• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Set For Life
      • Thunderball
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Media

‘Phenominal’ Maitlis says UK media in ‘automatic crouch position’ over Brexit

"Many broadcasters fear discussing the obvious economic cause of major change in this country in case they get labelled pessimistic or unpatriotic."

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2022-08-25 07:12
in Media, News
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Emily Maitlis delivered a brutal takedown of the UK media’s handling of Brexit.

The former BBC newsreader criticised her former employee’s “both-sideism” on Brexit, arguing that an unwavering commitment to telling two sides of a story can create “superficial balance”.

Maitlis said her shock departure from the BBC in February had allowed her to take a “deep breath out” and speak more freely.

Delivering the MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival this evening, Maitlis, 51, raised questions about the BBC’s approach to impartiality.

Tim Davie, the director-general, has made the issue his priority since taking office in 2020, but Maitlis suggested it could be having a chilling effect on journalism.

Execution

She said the BBC was right to strive for balance on Brexit, but had got its execution wrong.

“It might take our producers five minutes to find 60 economists who feared Brexit and five hours to find a sole voice who espoused it,” she said. “But by the time we went on air we simply had one of each; we presented this unequal effort to our audience as balance. It wasn’t . . . The ungainly name for this myopic style of journalism: ‘both-sideism’, which talks to the way it reaches a superficial balance while obscuring a deeper truth.”

The BBC’s commitment is to “due impartiality”, which means airing differing views but giving them appropriate weight. Maitlis suggested that the broadcaster had got the balance wrong on the matter of the UK’s departure from the EU.

She questioned if the BBC was now ducking reporting on the downsides of Brexit. The presenter said the corporation and other broadcasters go into an “automatic crouch position whenever the Brexit issue looms large”.

RelatedPosts

BBC Gaza doc ‘breached editorial guidelines’, report finds

Donald Trump crashes Chelsea’s Club World Cup trophy lift 

UK must be prepared for war with Russia by 2030, former British Army chief warns

Donald Trump to be ‘denied access to Parliament’ on state visit

“Many broadcasters fear discussing the obvious economic cause of major change in this country in case they get labelled pessimistic, anti-populist, or worse still, as above: unpatriotic,” she said. “And yet every day that we sidestep these issues with glaring omissions feels like a conspiracy against the British people.”

Reaction

No one has ever called out, with such clarity and sheer authority the "glaring omissions" of UK broadcasters who refuse to discuss Brexit ("the obvious economic cause of major change in this country)" as @maitlis just has here in one minute 👏👏
Absolutely this 💯👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/SA4X2tYbgk

— Alex Taylor (@AlexTaylorNews) August 24, 2022

Wow, this is phenomenal.

Emily Maitlis (@maitlis) is absolutely ripping into this government’s erosion of democracy, standards and institutions.

It’s not normal, she says – and we should not accept it as normal.
👏👏👏pic.twitter.com/gwxf8Eoq0j

— Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) August 24, 2022

An absolutely outstanding speech from @maitlis calling out the "glaring omissions" of UK broadcasters who refuse to discuss Brexit ("the obvious economic cause of major change in this country)"

Link to whole lecture in thread below. It was superb pic.twitter.com/wNpppESJsr

— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) August 25, 2022

Related: Liz Truss’s £235m cut to Environment Agency ‘doubled sewage discharge’

Tags: BrexitEmily Maitlisheadline

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

← Watch: Ex-Liverpool man slams Cristiano Ronaldo for ignoring Jamie Carragher  ← Media guilty of ‘normalising’ populist views in the name of balance – Maitlis
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

-->