5 ms·

The BBC has a strong left wing bias. This doesn't come through so much in how they report mainstream political news but in the stories they choose to run on the

The BBC has a strong left wing bias. This doesn't come through so much in how they report mainstream political news but in the stories they choose to run on their website. A good example is the choice of stories for the "Society" section.

Brakenshire 9y ago
The BBC is also accused of having a right wing bias by the left. The 'Society' section appears to just be a view on the homepage with a few articles at a time, one of the things you can add or remove from the customizable homepage, not a cohesive category. These are the three articles on there at the moment: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/63ca22ff-b580-4fe7-8796-b44edb9bf245 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/63ca22ff-b580-4fe7-8796-b... http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/5d33c36d-cd41-4351-97ed-4516962d5c44 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/5d33c36d-cd41-4351-97ed-4... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41582874 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41582874
- dithering 9y ago
  BBC is biased towards the status quo. Very, very broadly it's position is economic-right social-left, which is pretty much Official Government Worldview, whatever the government, these days.
  - jlebrech 9y ago
    I think you nailed it.
  - Brakenshire 9y ago
    Yes, although there are a lot of diversions from that, for instance Farage and UKIP (who are anti establishment social conservatives) got substantially more coverage than was reflected in their polling. There are a lot of social conservative voices given a lot of coverage, and in positions of power (within a British context, more defense of the British Empire, Euroscepticism and than evangelical Christianity) like Paxman, Andrew Neil, Humphreys, Melanie Philips etc. Also, I'd say their economics coverage is reactive, it's framed around the Budget, major speeches from prominent politicians, research or press releases from the OBR, IFS, the IMF or similar organizations. It reports those positions, then goes to opposition parties or other figures to ask for comment. The problem for left wing parties is that doesn't give much space to get across a completely different narrative, but that is frankly not the BBC's role.
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  It can have both, it's not a homogenous mass. Various directors, separated program production, etc..
dghf 9y ago
I can't find the Society section. Could you provide a link? ETA: thanks to Brakenshire above for the directions. I'm seeing the same three stories, and I'm not sure what's left wing about reporting on: - a campaigner for gender-neutral passports winning the right to challenge government policy in court - horrible things that some people do when dating - a (somewhat unscientific) experiment that suggests that people take domestic violence against women more seriously than that against men.
RickJWagner 9y ago
Yes, exactly. Big media has several tools available: - Choose which stories to run - Choose which stories not to run - Choose which stories to allow discussion boards on - More obvious mechanisms, like slanted coverage Used together, they make an impressive suite of persuasion tools.
sangnoir 9y ago
> The BBC has a strong left wing bias. Only by American standards. Barack Obama (and his policies) would firmly be on the right in the UK. I think it only goes to show that US 'center' is to the right of the European 'center'.

Brakenshire 9y ago

The BBC is also accused of having a right wing bias by the left. The 'Society' section appears to just be a view on the homepage with a few articles at a time, one of the things you can add or remove from the customizable homepage, not a cohesive category. These are the three articles on there at the moment: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/63ca22ff-b580-4fe7-8796-b44edb9bf245 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/63ca22ff-b580-4fe7-8796-b... http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/5d33c36d-cd41-4351-97ed-4516962d5c44 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/5d33c36d-cd41-4351-97ed-4... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41582874 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41582874

dithering 9y ago
BBC is biased towards the status quo. Very, very broadly it's position is economic-right social-left, which is pretty much Official Government Worldview, whatever the government, these days.
- jlebrech 9y ago
  I think you nailed it.
- Brakenshire 9y ago
  Yes, although there are a lot of diversions from that, for instance Farage and UKIP (who are anti establishment social conservatives) got substantially more coverage than was reflected in their polling. There are a lot of social conservative voices given a lot of coverage, and in positions of power (within a British context, more defense of the British Empire, Euroscepticism and than evangelical Christianity) like Paxman, Andrew Neil, Humphreys, Melanie Philips etc. Also, I'd say their economics coverage is reactive, it's framed around the Budget, major speeches from prominent politicians, research or press releases from the OBR, IFS, the IMF or similar organizations. It reports those positions, then goes to opposition parties or other figures to ask for comment. The problem for left wing parties is that doesn't give much space to get across a completely different narrative, but that is frankly not the BBC's role.
pbhjpbhj 9y ago
It can have both, it's not a homogenous mass. Various directors, separated program production, etc..

dghf 9y ago

I can't find the Society section. Could you provide a link? ETA: thanks to Brakenshire above for the directions. I'm seeing the same three stories, and I'm not sure what's left wing about reporting on: - a campaigner for gender-neutral passports winning the right to challenge government policy in court - horrible things that some people do when dating - a (somewhat unscientific) experiment that suggests that people take domestic violence against women more seriously than that against men.

RickJWagner 9y ago

Yes, exactly. Big media has several tools available: - Choose which stories to run - Choose which stories not to run - Choose which stories to allow discussion boards on - More obvious mechanisms, like slanted coverage Used together, they make an impressive suite of persuasion tools.

sangnoir 9y ago

> The BBC has a strong left wing bias. Only by American standards. Barack Obama (and his policies) would firmly be on the right in the UK. I think it only goes to show that US 'center' is to the right of the European 'center'.