The BBC: are claims of political bias justified? Part 2.

[bigeye]

Full disclaimer:

I have worked for many parts of the BBC's News and Current affairs as a freelancer and have witnessed the inner workings of this very British Institution first hand. Whilst there are many sides of Auntie that really irritate me intensely, I honestly feel that Corporation and specifically, BBC Millbank, strives to retain a fair balance when it comes to political reporting.

The perception from without is clearly different. This may be a case of individuals defending their own political beliefs against attack from pesky journalists asking party spokespersons awkward questions. Their sensitivity to criticism blinding them to the fact that 'the opposition' is grilled in the same manner.

A recent example of this perceived bias was the ACAB incident. This reference to the parentage of Her Majesty's Constabulary appeared in the back of a Kuenssberg PTC (piece to camera) in the form of a graffiti daub. The appearance of this graffiti garnered criticism from a number of quarters and even the suggestion that this was deliberate.

I have seen many suggestions here that the BBC's Political editor is anti-Tory, yet the documented accusations of her bias including one upheld by the BBC Trust, were in fact biased against Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.

Compared to ITV or Sky, oversight and the ability to ensure even handed output is problematic considering the wide range of the BBC's output: from a vast array of journalists and commentators holding forth on radio, blogs, digital platforms, social media and of course Broadcast TV.

My own experience is limited to the workings of the News gathering arm of the BBC. The operations of the BBC's entertainment and commissioning departments are outside my area of discussion.

In your own time carry on...

 

[BetwixtandBetween]

Oh wait, just let me get my horlics and a biccy.

 

[Flight]

Rubbish.

The BBC is as baissed towards the feminist viewpoint as can be.

It isn't a left / right thing, it's a cultural and graceless thing.

 

[Murphy_Slaw]

The fact that the BBC are percieved to be bias to the left by right wingers and bias to the right by left wingers, probably means it's somewhere in the middle. Having said that there are certain relatively high profile presenters who are definately bias and are allowed to show it on screen, Whilst everyone is entitled to have an opinion, the BBC is supposed to be impartial and as such it's presenters must also be impartial when on screen.
My biggest gripe with the BBC is the positive descrimination which has meant a major reduction in the quality of programming and presenting. I'm fine with giving everyone the same chances, but the cream should rise to the top regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation and not because of it.

 

[re-stilly]

The BBC do have an agenda and this does seem to be anti-Brexit and anti-Tory. They also seem keen on any news that promotes a left leaning agenda and any Tory or someone that doesn't fit with the BBC moral standard that appears seems to get cut off, interrupted or given a far harder time than the corresponding individual that does fit their moral compass.

 

[exbluejob]

Don't really care much about the BBCs politics but I do care about how the BBC and MSM in general are not reporting on news but making it (up very often) and really doing a very poor job.

53% of Voters Now See British Press as "Force For Bad"

In what represents a startling swing over the last year, a majority of the British public now see the press as a "force for bad" - up from 43% to 53% in

order-order.com

 

[Flight]

The BBC do have an agenda and this does seem to be anti-Brexit and anti-Tory. They also seem keen on any news that promotes a left leaning agenda and any Tory or someone that doesn't fit with the BBC moral standard that appears seems to get cut off, interrupted or given a far harder time than the corresponding individual that does fit their moral compass.

The BBC is Blairite ... Hence why elements of both the left and right get a hard time from them.

 

[re-stilly]

Don't really care much about the BBCs politics but I do care about how the BBC and MSM in general are not reporting on news but making it (up very often) and really doing a very poor job.

53% of Voters Now See British Press as "Force For Bad"

In what represents a startling swing over the last year, a majority of the British public now see the press as a "force for bad" - up from 43% to 53% in

order-order.com

Have to agree, there does seem an inordinate amount news gleaned from social media rather than proper journalism, is this due to laziness or lack of journalistic nouse.

