Mixed US reaction to the BBC's typically understated announcement that it was going to offer Americans "responsible, impartial reporting" via its new cable TV service, BBC World News, which launched in New York last week supported by a low profile outdoor ad in Times Square.
"About fucking time" and "overdue" were among the verdicts of US bloggers.
But also there was James Hudnall, who thinks the idea of the "Israel-hating, anti-American" BBC being impartial is the "unintentional joke of the week".
AttentionMax also has issues with the BBC claiming the impartiality highground: "I have no doubt the BBC will dish up more worldly perspective, but impartial? That's a joke!... What's so great about the BBC is precisely what's so wrong with most other U.S. news sources: the BBC has a point of view, and it's edgy." The BBC edgy? What on earth would this guy make of Jon Snow and Channel 4 New?
And Jaykayess thought BBC World News sounded "so preachy".
Otherwise there seemed to be a considerable degree of support - not least from MikeTheActuary, jd3000, Penguins on the Equator and Shayera.
And then there is this by Jonathan Boyd Hunt on FrontPageMag.com: "Two immensely influential and politically motivated British news organizations are currently establishing serious bridgeheads in the United States, namely: the world's most influential news broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation; and its mentor: the scheming, anti-conservative, anti-American ideologue The Guardian... Beware, patriots of all hues, you have good reason to be fearful. Like the classic sci-fi movie 'The Invasion of the Body-Snatchers', the infecting of America's national psyche has already begun but almost nobody has noticed."
And he wrote it before Guardian boss Carolyn McCall spoke of the paper's ambition to be the "leading global liberal voice", with an expanded web and print presence in the US.
