Post by Teddy Bear on Oct 6, 2013 21:42:43 GMT
In a follow on from this thread about the hypocrisy of the BBC over the Mail/Miliband scuffle, the BBC itself has drawn a lot of criticism. First for using this story to demonize the Mail, just prior to the privy council discussion on regulation of the press, and also for its promotion of Miliband and the Labour party.
This article explains it:
This article explains it:
BBC accused of becoming Ed Miliband's mouthpiece
The BBC is facing calls for an inquiry into the extensive coverage it has given to Ed Miliband’s dispute with a newspaper.
By Tim Ross, and Patrick Sawer
MPs accused the corporation of allowing the Labour leader to “milk” the row over a description of his father as “the man who hated Britain” by covering it extensively and prominently for far too long.
One MP has written to the BBC Trust, the governing body, to ask it to consider whether the corporation, led by Lord Hall, the new director-general, has breached editorial guidelines with the quantity and tone of its broadcasts.
Mr Miliband has been given extensive personal coverage — including interviews on 5 Live and BBC Breakfast on Friday morning — over his continuing row with a newspaper that described his father, Ralph, the late Marxist academic, as “the man who hated Britain” in a headline.
Labour figures also featured prominently on the BBC, giving the party huge amounts of publicity throughout last week.
One Conservative said it had been “manna from heaven” for Mr Miliband, while one of the BBC’s most respected former broadcasters warned of a “basic failure of journalism” in coverage.
The BBC insisted that its coverage of what was a significant political story had been “appropriate, balanced and impartial”.
However, an analysis by The Telegraph found the story took up almost 49 minutes of the 12 hours of broadcasting by Today, BBC Radio 4’s flagship current affairs programme, over the four editions between Wednesday and Saturday, while there were 30 articles published on its website — including one in Farsi — by yesterday afternoon.
Ken Livingstone and Lord Glasman, both Labour figures, secured two of the week’s highest-profile slots on the Today programme at 7.10am on Wednesday and 8.10am on Friday, while Left-wing figures including Tony Benn were able to speak without opposing views being presented.
On Saturday night a government source entered the debate and said there was “certainly a question mark” over whether the BBC’s coverage had been proportionate and impartial.
The source suggested that the BBC may have given too much prominence to reporting the row, especially given that it occupies such a powerful position in the media.
The story of the row with the Daily Mail first became prominent on Tuesday, then gained even more coverage when the Mail on Sunday apologised on Thursday for sending a reporter to a memorial for Mr Miliband’s uncle.
But the story continued to dominate the BBC on Friday, with the two interviews with Mr Miliband and, on Saturday, with two prominent slots on Saturday’s Today programme devoted to it.
Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative MP, said he was writing to the BBC Trust to demand a review of the coverage. “This is further evidence of the partiality of the political coverage of the BBC,” he said. “I think that a large proportion of the country now see the BBC as being a mouthpiece for one political party.”
Philip Davies, a Conservative MP on the Commons media select committee, said the confrontation had been “manna from heaven” for the BBC.
“They have been allowing Ed Miliband to milk it for all its worth,” he said.
He urged Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, to consider the BBC’s record on political coverage during negotiations over renewing its Charter in 2017.
MPs said they were planning to question Lord Hall and Lord Patten of Barnes, the chairman of the BBC Trust, over the past week’s coverage when they next appear before the media select committee.
James Purnell, the former Labour cabinet minister whose appointment as director of strategy at the BBC was questioned over whether it was politically biased, may also be questioned.
Rob Wilson, the Conservative MP for Reading East, said “it would be wise for the BBC to assess honestly whether its coverage was disproportionate and impartial”.
Peter Sissons, who presented the BBC Nine O’Clock News and BBC News at Ten between 1993 and 2003, said: “The real difficulty is that the overwhelming view of the BBC’s news executives is broadly sympathetic towards the Labour Party and is inclined to always give Labour the benefit of the doubt.
“There is a political imbalance within the BBC which in this case has led to a basic failure of journalism.”
Critics questioned whether the timing of the coverage was appropriate, as this week the Privy Council is to begin to decide on how to regulate the Press. Mr Miliband is pushing for statutory controls and supporters of such regulation were given prominent coverage by the BBC last week.
This newspaper approached the BBC Trust for comment on the accusations of bias.
Diane Coyle, one of the trustees, said: “You wouldn’t expect me to comment on an editorial issue like that would you? I haven’t been counting the minutes devoted to either side and that would be the only way of doing it.”
A spokesman for the BBC Trust said any complaint on BBC news coverage would go first to the director-general.
A spokesman for the BBC said: “This was an important political and media story that was widely reported across all media.