 

[Truxx]

My firm belief, brought about by years of first hand experience is that whilst the BBC sometimes let's the egosand political leanings of some of its "names" leak, and some commissioning editors likewise, it is scrupulously politically unbiased.

Its problem is that it genuinely sees itself as the fourth estate, charged with (and I quote) "holding the government to account"

Thus whoever's is in power cops it. The exact same sentiments expressed now about the BBC vs Boris/the government could have been witnessed back at the turn of the century vs. New Labour.

The other major fault is the default setting of the beeb, almost certainly driven by the pressures of rolling news (never wrong for long) to go with the pack too much, sacrificing accuracy and diligence for being up with the hunt, and be seen by the movers and shakers to be up with the hunt (even if it does not stand scrutiny).

There is loads more I could say, but the thought did occur to me whilst sorting out my ageing aunties telly licence last evening that in relation to funding and charter renewal the leadership of the bbc should really take a step back and listen to the wise words of comedian and folk singer Mike Harding;

"Don't kick the dog *********** when your fingers are in its mouth"

 

[Murphy_Slaw]

Have to agree, there does seem an inordinate amount news gleaned from social media rather than proper journalism, is this due to laziness or lack of journalistic nouse.

Hard to tell. I can understand (though not condone) the commercial stations using clickbait and social media trends to increase viewing figures and advertising revenue. The BBC has the opportunity to avoid that trap as it is publically funded. It also IMHO has a moral duty to the tax payers who pay for it's existance.

 

[bigeye]

Rubbish.

The BBC is as baissed towards the feminist viewpoint as can be.

It isn't a left / right thing, it's a cultural and graceless thing.

Are you referring to BBC News, specifically the political output? I'm not in the least bit interested in views on the general programming: Eastenders and the like.

 

[Red Hander]

Full disclaimer:

I have worked for many parts of the BBC's News and Current affairs as a freelancer and have witnessed the inner workings of this very British Institution first hand. Whilst there are many sides of Auntie that really irritate me intensely, I honestly feel that Corporation and specifically, BBC Millbank, strives to retain a fair balance when it comes to political reporting.

The perception from without is clearly different. This may be a case of individuals defending their own political beliefs against attack from pesky journalists asking party spokespersons awkward questions. Their sensitivity to criticism blinding them to the fact that 'the opposition' is grilled in the same manner.

A recent example of this perceived bias was the ACAB incident. This reference to the parentage of Her Majesty's Constabulary appeared in the back of a Kuenssberg PTC (piece to camera) in the form of a graffiti daub. The appearance of this graffiti garnered criticism from a number of quarters and even the suggestion that this was deliberate.

I have seen many suggestions here that the BBC's Political editor is anti-Tory, yet the documented accusations of her bias including one upheld by the BBC Trust, were in fact biased against Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.

Compared to ITV or Sky, oversight and the ability to ensure even handed output is problematic considering the wide range of the BBC's output: from a vast array of journalists and commentators holding forth on radio, blogs, digital platforms, social media and of course Broadcast TV.

My own experience is limited to the workings of the News gathering arm of the BBC. The operations of the BBC's entertainment and commissioning departments are outside my area of discussion.

In your own time carry on...

I accept (fwiw) that the BBC tries to be impartial. My suspicion is that, because they seem to recruit journalists from a pool of people with a common world view, the output is bound to be biased towards that world view. To put it another way, a person can be biased without believing they are biased, just because the views they espouse are those which - based on the company they keep - seem to be commonly-held and acceptable.

An example of the above would be the way in which the BBC is pushing the 'Russia interfered with Brexit' part of the Parliamentary Committee report, despite that forming a small part of the actual report.

Beyond politics, there is the BBC's social agenda. On today's BBC News website main page, this manifests itself in there being 13 links to stories or features about race. It looks as if anyone who raises any concern about race gets a guaraneteed slot on the BBC. There is - in the 13 links - a video: Top 10 tips for diversifying your workplace. Is that news? it's not. It is the BBC pushing a particular agenda. If you are a BBC journalist, and you're middle class and university educated and feeling guilty about slavery or the UK's past, 13 stories about probably seems reasonable. And not biased. Outside of such groups of people, it looks like overkill. 'You should think this'. Where is the Editorial voice saying 'Is 13 stories that touch upon race, proportionate?'.

