John Simpson has been at the BBC so long that, when he joined, the licence fee was £5 a year.
asserted
fee → join → BBC
Now, it's £180, which might explain why 539,000 people stopped paying last year.
uncertain
people → explain → ?
John Simpson: 60 Years At The BBC was a celebration of his long and action-packed career.
asserted
Years → pack → career
He's been shot at, tortured by Palestinians, bombed by the American air force, sacked as a newsreader, battered by supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini, and — perhaps worse — he had to look on politely as Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi constantly broke wind during an interview.
asserted
Gaddafi → shoot → interview
As a young political editor, he tried to shout a question at Harold Wilson about rumours of a forthcoming election.
asserted
he → try → election
He got as far as 'Excuse me, Prime Minister' before Wilson punched him hard in the stomach.
asserted
Wilson → get → stomach
John Simpson: 60 Years At The BBC was a celebration of his long and action-packed career
'I'm going to call the Director- General and have you sacked,' he said.
asserted
he → pack → General
Can you imagine what would happen if Andy Burnham adopted the same media strategy?
asserted
Burnham → imagine → strategy
Yet back then the Downing Street press pack didn't even think it was a story.
asserted
it → think → ?
'You can't ask the PM questions,' they said snootily.
asserted
they → ask → questions
In those days, you see, the BBC was a place where gentlemen worked.
asserted
gentlemen → see → days
'It was like walking into the 1930s,' Simpson recalled.
asserted
Simpson → walk → 1930s
This was illustrated by black-and-white footage of two men from the BBC newsroom with accents that would have made Edward VIII sound common.
asserted
VIII → illustrate → accents
Covering the Islamic revolution in Tehran, Simpson and his cameraman were surrounded by a revolutionary mob.
asserted
Simpson → cover → mob
'They started the process of ripping us to pieces,' he recalled.
asserted
he → start → pieces
In desperation, he hoisted a picture of the Ayatollah and chanted in Arabic: 'Long live Khomeini.
asserted
Khomeini → hoist → Arabic
'You shouldn't have done that,' said his cameraman after they escaped, proving that even in the late 1970s the BBC took a very strict view on impartiality.
asserted
BBC → do → impartiality
He might still think the news is strictly impartial, but a poll last year revealed that nearly a third of viewers think it has a left-wing bias
Simpson can appear rather pleased with himself.
uncertain
Simpson → think → himself
A newspaper once said that 'his obnoxious arrogance disgraces the BBC'.
asserted
arrogance → say → BBC
But here he was rather self-effacing, and acknowledged his faults.
asserted
he → efface → faults
He is perhaps best remembered for claiming in 2001 that the BBC had liberated Kabul from the Taliban.
asserted
BBC → remember → Taliban
'I was such an idiot,' he says now.
asserted
he → say → ?
'I was buoyed up with enthusiasm.'
asserted
I → buoy → enthusiasm
He blames himself for the death of a translator in a friendly-fire attack in Iraq, and regrets the way that his career affected his personal life: 'I've hurt a lot of people by how I've lived my life.'
asserted
I → blame → life
He might still think the news is strictly impartial, but a poll last year revealed that nearly a third of viewers think it has a left-wing bias.
uncertain
it → think → bias
'I don't like an awful lot about the BBC,' he says, 'but by God I love it.'
asserted
I → like → it
To misquote the late Queen, opinions may vary.
uncertain
opinions → misquote → Queen
Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild (Ch5) travelled 10,000 miles to meet the Humbert family, pearl farmers on the tiny Pacific island of Ahe.
asserted
Fogle → travel → Ahe
Patrick Humbert, 83, eats only meat, fish and eggs and believes that broccoli was invented in the 1970s.
asserted
broccoli → eat → 1970s
'Vegetables are toxic,' he says.
asserted
he → say → ?
'Vegetarians have smaller brains.'
asserted
Vegetarians → have → brains
The Aporia
