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...I had no idea that political advertising was banned in the UK, but there you go. As an American, some of the quotes from this this BBC News piece five years

...I had no idea that political advertising was banned in the UK, but there you go. As an American, some of the quotes from this this BBC News piece five years ago are really interesting: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22238582 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22238582 "Political adverts are - and have always been - banned on British TV and radio. That ban has wide support and has helped sustain the balance of views which is at the heart of British broadcasting - and ensures the political views broadcast into our homes are not determined by those with the deepest pockets." "The US experience shows the only people who would profit from TV attack ads are moneyed interest groups, TV networks and paid political consultants. The biggest loser would be democratic debate in Britain." I'm not quite sure how to evaluate those perspectives in light of more recent political events, but still a really fascinating difference in something I've taken for granted as an American.

djhworld 8y ago
Our broadcast news channels are regulated too, i.e. there are no "right wing" or "left wing" news channels/programmes here in the UK because of this regulation.
- sbhn 8y ago
  Nigel ferage has his own radio show, and it’s very popular, and as you might have guessed, swayed towards reminding its listeners they are under imminent attack
  - djhworld 8y ago
    I'm not sure if radio is subject to the same regulations or not
    - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
      I am guessing it probably counts as entertainment not news and current affairs.
  - Doctor_Fegg 8y ago
    But it's on a station (LBC) that has strong centre/left presenters too, such as James O'Brien. The whole station is a bit too much like Outrage Central for me tbh, but at least it's fairly balanced outrage.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  It's a shame that hasn't been extended to the print media.
  - dazc 8y ago
    Or TV
- gadders 8y ago
  Well, none that admit to a bias anyway.
qubax 8y ago
> "Political adverts are - and have always been - banned on British TV and radio. That ban has wide support and has helped sustain the balance of views which is at the heart of British broadcasting - and ensures the political views broadcast into our homes are not determined by those with the deepest pockets." On the surface, that's seems like nice sentiment, but on deeper analysis it's not. Firstly, all british broadcasts are already controlled by the people with deep pockets ( including the government funded state propaganda BBC ). Secondly, british media is extremely biased already. Thirdly, all this does is just helps the entrenched old money control the narrative. Fourthly, china, the soviet union, nazi germany, etc also banned political adverts. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. The people with the most money and power will win whether you ban political ads or not. Democracy, whether here or in the UK, is controlled and managed and provide an illusion of choice.
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  Every single government since at least the mid 70s has complained of the BBC's bias against them. Unusual for a state propaganda broadcaster.
  - andrewmu 8y ago
    This is not a valid argument for the BBC being an objective broadcasting organisation. One side can rightfully claim bias and then the other side can over-sensitively claim bias the other way because the BBC isn't 100% presenting it's view. The BBC could still be much more biased towards one side.
    - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
      I'm not arguing they are perfectly objective evidenced by complaints from both sides. I'm arguing that they're not "government funded state propaganda" as GP claims, who would be expected to be pretty consistent in support of said government regardless of their views. :) Overall, over the decades, I find the Beeb make a reasonable fist of being unbiased. With the occasional ludicrous attempt to balance by allowing a fringe a voice. Some instances of which have been apologised for. When an opposition gets into power they still complain, no matter who Paxman or Humphries has had a pop at lately. I think any preferences of the types of stories they run are a reflection of the times, and perhaps the sort of people who choose to go into the media rather than any overt bias. Thus for some they are viewed as biased centrist or centre left in always seeking balance.
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
Overall it has worked very well. Simply avoid the TV for 10 minutes when there is one of the approved election broadcasts from one of the main parties. Outside of those... No sound of axes being ground. Obviously the politicians try as hard as they're able to inject party messages in every topical interview or discussion programme, but there is a requirement to seek balance so they don't get their own way here either. Often this works well, sometimes the "balance" is having someone eminently unqualified to parrot "no" a lot. Nigel Lawson, the ex-chancellor, denying climate change springs to mind as a recent example. Brexit rather broke the process. Ads on Facebook and similar were seeming to get around the limitations of political advertising with relative ease. The Brexit campaigns and some of the people are currently undergoing investigations, including criminal, for alleged breaches. No matter what may be found it's unlikely to change the result. Aside from that the "debate" on tv and radio was terrible by both sides throughout the whole referendum campaign.
porphyrogene 8y ago
The "American perspective" on something marginally related to the topic is always the top comment on submissions dealing with other governments. It's an unofficial Hacker News guideline, "How you feel as an American is always on topic."