 

[green_slime]

I think the BBC are obsessed by seeming balanced, the difficulty is that their calibration point is that of metropolitan areas, particularly London, and that is different from the majority of the country

 

[ancienturion]

With regard to the presentation of news by the BBC it panders to the younger audience because:
it is not really necessary to have 'boom-boom' noises throughout the introduction;
there really is no need for being told what the show (and local show) will be at the beginning, then again about half way through and finally at the end as a reminder. I can only assume this is because the young are supposed to have relatively little short attention span although it could be down to lazy editors who cannot be bothered to find out what the news really is;
the news is not really news but rather little chat shows with lots of graphics to endear the younger element one assumes;
the majority of the time items of news could be presented by the so called news reader rather than having background images for everyone deemed to be an expert on the subject;
there really is no need for each and every 'expert' to act as though they were auditioning for a place at RADA.

Because of the above I completely stopped involving myself with the BBC a while back.

Naturally I lie because watching 'Dad's Army' is still worth a laugh.

 

[Flight]

Are you referring to BBC News, specifically the political output.. I'm not in the least bit interested in views on the general programming: Eastenders and the like.

Yes, explicitly.

 

[Scaley Albereto]

I binned my tv licence a few months ago now & don’t miss the BBC one iotas. There output in general is frankly, shite, “world class” it certainly isn’t. Woke, right on crap it is.

The news content is agenda driven, that agenda is generally anti Brexit, anti trump & anti Tory, it is more about opinion than actual factual reporting &/or more about the presenter than the actual story.

It needs binning.....

 

[Simmerit]

I don't think you can accuse an institution of bias because it is an institution. Just like you cant accuse an organisation of institutional racism. What is an organisation but a collection of people?

The issue is a media wide issue and the Biased Broadcasting Company take most of the flack as they are funded by the license fee. In my view that means everyone is within their rights to have a pop.

Unfortunately the media (like marketing an advertising) attracts people that are referred to as 'creatives' and 99.9 recurring percent of them are metropolitan luvvies who still think they are students. In order to change the BBC (and the media), you'd have to change the workforce. Whilst I'm all for that, it's not realistic as what you will replace them with is more of the same, because its the same type of person that is attracted to that kind of industry. Just look at ITV - their news reporting is pretty much on a par with the jounos in the Biased Broadcasting Corporation.

The simple answer is switch it off, which is what I now do. The minute I see a piece starting that is clearly liberal snowflake woke w@nk, I hit the red button. BBC and Westmister are treated equally in my household now as we are sick to death of the bombardment by them through all media (broadcast and digital) - we switch the fcukers off. W@nkers the lot of em.

 

[bigeye]

Yes, explicitly.

Do you have any examples of the BBC Political News gathering's 'bias towards the feminist viewpoint'?
I'm afraid that I haven't been made aware this aspect of their modus operandi.

 

[bigeye]

The news content is agenda driven, that agenda is generally anti Brexit, anti trump & anti Tory, it is more about opinion than actual factual reporting &/or more about the presenter than the actual story.

It needs binning.....

Yet current BBC Political Editor has been accused of anti-Labour bias on many occasions and has one such accusation upheld by the BBC trust.

If you haven't got a licence then presumably you don't watch any broadcast TV?

 

[Flight]

Do you have any examples of the BBC Political News gathering's 'bias towards the feminist viewpoint'?
I'm afraid that I haven't been made aware this aspect of their modus operandi.

Everything they do and everything they say... Lol

You've both worked for and watched the BBC and have never considered this? Crikey, that really is blue pill.

I always find this particular example particularly amusing... Mike's a brave man, if a little dull... Still just the introduction tells you all you need to know.