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

Has the BBC become too unbiased?

There is a paragraph in the BBC’s impartiality code that has, to coin a phrase, become a part that is more than the sum of its whole. It reads: “We are committed to reflecting a wide range of opinion across our output as a whole and over an appropriate timeframe so that no significant strand […]

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2019-04-30 11:32
in Opinion
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

There is a paragraph in the BBC’s impartiality code that has, to coin a phrase, become a part that is more than the sum of its whole.

It reads: “We are committed to reflecting a wide range of opinion across our output as a whole and over an appropriate timeframe so that no significant strand of thought is knowingly unreflected or under-represented.”

And in doing so it has allowed bias in by the back door.

Reflecting all significant strands of thought is a dangerous proposition for an impartial news provider.

As Robert Peston, who served for nine years as BBC business and economics editor before moving to ITV, told reporters last year: “Impartial journalism is not giving equal airtime to two people, one of whom says the world is flat and the other one says the world is round. That is not balanced, impartial journalism.”

And he’s not alone in taking that point of view.  

In an article for The Conversation, Dr Chris Allen of the University of Leicester addressed criticism levelled at the Beeb over its supposed role in the “normalisation” of alt-right and far-right discourse since the rise in populist sentiment exemplified by the Brexit vote and the election of President Donald Trump.

RelatedPosts

Elevenses: Let Bray Play

Elevenses: A Very Public Lynching

Elevenses: The day that Labour lost my vote

Watch this ‘and tell me you don’t think PM & Attorney General should both be thrown from office immediately’

He said: “Given the recurrence of Robinson’s appearances in the mainstream media, it can be argued that not only has this played down the highly divisive and dangerous views and ideologies he has espoused but so too has it legitimised his claim to be voice of the people. That has the potential to have quite dangerous and dire consequences.”

Daily Express editor Gary Jones told The Guardian this week that his paper his now turning down coverage of Tommy Robinson and Steve Bannon because the tone of the paper’s reporting had become – by his own admission – anti-immigrant and Islamophobic. Nowadays he claims “the BBC gives far more airtime to rightwing propagandists” than his outlet does, and it’s hard not to agree.

In upholding section 4.2.4 of its Impartiality code the BBC has almost become too unbiased, giving too much credibility to opinions that should by rights be marginalised to the peripheries of the media landscape. There needs to exist a weight of good judgement in the editorial guidelines that supersedes the prerogative to get all sides heard regardless of how damaging their views may be.  

Please login to join discussion

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

There’s something not quite right at Everton

Christmas Ads Have ‘No Impact’ On Shopping Habits

Security Service failure lead to Manchester bombing attack, says expert

Diplomatic affair? Matt Hancock gets new job & people had a lot to say

What does Maglev mean for the Future of Rail Travel?

Film Review: Lucky

TLE Film Meets: Catherine Bailey from A Quiet Passion

Peter Roberts: The man who fought to make animals sentient beings under European law

Trump 2016: The Bigots Have Spoken

Migrants cross Channel as they believe France is racist, says Priti Patel

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

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

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.