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Kudos to the BBC and the UK as a whole, there are not many countries in which the state broadcasting unit seems to be covering a move to secede with reasonable

Kudos to the BBC and the UK as a whole, there are not many countries in which the state broadcasting unit seems to be covering a move to secede with reasonable impartiality. cf. the shock to the Indonesian political elite when East Timor voted overwhelmingly to secede - there is a downside to a press that is too docile

amouat 12y ago
They've actually had quite a lot of criticism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Scottish_independence_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Scottish_...
klmr 12y ago
The BBC is technically independent [1], not a “state broadcast” – that’s the whole point of being funded via TV license [2]. … Of course, in reality people accuse the BBC of all kinds of biases, amongst them being pro-government (I find myself in that camp, but there are few hard numbers [3]). It’s also been accused of bias by both sides of the referendum debate [4]. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC#Governance_and_Corporate_Structure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC#Governance_and_Corporate_St... [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence#History [3]: http://www.newstatesman.com/broadcast/2013/08/hard-evidence-how-biased-bbc http://www.newstatesman.com/broadcast/2013/08/hard-evidence-... [4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Scottish_independence_referendum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Scottish_i...
- atmosx 12y ago
  BBC is (always were) pro government. That said, IMHO is the state-of-art TV broadcast network.
  - asuffield 12y ago
    "Pro government" is maybe a little strong. The BBC is funded by the government under an "arms length" arrangement with license fees; it is (understandably) nervous about doing anything that annoys the government enough to make it reconsider this status. That doesn't mean that the BBC actively endorses the government of the time, but rather that it tends to prefer not to rock the boat too hard. It's never been - and never will be - a hotbed of edgy, controversial content. You could describe its objective as "quality content that isn't going to be hated by too many people".
  - gadders 12y ago
    The BBC is not pro-government currently, and wasn't pro-Labour after the Iraq War. I think the best way to describe the BBC's bias is "pro-Guardian" (a left-leaning newspaper).
- blueskin_ 12y ago
  The BBC is only neutral where it serves their best interests. For example, good luck finding any coverage of the opposition to the TV tax that funds them. Also worth noting that you can be politically 'neutral' while still having unbalanced levels of coverage or using weasel words. While the BBC certainly does better than most organisations that claim to be neutral, there is still a tendency to oppose the incumbent government as well as a slight lean to the left politically.
  - tobylane 12y ago
    On the other hand good luck finding something against the TV licence fee, or against most things the BBC do, that isn't written by a Murdoch paper. I agree on the second paragraph, it's a shame that each individual doesn't shine through that where relevant.

amouat 12y ago

They've actually had quite a lot of criticism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Scottish_independence_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Scottish_...

klmr 12y ago

The BBC is technically independent [1], not a “state broadcast” – that’s the whole point of being funded via TV license [2]. … Of course, in reality people accuse the BBC of all kinds of biases, amongst them being pro-government (I find myself in that camp, but there are few hard numbers [3]). It’s also been accused of bias by both sides of the referendum debate [4]. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC#Governance_and_Corporate_Structure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC#Governance_and_Corporate_St... [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence#History [3]: http://www.newstatesman.com/broadcast/2013/08/hard-evidence-how-biased-bbc http://www.newstatesman.com/broadcast/2013/08/hard-evidence-... [4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Scottish_independence_referendum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Scottish_i...

atmosx 12y ago
BBC is (always were) pro government. That said, IMHO is the state-of-art TV broadcast network.
- asuffield 12y ago
  "Pro government" is maybe a little strong. The BBC is funded by the government under an "arms length" arrangement with license fees; it is (understandably) nervous about doing anything that annoys the government enough to make it reconsider this status. That doesn't mean that the BBC actively endorses the government of the time, but rather that it tends to prefer not to rock the boat too hard. It's never been - and never will be - a hotbed of edgy, controversial content. You could describe its objective as "quality content that isn't going to be hated by too many people".
- gadders 12y ago
  The BBC is not pro-government currently, and wasn't pro-Labour after the Iraq War. I think the best way to describe the BBC's bias is "pro-Guardian" (a left-leaning newspaper).
blueskin_ 12y ago
The BBC is only neutral where it serves their best interests. For example, good luck finding any coverage of the opposition to the TV tax that funds them. Also worth noting that you can be politically 'neutral' while still having unbalanced levels of coverage or using weasel words. While the BBC certainly does better than most organisations that claim to be neutral, there is still a tendency to oppose the incumbent government as well as a slight lean to the left politically.
- tobylane 12y ago
  On the other hand good luck finding something against the TV licence fee, or against most things the BBC do, that isn't written by a Murdoch paper. I agree on the second paragraph, it's a shame that each individual doesn't shine through that where relevant.