BBC Internal Report Admist Bias
As if we needed them to tell us this.
The BBC has failed to promote proper debate on major political issues because of the inherent liberal culture of its staff, a report commissioned by the corporation has concluded.
The report claims that coverage of single-issue political causes, such as climate change and poverty, can be biased – and is particularly critical of Live 8 coverage, which it says amounted to endorsement.
OK, first off, major kudos to the BBC for looking into this and admitting it. However, this is long, long overdue. The Biased BBC blog could have told them this, for a lot less money, I’m sure.
Continuing on in the Telegraph story comes another “shocking” revelation.
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.”
Indeed when it’s pointed out that 80+% of American journalists voted for Clinton, the retort is that it doesn’t matter since they can still be impartial. However, the lesson from this is that the herd mentality is stronger than the Left gives it credit for, and that real diversity in the newsroom should consist more of diversity of opinion than just skin color. After all, the news businesses’ product is information, and “group think” (or perhaps “myopic zeal”) is more likely to slant news coverage than ethnic makeup is.
And this is just rich.
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.
No real need to expound on that; the bias (and fear) speaks for itself.
So now what? The Times of London’s editorial on this nails it.
That the BBC should investigate itself is perhaps admirable, but only if it acts on the conclusions. The likelihood is that it will lament its shortcomings, pledge to do something and carry on much as before. Changing its cosy culture will take more than a report; some who have worked there say it would require a small neutron bomb. The BBC is a self-perpetuating liberal arts club. Recruitment is the key. It needs to employ more nonconformist journalists whose paper of choice is not The Guardian.
Indeed, diversity of opinion is what’s required. Will it happen? Well, another arena that supposedly encourages full debate on subjects is academia, and the Left is heavily entrenched there as well, and they show no signs of wanting their orthodoxy and stranglehold challenged. A prediction that the Left in the media will do so is equally slim.
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