djhworld 8y ago

Our broadcast news channels are regulated too, i.e. there are no "right wing" or "left wing" news channels/programmes here in the UK because of this regulation.

sbhn 8y ago
Nigel ferage has his own radio show, and it’s very popular, and as you might have guessed, swayed towards reminding its listeners they are under imminent attack
- djhworld 8y ago
  I'm not sure if radio is subject to the same regulations or not
  - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
    I am guessing it probably counts as entertainment not news and current affairs.
- Doctor_Fegg 8y ago
  But it's on a station (LBC) that has strong centre/left presenters too, such as James O'Brien. The whole station is a bit too much like Outrage Central for me tbh, but at least it's fairly balanced outrage.
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
It's a shame that hasn't been extended to the print media.
- dazc 8y ago
  Or TV
gadders 8y ago
Well, none that admit to a bias anyway.

qubax 8y ago

> "Political adverts are - and have always been - banned on British TV and radio. That ban has wide support and has helped sustain the balance of views which is at the heart of British broadcasting - and ensures the political views broadcast into our homes are not determined by those with the deepest pockets." On the surface, that's seems like nice sentiment, but on deeper analysis it's not. Firstly, all british broadcasts are already controlled by the people with deep pockets ( including the government funded state propaganda BBC ). Secondly, british media is extremely biased already. Thirdly, all this does is just helps the entrenched old money control the narrative. Fourthly, china, the soviet union, nazi germany, etc also banned political adverts. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. The people with the most money and power will win whether you ban political ads or not. Democracy, whether here or in the UK, is controlled and managed and provide an illusion of choice.

NeedMoreTea 8y ago
Every single government since at least the mid 70s has complained of the BBC's bias against them. Unusual for a state propaganda broadcaster.
- andrewmu 8y ago
  This is not a valid argument for the BBC being an objective broadcasting organisation. One side can rightfully claim bias and then the other side can over-sensitively claim bias the other way because the BBC isn't 100% presenting it's view. The BBC could still be much more biased towards one side.
  - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
    I'm not arguing they are perfectly objective evidenced by complaints from both sides. I'm arguing that they're not "government funded state propaganda" as GP claims, who would be expected to be pretty consistent in support of said government regardless of their views. :) Overall, over the decades, I find the Beeb make a reasonable fist of being unbiased. With the occasional ludicrous attempt to balance by allowing a fringe a voice. Some instances of which have been apologised for. When an opposition gets into power they still complain, no matter who Paxman or Humphries has had a pop at lately. I think any preferences of the types of stories they run are a reflection of the times, and perhaps the sort of people who choose to go into the media rather than any overt bias. Thus for some they are viewed as biased centrist or centre left in always seeking balance.

NeedMoreTea 8y ago

Overall it has worked very well. Simply avoid the TV for 10 minutes when there is one of the approved election broadcasts from one of the main parties. Outside of those... No sound of axes being ground. Obviously the politicians try as hard as they're able to inject party messages in every topical interview or discussion programme, but there is a requirement to seek balance so they don't get their own way here either. Often this works well, sometimes the "balance" is having someone eminently unqualified to parrot "no" a lot. Nigel Lawson, the ex-chancellor, denying climate change springs to mind as a recent example. Brexit rather broke the process. Ads on Facebook and similar were seeming to get around the limitations of political advertising with relative ease. The Brexit campaigns and some of the people are currently undergoing investigations, including criminal, for alleged breaches. No matter what may be found it's unlikely to change the result. Aside from that the "debate" on tv and radio was terrible by both sides throughout the whole referendum campaign.

porphyrogene 8y ago

The "American perspective" on something marginally related to the topic is always the top comment on submissions dealing with other governments. It's an unofficial Hacker News guideline, "How you feel as an American is always on topic."