Michaela Strachan 'wasn't hard-core enough' for Countryfile

There's a fascinating employment tribunal case going on, which gives a little insight into the way the BBC approaches its coverage of what it calls "rural affairs".

Shooters often complain that the BBC has an anti-shooting bias - and their coverage of the recent Exmoor Emperor story might add weight to that argument. But how does the organisation go about its rural coverage, and is there any hope of getting more favourable (or at least less unfavourable) mentions of shooting on the telly, radio, BBC websites and the rest?

The case centres around Michaela Strachan and Miriam O'Reilly, who were 'let go' when Countryfile moved to its prime-time evening slot in April 2009. They claim it was due to ageism and sexism. The BBC argues not. Their head of rural affairs, Andrew Thorman, gives a host of other reasons - including, for instance, that Strachan was "a vegetarian, and wasn't happy to do hard-core stories in meat production."

All good knockabout stuff, and more entertaining than much of the BBC's output. But I'm looking beyond the soundbites, to try and learn what on earth the BBC is trying to do with its 'rural' coverage, and how it makes the decisions that can seem, to us at least, stark raving bonkers.

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Shooting: The Sport, The Facts

Mike Yardley has produced this excellent video to present the true facts about shooting in the UK, and to counter the hysterical nonsense put about by anti-gun campaigners.

Here's Mike with video whiz Tony Morris, who burned the midnight oil to get the film made.

The video is not perfect, but it goes a long way to redressing the balance. We could do with more of this type of thing. Perhaps, in due course, we can expect this sort of output from BASC's new communications centre.

Meanwhile in other news, animal rights nutters have been making threats to BBC Gardener's Question Time panellists for giving helpful advice on controlling garden pests. Andrew Tyler of Animal Aid (achievements include "Stopped pig racing events at a country fair") is quoted: "The whole premise of gardeners killing squirrels is hateful and bigoted. It's the worst kind of intolerance." Er no, Andrew, there are worse examples of hate, bigotry and intolerance.

And yet it's the reaction of extremists like this that creates the belief within media organisations that pest control is "controversial". No it's not. The vast majority of people agree that pests need to be controlled. Half a dozen fruitloops shouting the odds does not constitute a controversy. BBC please take note.

Is the BBC biased against shooting?

Shooting Sports Trust spokesman Mike Yardley is complaining to the BBC about their treatment of shooting on BBC One's The Big Questions, broadcast at 10am on Sunday.

The programme featured anti-gun campaigner Lucy Cope and Graham Showell of Britain Needs Guns, alongside Mike, in a studio discussion type programme hosted by Nicky Campbell, headlined "Should Britain ban guns?".

The show rapidly degenerated into a shouting match, with Lucy Cope making all kinds of inaccurate assertions about guns and gun crime, culminating in a ridiculous suggestion that if rabbits needed to be controlled then armed police should be brought in to do the job.

The nature of the programme, and the failure of Nicky Campbell to keep order, has led shooters to suggest that the programme was inherently biased against shooting - but that's not all.

The broadcast was beset with technical breakdowns - picture and sound were lost several times during the show, and an announcer's voice cut in to apologise, before the show reappeared on viewers' screens. Eventually the programme was cut short.

Conspiracy theorists are even suggesting that someone with an anti-shooting agenda might have been pulling the plug deliberately to prevent pro-shooting contributors getting their points across.

I've dealt with the question of alleged BBC bias against shooting on this blog before.

Did you see the show? What do you think? For the purposes of this debate, I hope to embed a low-res version of the programme here, complete with the breaks in the broadcast.

Copyright issues notwithstanding, I believe that this is justified on the grounds of news reporting in the public interest. After all, this is an important subject affecting shooters and others who pay the TV licence fee, and the impartiality of our public service broadcaster. However there's every chance that the hosting service may be required to take it down on the grounds of alleged copyright infringement, so if the video shows up, watch it while you can.

The Big Questions, Series 3 Episode 20 from James Marchington on Vimeo.