The BBC is still trusted by many, especially by those who do not take time to consult other sources. That is why any bias is especially dangerous to our democracy. In my opinion the BBC fails in the following ways:
- Giving prominence to those with money, without identifying who funds them.
- Giving too much time to trivia – celebs etc.
- Giving too much time to right wing views
- Failure to distinguish between reporting and comment
- What they leave out
I have been puzzled HOW this has become so much worse over the last few years. Someone posted the following on facebook over the night 7th/8th August. I cannot vouch for his accuracy but it makes sense to me:
“With apologies for the length of this comment, but I used to write for the BBC and have a lingering fondness for the place, which is one of the reasons I’ve been paying very close attention to what’s been happening behind the scenes.
A number of changes made during the last eight years or so, spearheaded by David Cameron, have led to the corporation’s news and politics departments becoming little more than ventriloquists’ dummies. Of particular note are the following:
a) important posts at the BBC being filled by pro-government figures from the private sector (Rona Fairhead, David Clementi, James Harding, Robbie Gibb etc)
b) direct links with the manipulative tabloid press being strengthened by Downing Street giving important positions to dubious characters like Andy Coulson and Craig Oliver
c) the subsequent recruitment of people like Alison Fuller Pedley (of Mentorn Media), who is responsible for choosing who gets to be in the Question Time audience, and Sarah Sands (formerly of the Telegraph, Mail and Evening Standard) who now edits Radio 4’s Today programme
d) all of the above follows Cameron’s appointment, in June 2010, of John Browne (Baron Browne of Madingley) to the post of ‘Lead Non-Executive Director’ for Downing Street, his role being that of ‘recruiting business leaders to reformed departmental boards’ – Browne’s questionable history at BP notwithstanding (remember Deep Horizon!)
e) how all of this quiet, underhand activity has been largely unreported, but has given the current Conservative government immense power within fashionable and influential circles.
This means they can not only dictate what information is made available to the public, but also the manner in which it is presented. History is full of examples of unscrupulous political leaders exercising control over the populace by taking control of the means of communication.”
– Marcus Moore”
David Smith
