BloggingA B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWsucceed in doing this among all sections of the
viewing audience or have a tendency to reinforce
bigotry. See racism.
Binary opposition See polarization; seman-
tic differential; wedom, theydom.
Black English See communication: inter-
cultural communication.
Blacklisting See huac: house unamerican
activities committee.
Biometrics Th e analysis of human body char-
acteristics chiefly by technological means.
Biometrics scrutinises and banks information
drawn from DNA, fingerprints, earlobes, the
retinas and irises of the eyes, voice patterns
and signatures, the prime aim being to identify
a person’s unique characateristics for a range
of purposes centring around verifi cation. It is
used in all aspects of security, crime prevention
and general social, political, commercial and
employment surveillance. See cctv: closed-
circuit television; surveillance society.
Blogging Derives from weblogging, the practice
by thousands worldwide of ‘diary writing’ for
consumption on the Internet. Fascination with
other people’s lives, their intimate thoughts and
refl ections, is only one factor explaining what
draws visitors to blogging. For example, Salam
Pax, recording his experiences from the heart
of Baghdad during the second Iraq War (2003),
provided a unique insight into the situation of an
ordinary Iraqi subject to the awesome fi repower
of the Coalition forces of the US and UK. A
woman’s take on the military occupation of Iraq,
Bagdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq, written
under the pseudonym Riverhead, was published
in 2005 in the US by the University of New York
Press and in the UK by Marion Boyars. The
book was a prize-winner in the lettre ulysses
awards for the art of reportage, 2005.
In ‘Disruptive technology: Iraq and the Inter-
net’ published in Tell Me Lies: Propaganda and
Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq (Sage,
2004), edited by David Miller, Alistair Alexander
cites blogging as a signifi cant contributor, along
with message boards and mailing lists, to the
dissemination of alternative narratives to those
provided by traditional mass media – such
narratives serving as ‘a tool for mobilizing a
global protest movement on an unprecedented
scale’.
‘Weblogs,’ says Alexander, ‘provide an open-
source platform for engaged individuals to
challenge professional journalism on their
own terms.’ Indeed professional journalists are
themselves writing their own weblogs, ‘further
blurring the lines between the traditional newsService’ to bridge the gap between the BBC and
the general public. Additionally, the Committee
proposed regional and functional devolution
of some of the Corporation’s activities, more
comprehensive reports by the BBC on its work,
and five-year reviews by small independent
committees. A major recommendation which
made no headway was that the monopoly of
broadcasting be extended to local authorities
and universities, allowing them to operate FM
radio stations.
Commercial broadcasting in the US style was
not approved of: ‘Sponsoring ... puts the control
of broadcasting ultimately in the hands of people
whose interest is not broadcasting but the selling
of some other goods or services or the propaga-
tion of particular ideas.’ Interestingly, four of
the eleven committee members (including Lord
Beveridge) dissented from the majority verdict
against any form of commercial advertising. See
topic guide under commissions, commit-
tees, legislation.
Bias, biased From the French, biais, slant; a
one-sided inclination of the mind. Th e student
of communication approaches this term with
extreme caution, for bias generally belongs to
the realm of perception, and other people’s
perceptions at that: like beauty, bias lies in the
eye of the beholder whose vision is coloured by
values and previous experience. Th e accusation
of bias tends to be predicated on the assumption
that there is an opposite – objectivity; that
there is an attainable ideal called impartiality;
that freedom from bias is not only possible but
desirable.
To speak, publish or broadcast without bias
would imply the use of language which is
value-free. Yet however careful we might be in
what we say, we disclose something of ourselves:
what shaped and formed us; what counts with
us; what we value. When other people appear to
call that value into question, we may be tempted
to classify them as biased.
▶Barrie Gunter, Measuring Bias on Television
(University of Luton Press, 1997).
Bigotry An inability and/or unwillingness to
consider views, beliefs, values and opinions
other than the ones you already hold. Th e term
refers to the rigid way in which an individual may
hold his/her views, beliefs and so on. Bigotry
is often allied with prejudice. Clearly bigotry
is a cause of noise within interpersonal
communication. As regards the process of
mass communication, one area of debate is
whether or not television programmes designed
to ridicule bigotry, particularly racial bigotry,