinyurl.com/4rrn2mkx
Reposted by James O’Brien
Should Gibb be sacked? yes, obviously. He's an abomination of basic journalistic standards. His GB News channel spreads conspiracy theory & disinformation. His Jewish Chronicle newspaper spreads invented stories. He is plainly trying to undermine the BBC so it's as bad as everything else he touches.
November 10, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Should Gibb be sacked? yes, obviously. He's an abomination of basic journalistic standards. His GB News channel spreads conspiracy theory & disinformation. His Jewish Chronicle newspaper spreads invented stories. He is plainly trying to undermine the BBC so it's as bad as everything else he touches.
I wonder when he will start suing news outlets for describing his barefaced lies about the 2020 election as barefaced lies…
November 10, 2025 at 4:30 PM
I wonder when he will start suing news outlets for describing his barefaced lies about the 2020 election as barefaced lies…
Reposted by James O’Brien
The BBC isn't perfect, but it belongs to Britain not Trump.
Political leaders across the UK must unite in defending its independence from the White House.
Political leaders across the UK must unite in defending its independence from the White House.
November 10, 2025 at 4:24 PM
The BBC isn't perfect, but it belongs to Britain not Trump.
Political leaders across the UK must unite in defending its independence from the White House.
Political leaders across the UK must unite in defending its independence from the White House.
Reposted by James O’Brien
It would be funny, if it wasn't tragic, reading this from four years ago about the 'independent' expert who wrote the report into purported leftwing bias at the BBC. It's just embarrassingly amateur - but it works because the Government is awol. www.theguardian.com/media/2021/n...
Lobbyist at firm with close ties to Tories will help select Ofcom chair
Appointment of Michael Prescott as interviewer follows move to give Paul Dacre chance to reapply
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:08 PM
It would be funny, if it wasn't tragic, reading this from four years ago about the 'independent' expert who wrote the report into purported leftwing bias at the BBC. It's just embarrassingly amateur - but it works because the Government is awol. www.theguardian.com/media/2021/n...
Reposted by James O’Brien
Michael Prescott's report makes vital points about the importance of being accurate, and also how difficult that is. For instance, he describes himself as having been Political Editor of the Sunday Times for 10 years, which is not what the Guardian reported when he left the job.
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Michael Prescott's report makes vital points about the importance of being accurate, and also how difficult that is. For instance, he describes himself as having been Political Editor of the Sunday Times for 10 years, which is not what the Guardian reported when he left the job.
Reposted by James O’Brien
New: By federally pardoning his old regime from charges they do not even face, Trump is signaling his current crew: Loyalty means immunity. Trump Pardons Giuliani and Others Involved in Effort to Overturn 2020 Election www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...
Trump Pardons Giuliani and Others Involved in Effort to Overturn 2020 Election
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:47 PM
New: By federally pardoning his old regime from charges they do not even face, Trump is signaling his current crew: Loyalty means immunity. Trump Pardons Giuliani and Others Involved in Effort to Overturn 2020 Election www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...
Reposted by James O’Brien
Anyone who wants to know the truth about the BBC resignations should listen to @mrjamesob.bsky.social live or on catchup today. #bbcresignations
In 'How They Broke Britain', I do a pretty good job of detailing the depth & breadth of Tufton Street/Tory/Murdoch/Mail attempts to scupper the BBC, even as I castigate some presenters for going too easy on precisely the people who seek the Corporation's abolition. But I should have done more. 1/2
November 10, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Anyone who wants to know the truth about the BBC resignations should listen to @mrjamesob.bsky.social live or on catchup today. #bbcresignations
Reposted by James O’Brien
What you’re witnessing is a populist assault on the BBC.
This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
November 10, 2025 at 10:52 AM
What you’re witnessing is a populist assault on the BBC.
This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
Reposted by James O’Brien
Robbie Gibb once suggested that reporters should reflect if they were getting more retweets from one side than the other - a braindead analysis that ignores that fair and impartial reporting of education might get more Tory retweets than say, criminal justice.
Stephen really does have the best take on this. It’s not clear that the BBC Board or indeed the rest of the News team really understood the message of the previous reviews, which were about getting detail right. Instead they wanted to know what was ‘biased’ or not like they were blotting out stains.
The impossible dream some people on the British right are chasing is that you can have a BBC News operation that retreats from detail and expertise, that takes dictation from the government, but this will only create incompetence and failure when it suits you:
November 10, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Robbie Gibb once suggested that reporters should reflect if they were getting more retweets from one side than the other - a braindead analysis that ignores that fair and impartial reporting of education might get more Tory retweets than say, criminal justice.