“We are satisfied the level of coverage was appropriate, balanced and impartial.”
A senior Labour source said: “This was Ed Miliband standing up for what was right, with the support of David Cameron and Nick Clegg.”
The BBC is facing calls for an inquiry into the extensive coverage it has given to Ed Miliband’s dispute with a newspaper.
By Tim Ross, and Patrick Sawer
MPs accused the corporation of allowing the Labour leader to “milk” the row over a description of his father as “the man who hated Britain” by covering it extensively and prominently for far too long.
One MP has written to the BBC Trust, the governing body, to ask it to consider whether the corporation, led by Lord Hall, the new director-general, has breached editorial guidelines with the quantity and tone of its broadcasts.
Mr Miliband has been given extensive personal coverage — including interviews on 5 Live and BBC Breakfast on Friday morning — over his continuing row with a newspaper that described his father, Ralph, the late Marxist academic, as “the man who hated Britain” in a headline.
Labour figures also featured prominently on the BBC, giving the party huge amounts of publicity throughout last week.
One Conservative said it had been “manna from heaven” for Mr Miliband, while one of the BBC’s most respected former broadcasters warned of a “basic failure of journalism” in coverage.
The BBC insisted that its coverage of what was a significant political story had been “appropriate, balanced and impartial”.
However, an analysis by The Telegraph found the story took up almost 49 minutes of the 12 hours of broadcasting by Today, BBC Radio 4’s flagship current affairs programme, over the four editions between Wednesday and Saturday, while there were 30 articles published on its website — including one in Farsi — by yesterday afternoon.
Ken Livingstone and Lord Glasman, both Labour figures, secured two of the week’s highest-profile slots on the Today programme at 7.10am on Wednesday and 8.10am on Friday, while Left-wing figures including Tony Benn were able to speak without opposing views being presented.
On Saturday night a government source entered the debate and said there was “certainly a question mark” over whether the BBC’s coverage had been proportionate and impartial.
The source suggested that the BBC may have given too much prominence to reporting the row, especially given that it occupies such a powerful position in the media.
The story of the row with the Daily Mail first became prominent on Tuesday, then gained even more coverage when the Mail on Sunday apologised on Thursday for sending a reporter to a memorial for Mr Miliband’s uncle.
But the story continued to dominate the BBC on Friday, with the two interviews with Mr Miliband and, on Saturday, with two prominent slots on Saturday’s Today programme devoted to it.
Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative MP, said he was writing to the BBC Trust to demand a review of the coverage. “This is further evidence of the partiality of the political coverage of the BBC,” he said. “I think that a large proportion of the country now see the BBC as being a mouthpiece for one political party.”
Philip Davies, a Conservative MP on the Commons media select committee, said the confrontation had been “manna from heaven” for the BBC.
“They have been allowing Ed Miliband to milk it for all its worth,” he said.
He urged Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, to consider the BBC’s record on political coverage during negotiations over renewing its Charter in 2017.
MPs said they were planning to question Lord Hall and Lord Patten of Barnes, the chairman of the BBC Trust, over the past week’s coverage when they next appear before the media select committee.
James Purnell, the former Labour cabinet minister whose appointment as director of strategy at the BBC was questioned over whether it was politically biased, may also be questioned.
Rob Wilson, the Conservative MP for Reading East, said “it would be wise for the BBC to assess honestly whether its coverage was disproportionate and impartial”.
Peter Sissons, who presented the BBC Nine O’Clock News and BBC News at Ten between 1993 and 2003, said: “The real difficulty is that the overwhelming view of the BBC’s news executives is broadly sympathetic towards the Labour Party and is inclined to always give Labour the benefit of the doubt.
“There is a political imbalance within the BBC which in this case has led to a basic failure of journalism.”
Critics questioned whether the timing of the coverage was appropriate, as this week the Privy Council is to begin to decide on how to regulate the Press. Mr Miliband is pushing for statutory controls and supporters of such regulation were given prominent coverage by the BBC last week.
This newspaper approached the BBC Trust for comment on the accusations of bias.
Diane Coyle, one of the trustees, said: “You wouldn’t expect me to comment on an editorial issue like that would you? I haven’t been counting the minutes devoted to either side and that would be the only way of doing it.”
A spokesman for the BBC Trust said any complaint on BBC news coverage would go first to the director-general.
A spokesman for the BBC said: “This was an important political and media story that was widely reported across all media.
“We are satisfied the level of coverage was appropriate, balanced and impartial.”
A senior Labour source said: “This was Ed Miliband standing up for what was right, with the support of David Cameron and Nick Clegg.”