> A recent report on the [NHS app](https://archive.ph/T48nu) was just a government press release that the BBC published as news.
> Comparing the two, the BBC:
– Lifted much of the wording from the government press release.
– Reiterated government ‘ambitions’ without question.
– Included the same bullet-pointed claims about what the app will do by March 2023.
– Used the government’s pre-prepared comments from Javid and Sarah Sweeney from the National Voices charity.
> The BBC also failed to include comment from anyone critical of the NHS app.
The yellow birdie website accuses the Guardian of the same thing, before rattling of a few quick points that a balanced report might have alluded to.
> The BBC, as a public service broadcaster, has a duty to report all sides of a story.
I think that is fundamentally correct, but I don’t know if the Canary’s suggested critique is the best that could have been done.
Well it is news, it’s information about the NHS application and access to their services. On their website it’s an article about healthcare under the Health topic.
And? It is still news and something a lot of people won’t know about otherwise. There’s nothing particular “pro-NHS app” in the article either. It essentially just states facts, with someone else saying it being improved is a good thing, which is pretty difficult to disagree with.
Reminds me of when all these news companies were braying that they were being ‘prevented from holding the government to account’ when Boris Johnson suggested he might just deliver government press releases on YouTube instead of inviting them to hear them privately and then regurgitate them in their various distributive organs – er, I mean, hold the government to account.
It seems as if the Canary doesn’t understand what a press release is or what it’s for. Absolutely fucking pathetic!
How do you have so much time to post several articles on Reddit lol?
Press release get picked up by press – shocker.
That is news…what?
That’s what press releases are for, the press.
As for the NHS app it’s excellent. I can see referrals, view my test results (diabetic so bloods every 2 months), book diabetic nurse, order repeat prescriptions, submit amendments all without going near my GP. 5 years ago all those things needed an appointment. 24 appointments a year+ any usual appointments.
In the grand scheme of things it’s actually a success the canary seems to be confused about what this is. The test and trace app was a shit show but the NHS app is just fine. I believe its developed by NHS digital an in house dev team based in Leeds.
Has there been an opposition response yet? I suspect there will be one and the BBC can report on that when it happens, giving it its own article for balanced reporting. The BBC are far from perfect but not everything they do is Tory sycophancy.
They do this all the time, it is not new (and it is not news, either).
The Canary has been on this sub’s banned list for a long time. What’s changed?
13 comments
> A recent report on the [NHS app](https://archive.ph/T48nu) was just a government press release that the BBC published as news.
> Comparing the two, the BBC:
– Lifted much of the wording from the government press release.
– Reiterated government ‘ambitions’ without question.
– Included the same bullet-pointed claims about what the app will do by March 2023.
– Used the government’s pre-prepared comments from Javid and Sarah Sweeney from the National Voices charity.
> The BBC also failed to include comment from anyone critical of the NHS app.
The yellow birdie website accuses the Guardian of the same thing, before rattling of a few quick points that a balanced report might have alluded to.
> The BBC, as a public service broadcaster, has a duty to report all sides of a story.
I think that is fundamentally correct, but I don’t know if the Canary’s suggested critique is the best that could have been done.
In other recent news, Good Law Project were [pleased to announce](https://goodlawproject.org/news/ministers-vip-test-trace-contracts/) their likely success in worming out from the [Freedom of Information vetting apparatus](https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/freedom-of-information/mps-launch-inquiry-into-uk-governments-opaque-handling-of-foi-requests/) the identities of “politically-connected firms that benefitted from the Government’s £37 billion Test and Trace programme” – a necessary step in challenging the legality of that procurement process as they [were able to do](https://goodlawproject.org/update/high-court-vip-lane-ppe-unlawful/) for the similar PPE VIP procurement lane.
Well it is news, it’s information about the NHS application and access to their services. On their website it’s an article about healthcare under the Health topic.
And? It is still news and something a lot of people won’t know about otherwise. There’s nothing particular “pro-NHS app” in the article either. It essentially just states facts, with someone else saying it being improved is a good thing, which is pretty difficult to disagree with.
Reminds me of when all these news companies were braying that they were being ‘prevented from holding the government to account’ when Boris Johnson suggested he might just deliver government press releases on YouTube instead of inviting them to hear them privately and then regurgitate them in their various distributive organs – er, I mean, hold the government to account.
It seems as if the Canary doesn’t understand what a press release is or what it’s for. Absolutely fucking pathetic!
How do you have so much time to post several articles on Reddit lol?
Press release get picked up by press – shocker.
That is news…what?
That’s what press releases are for, the press.
As for the NHS app it’s excellent. I can see referrals, view my test results (diabetic so bloods every 2 months), book diabetic nurse, order repeat prescriptions, submit amendments all without going near my GP. 5 years ago all those things needed an appointment. 24 appointments a year+ any usual appointments.
In the grand scheme of things it’s actually a success the canary seems to be confused about what this is. The test and trace app was a shit show but the NHS app is just fine. I believe its developed by NHS digital an in house dev team based in Leeds.
Has there been an opposition response yet? I suspect there will be one and the BBC can report on that when it happens, giving it its own article for balanced reporting. The BBC are far from perfect but not everything they do is Tory sycophancy.
They do this all the time, it is not new (and it is not news, either).
The Canary has been on this sub’s banned list for a long time. What’s changed?
The Canary is a meme.