BBC Admits to Bias in its QT Audience Selection

[thehighlandrebel]

So now it's official.

Question Time does have bias, says BBC as it is revealed areas where episodes are filmed are researched

[Teddy Bear]

I think this is worth its own thread THR.

Actually the author of this article has done a half ass job. The bias is inferred from the admission by Director General Mark Thompson that 'audience is selected to reflect the voter make-up in the region from which each edition of the topical debate show is broadcast – rather than the political landscape of Britain as a whole'.

He goes on to say that; 'The audience mix, in terms of political allegiance, may vary in different places  . . .  but our overall aim is to achieve impartiality across each series through careful audience selection and choice of locations.’

So he's not exactly admitting bias, and at the end of the article a BBC spokesman comes along to give us the standard bullshit - ‘Audiences are selected in accordance with BBC guidelines on fairness and impartiality.’

What the journalist really have done to show bias, which is why I did title this thread as a BBC admission of bias, whether conscious or not, is to research in which political ward the Question Time venues are selected to feature.

Had he done so he would have found that more than double of the venues selected for Question Time are in Labour constituencies. This is no accident.

Fortunately for me, somebody has already done this, which saves me the trouble:
A very quick check of QT locations 2011/2012 shows that there were 37 episodes.

Of these, 9 were broadcast from London locations (if you include Dagenham/Romford). Only 1 went to N. Ireland (Londonderry), and only 1 to Wales (Aberystwyth). 3 were broadcast from Scotland (Glasgow, Inverness, and St. Andrews).

Of the remainder, the majority (16) came from centres of population in England like Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Grimsby. Luton, Derby, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Oldham, Nottingham, Salford, Stoke, West Brom, Dewsbury, Rugby, Leeds.

A minority (7) came from locations in England where a cross-section audience might be expected to have a less left/liberal bias: (Bath, Winchester, Tunbridge, Shrewsbury, Kings Lynn, Stockton on Tees, Southport).

Those statistics are obviously open to interpretation but I would think it quite easy to suggest a left/liberal bias in location of 26 to 11, or perhaps 25 to 12.

This would indicate that the BBC is, on their own admission, not providing fair representation of the country as a whole in its QT audiences over a typical year's programmes.

Question Time does have bias, says BBC as it is revealed areas where episodes are filmed are researched

By Miles Goslett

The political sway of the audience on Question Time is governed by the leanings of the area where the episode is filmed, the BBC has admitted.

Director-general Mark Thompson has revealed that the audience is selected to reflect the voter make-up in the region from which each edition of the topical debate show is broadcast – rather than the political landscape of Britain as a whole.

Question Time, hosted by David Dimbleby, is broadcast each week from a different part of the country and watched by an average of 2.6 million viewers.

The idea is that audience members put questions to the panel of guests – and in doing so represent the thoughts and concerns of the nation.

But a letter from Mr Thompson suggests that Conservative politicians might expect to get a rougher ride on shows filmed in parts of the country full of Labour supporters, and vice versa.

In his letter to Conservative MP Philip Davies, Mr Thompson said: ‘The audience mix, in terms of political allegiance, may vary in different places  . . .  but our overall aim is to achieve impartiality across each series through careful audience selection and choice of locations.’

But Mr Davies, who sits on the Commons culture, media and sport committee, argued the BBC should ensure a ‘balanced’ audience, adding: ‘If you have an edition from, say, Newcastle, the audience will reflect the political make-up of Newcastle. It’s obviously ridiculous because Question Time is shown across the whole country.’

A BBC spokesman said: ‘Audiences are selected in accordance with BBC guidelines on fairness and impartiality.’