Something wrong with the Beeb

Those of us who watched the BBC's coverage of the London 2012 Olympics would have been bombarded with plenty of pro-Team GB commentary, rather against the Beeb's own "balance" guidelines. It was OK for most cases because the commentators are people. But today I saw this really odd "Breaking News" red banner on the homepage proclaiming:

"Four miners shot and injured by South African police at a gold mine - details soon"

Original banner, click to enlarge

I clicked through and what does the article say?

"Security guards have wounded four striking gold miners with rubber bullets near the South African city of Johannesburg, police say."

Yes, it's not the police as proclaimed by the sensationalist banner on the homepage. It turns out it's security guards. What's the difference though? People were shot... as you might say.

Well, the police fall under the title "authorities" which gives the event an increased gravity, following the mad Lonmin massacre just weeks before. Security guards, on the other hand, are very likely private companies quite far apart from the "authorities" title.

So now News of the World is gone, is the Beeb turning towards a more sensationalist and blatantly untruthful reporting? What happened to the company's own guidelines of balance, hey?

Image source: BBC.co.uk