Also published on The Green Benches blog
BBC Question Time - the panellists usually consist of one Tory, one Lib Dem, one high ranking businessman, someone from a charity perhaps or a journalist, and then a Labour rep. A balanced panel ? I don’t think so ! Furthermore, Mr. Dimbleby will constantly interrupt the Labour spokesperson whilst often allowing the Tory, the Lib Dem and/or the business rep, to continue his/her point to oblivion. And if there is any criticism of the government, the topic is often changed and the discussion moves on. Don’t tell me that you haven’t noticed !
On news programmes, the Lib Dems appear to be increasingly interviewed as the opposition. They most certainly are not the opposition - they are very much part of this Tory-led government. Just because they jump up and down after Nick Clegg has attempted a pseudo rebellion to keep the party faithful on board does not make them the official opposition. Labour is often by-passed and if invited, give shorter answers and often cut off mid-stream. You haven’t noticed ? Watch more carefully...
On the occasions that Labour does get invited eg onto Newsnight, usually we see someone who might have been a high profile politician/minister from about 10 years ago. Often they do not represent the current leadership’s team or thinking. They are usually speaking from the perspective from when Labour was first re-elected back in 1997. Things have moved on. Its time the BBC caught on ! If it really wishes and is willing to do so..
Does the BBC truly deserve the honourable banner
of Public Service Broadcasting that it historically and currently still holds?
In this morning’s Observer we see a report that
Labour is accusing the BBC of becoming a coalition government echo-chamber
! How true. http://is.gd/3c4ERl We have seen this develop and grow over many
months – some would say years. But there
is a strong feeling that it has become more prevalent if not insidious. The Tories apparently complain regularly that they
do not receive fair coverage. However, they
must realise that we know that their complaints are bluster ! The government doesn’t only receive positive
coverage from the BBC, at times the BBC appears to proffer approval - with icing
plastered on top ! Maybe by complaining,
the Tories believe Labour will be prevented from complaining or even questioning!
Well, if that was the strategy they got
it wrong ! Maybe you don’t quite see what the fuss is
about and need convincing..
Three small examples :
BBC Question Time - the panellists usually consist of one Tory, one Lib Dem, one high ranking businessman, someone from a charity perhaps or a journalist, and then a Labour rep. A balanced panel ? I don’t think so ! Furthermore, Mr. Dimbleby will constantly interrupt the Labour spokesperson whilst often allowing the Tory, the Lib Dem and/or the business rep, to continue his/her point to oblivion. And if there is any criticism of the government, the topic is often changed and the discussion moves on. Don’t tell me that you haven’t noticed !
On news programmes, the Lib Dems appear to be increasingly interviewed as the opposition. They most certainly are not the opposition - they are very much part of this Tory-led government. Just because they jump up and down after Nick Clegg has attempted a pseudo rebellion to keep the party faithful on board does not make them the official opposition. Labour is often by-passed and if invited, give shorter answers and often cut off mid-stream. You haven’t noticed ? Watch more carefully...
On the occasions that Labour does get invited eg onto Newsnight, usually we see someone who might have been a high profile politician/minister from about 10 years ago. Often they do not represent the current leadership’s team or thinking. They are usually speaking from the perspective from when Labour was first re-elected back in 1997. Things have moved on. Its time the BBC caught on ! If it really wishes and is willing to do so..
So why has this
happened ? One theory could be that the many journalists
and presenters at the BBC are products of independent boarding school education. Therefore their contemporaries are on the
whole Conservatives who, alongside them, were taught that they were born to
rule ! Or maybe they shared a pint in the Students’
Bar at Oxbridge. Am I being unfair ? Perhaps they merely feel more comfortable and
have a natural inclination towards their Conservative pals. Not exactly wholly representative of the
population though are they ? Maybe the
BBC should examine its recruitment strategy.
If it really wishes and is willing to do so..
And why does this
matter ? The vast majority of people watch the BBC News
but it seems to be unwilling to assist Labour to convey its message even though
the BBC is the UK’s public broadcasting body. Labour
must be able to tell the population about its opinions, its ideas, to convey
their stance and much more besides. There
might be some coverage but not to the extent that the government enjoys and not
with the same positive tone.
And it isn’t just about
promoting the government agenda – it’s about ignoring what is really happening
out there – in society. This morning
BBC Breakfast news covered the newspapers – pointed to one headline on a
newspaper – that of the Olympics about a potential betting scam but chose to ignore the other more emboldened
headline on the same front page - that of four Tory party donors gaining honours! Had it been Labour donors – well, I think we would know what to expect !
I used to have so much
respect for the BBC and in some of its entertainment/drama/culture programming
I still do eg The Frozen Planet. But it
lets itself down, as well that of the majority of the population, by its policy
of providing unfair and biased news coverage towards the government whilst often
ignoring the problems that the majority in society are facing.
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