Reposted by James O’Brien
"The problem isn’t that we have a deliberately biased BBC, it’s that we have a BBC that has been consciously reduced in its scope and bullied into dumbing down and retreating." @stephenkb.bsky.social's newsletter today
November 10, 2025 at 9:40 AM
"The problem isn’t that we have a deliberately biased BBC, it’s that we have a BBC that has been consciously reduced in its scope and bullied into dumbing down and retreating." @stephenkb.bsky.social's newsletter today
In 'How They Broke Britain', I do a pretty good job of detailing the depth & breadth of Tufton Street/Tory/Murdoch/Mail attempts to scupper the BBC, even as I castigate some presenters for going too easy on precisely the people who seek the Corporation's abolition. But I should have done more. 1/2
November 10, 2025 at 9:23 AM
In 'How They Broke Britain', I do a pretty good job of detailing the depth & breadth of Tufton Street/Tory/Murdoch/Mail attempts to scupper the BBC, even as I castigate some presenters for going too easy on precisely the people who seek the Corporation's abolition. But I should have done more. 1/2
Reposted by James O’Brien
The corruption never ends
November 10, 2025 at 4:54 AM
The corruption never ends
If you want to sustain your carefully-cultivated fury at the stupid Panorama edit then don’t, whatever you do, read or listen to Trump’s speech in its entirety…
November 10, 2025 at 7:47 AM
If you want to sustain your carefully-cultivated fury at the stupid Panorama edit then don’t, whatever you do, read or listen to Trump’s speech in its entirety…
Reposted by James O’Brien
Glad that someone has finally taken responsibility for the appalling assault on democracy that was the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Slightly confused that it's the Director-General of the BBC, but what do I know?
Slightly confused that it's the Director-General of the BBC, but what do I know?
November 9, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Glad that someone has finally taken responsibility for the appalling assault on democracy that was the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Slightly confused that it's the Director-General of the BBC, but what do I know?
Slightly confused that it's the Director-General of the BBC, but what do I know?
Reposted by James O’Brien
I had my disagreements with the BBC under Tim Davie but he was a decent man doing a difficult job.
To see Trump's White House claiming credit for his downfall and attacking the BBC should worry us all.
To see Trump's White House claiming credit for his downfall and attacking the BBC should worry us all.
November 9, 2025 at 8:00 PM
I had my disagreements with the BBC under Tim Davie but he was a decent man doing a difficult job.
To see Trump's White House claiming credit for his downfall and attacking the BBC should worry us all.
To see Trump's White House claiming credit for his downfall and attacking the BBC should worry us all.
Reposted by James O’Brien
the right winger who was appointed to lead the BBC in the hope of appeasing right wingers has been driven out by right wingers for not appeasing right wingers enough and the BBC has the chance to do the funniest thing ever
November 9, 2025 at 6:38 PM
the right winger who was appointed to lead the BBC in the hope of appeasing right wingers has been driven out by right wingers for not appeasing right wingers enough and the BBC has the chance to do the funniest thing ever
A big win for people more outraged by a silly edit at the BBC than by a man impeached by Congress for literally inciting an insurrection being back in the White House. Pathetic.
🔴 Breaking I Davie faced mounting criticism that a Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a speech by Donald Trump
➡️ Read more: trib.al/I0iw7aP
➡️ Read more: trib.al/I0iw7aP
November 9, 2025 at 7:39 PM
A big win for people more outraged by a silly edit at the BBC than by a man impeached by Congress for literally inciting an insurrection being back in the White House. Pathetic.
Reposted by James O’Brien
This is the most abysmal, pathetic thing. The BBC head resigning because the corporation is not supine *enough* to the far-right.
🔴 Breaking I Davie faced mounting criticism that a Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a speech by Donald Trump
➡️ Read more: trib.al/I0iw7aP
➡️ Read more: trib.al/I0iw7aP
November 9, 2025 at 6:16 PM
This is the most abysmal, pathetic thing. The BBC head resigning because the corporation is not supine *enough* to the far-right.
Reposted by James O’Brien
Chase the base
Very excited to be able to give you a preview of my very own board game before it even becomes available to buy!
It’s called “Chase the base”
Wait for the end to see how competitive I get playing against Ben & Ollie
#chasethebase #boardgame #boardgames
@mrjamesob.bsky.social
Very excited to be able to give you a preview of my very own board game before it even becomes available to buy!
It’s called “Chase the base”
Wait for the end to see how competitive I get playing against Ben & Ollie
#chasethebase #boardgame #boardgames
@mrjamesob.bsky.social
November 9, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Chase the base
Very excited to be able to give you a preview of my very own board game before it even becomes available to buy!
It’s called “Chase the base”
Wait for the end to see how competitive I get playing against Ben & Ollie
#chasethebase #boardgame #boardgames
@mrjamesob.bsky.social
Very excited to be able to give you a preview of my very own board game before it even becomes available to buy!
It’s called “Chase the base”
Wait for the end to see how competitive I get playing against Ben & Ollie
#chasethebase #boardgame #boardgames
@mrjamesob.bsky.social