June 18, 2007
BBC Report Finds Bias Within
The BBC biased? Say it ain't so! An internal report says the BBC is biased regarding its coverage on "single-issue political causes" like man-made global warming and poverty in Africa, although the report finds day-to-day coverage on politics and world events continues to be impartial.
Excuse me while I laugh over that last bit.
Money quote:
It warns that celebrities must not be pandered to and allowed to hijack the BBC schedule.
This references the slew of slanted coverage given to Live 8 back in 2005, coverage which included not only showing the concerts on all of its channels, but also anti-poverty story lines in some popular BBC television shows at the same time.
More:
The report concludes BBC staff must be more willing to challenge their own beliefs.
It reads: “There is a tendency to 'group think’ with too many staff inhabiting a shared space and comfort zone.”
A staff impartiality seminar held last year is also documented in the report, at which executives admitted they would broadcast images of the Bible being thrown away but not the Koran, in case Muslims were offended.
During the seminar a senior BBC reporter criticised the corporation for being anti-American.
The report was jointly commissioned by BBC managers and the board of governors and will be published by the BBC Trust, which has since replaced the governors.
Deliberately offending Christians and Americans but bending over backward to suck up to Muslims? Check.
I don't expect this report to change things much, however. Nor do I expect any such report to be done by any of our major media outlets. But I suppose the report is a step in the right direction.
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