New book on the BBC, the Scottish referendum, and Labour

[mk2015]

The book isn't completed yet but the website says it is due for completion in April of this year.

Chapters 1 and 1 are already online:
ponsonbypost.com/index.php/comment/6-how-the-bbc-stole-the-referendum
ponsonbypost.com/index.php/news/14-chapter-2-the-impossible-referendum-and-trumpgate

A report by a pro-independence academic also purported to show more evidence of the BBC's anti-independence bias, claiming there was a 3:2 bias in reportage in 2012 and 2013.

The year-long study was conducted by a small team led by Professor John Robertson of the University of West Scotland. Between 17 September 2012 – 18 September 2013, the team recorded and transcribed approximately 730 hours of evening TV news output broadcast by BBC Scotland and Scottish Television (STV). The study concluded that 317 news items broadcast by the BBC favoured the 'No' campaign (i.e. no to Scottish independence) compared to just 211 favourable to the 'Yes' campaign. A similar bias in favour of the 'No' campaign was displayed by STV. Overall, there was a broadcaster bias favouring the 'No' campaign by a ratio of 3:2. In other words, there was 50 per cent more favourable coverage to the 'No' campaign.

www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2014/759-scotlandshire-bbc-scotland-coverage-of-the-independence-referendum.html

To speculate about the reasons why the BBC was biased in this area, one was surely that Labour will be far weaker in the rest of the UK without those 41 Scotland seats...

[thehighlandrebel]

The BBC faced a dilemma on this one.
On one hand they faced as you say losing 41 Labour seats and a sizeable chunk of the Dhimmi tax and on the other they risked losing their fellow travelers who support those who call for the eradication of Israel and the genocide of the Jewish people.

[Teddy Bear]

Welcome MK
I moved your post here as I felt it more fitting in this category.

Your thread is very interesting, and one I can easily believe and accept being familiar with its usual pro-Labour stance.
Your speculation about the reasons for their bias makes perfect sense to me too.
May I ask if you have a particular interest in this topic, or is it just something you noticed yourself?

I would assume that the findings of this study would make the media at some stage, although historically the BBC usually manage to squirm out of paying the real price for their sins.

[mk2015]

Hi Teddy

Thanks for welcoming me.

May I ask if you have a particular interest in this topic, or is it just something you noticed yourself?

Well, I'm a student of politics so it's natural that I followed the Scottish referendum closely. On the pro-independence side, They said that the BBC was biased against independence. Most of the time this was simply stated as fact, presumably well known among such people, without backing evidence. That's why I'm interested in this new book which will evidence this instance of BBC bias.

This example of BBC bias is also, potentially, the most important in it's history. The end result of the vote was 45-55. That means if just 5% of voters had gone from No to Yes, Scotland would now be preparing for independence. Noone can know for sure but it's possible that if the BBC had slanted it's coverage to be pro-independence, it might have changed the result, also considering the fact that the BBC is the most watched, heard or read news source in the country.

[Teddy Bear]

The reason this site exists is precisely because of the power the BBC has to sway opinion and action, as you've noted in this instance.

Every category we list on the site is where we see constantly the BBC has its own agenda in defiance of its Charter. Instead of truth we get spin, and that shows just how poor their thinking is. An intelligent person does not need to bend truth to give their view substance, but looks clearly and wholly at it.

[charmbrights]

I just found this article:
newsnet.scot/2015/02/indyref-changed-everything-except-makes-news-bbc-scotland/
which shows the BBC anti SNP (i.e. pro-Labour) bias.

[Teddy Bear]

Excellent spot Charm

Worth copying the whole article.

Indyref changed everything – except what makes ‘news’ at BBC Scotland

By G.A. Ponsonby

Scotland has changed, and things will never be the same again. How many pundits have you heard saying that? You can’t pick up a paper or turn on the TV without being confronted with a talking head jabbering on about political engagement and a tide of change.

I don’t know if there is evidence of any meaningful change. I know that polls currently suggest the SNP is on course to trounce Scottish Labour in the UK general Election, but we’ve had similar polls before and, in Scotland at least, Labour always seems to get the vote on the day.

As ever, the talking heads and professional pundits ignore the elephant in the room when discussing Scottish politics – the BBC. Devolution didn’t change the BBC in Scotland, the SNP’s 2007 win didn’t change it, the nationalists 2011 historic majority didn’t change it either. The referendum even saw the BBC regress into a pro-Union colonial broadcaster.

BBC Scotland will alter this UK General election, at least in Scotland, of that there is no doubt. Whether the corporation can arrest completely the SNP surge remains to be seen, but it will try.



On December 21 last year I predicted (above) that Gordon Brown would appear alongside Jim Murphy with BBC cameras in attendance.

On Monday, 43 days later, Brown and Murphy appeared together in front of BBC cameras. BBC Scotland and the Scottish Labour party really are that predictable.

The meaningless waffle that was packaged up as ‘Vow Plus’ wasn’t scrutinised in any meaningful way, it was just broadcast over the airwaves. Has nobody noticed that a key plank of the Smith Commission – full control of income tax – is backed by Murphy but opposed by Brown? Did anyone witness Brown being subjected to the same forensic examination SNP politicians routinely endure?


Of course not. The ‘Vow Plus’ event was given high profile coverage by the BBC because that is what the corporation’s job is. Expect more of this type of ‘news’.

Similar coverage has been afforded Jim Murphy as the Labour MP has embarked on a strategy of issuing calls for changes that are already about to be enacted [through the campaigning of others]. I’m thinking of the decision to scrap the Women’s Prison and fracking. Murphy’s input had nothing to do with the prison decision but it was presented by BBC Scotland as though his calls had forced the hand of the Scottish government. Similarly, the MP’s pledge to block fracking in Scotland was headlined whilst his refusal to attend a Westminster vote which would have banned it across the UK was ignored.

The East Renfrewshire MP has also embarked on a strategy of adopting policies which he previously opposed. Did you know that Murphy, prior to the last general election, announced his support for the lowering of the top rate of income tax? The Labour MP has now altered his stance, but nobody – certainly not the BBC – is going to highlight this.

BBC Scotland is on general election mode and the usual stories are now being pushed. It’s why statistical irrelevancies that are Accident & Emergency waiting times are turned into major ‘NHS Crisis’ stories by BBC Scotland. Jim Murphy appeared on Reporting Scotland using A&E waiting times to attack the SNP. The BBC Scotland cameras filmed the Labour MP outside my local A&E department at Monklands hospital – which his party had wanted to close.

It’s why the low-brow radio phone-in programme Morning Call promote this NHS ‘doom and gloom’ narrative by encouraging people to phone-in with their tales of woe in the waiting room. What possible public service did this show provide? What next, tell us about having your teeth pulled?

murphy bbcYou’re going to see more of this, lots more. I also sense a move to use education as a means of attacking the SNP. Don’t be surprised to see headlines suggesting strike action by teachers is on the cards.

The aim right now is to present the Scottish Government and the SNP in as bad a light as possible the nearer we get to the polls. If BBC Scotland can help promote Scottish Labour, then it will. If it can push smear stories and/or Labour demands for inquiries it will. If it can headline ‘reports’ with conclusions that fit an anti-SNP agenda, it will. If it can marginalise stories damaging to Labour, such as the recent and growing scandal over a housing contract award at North Lanarkshire Council, then it will.

There seems nothing BBC Scotland will not do in an effort at preventing the destruction of the Labour party in Scotland. Remember the “poll” the BBC carried out just before the 2011 Scottish election which found Labour’s policy on cancer waiting times was the “most popular”? It set the news agenda for days and even led to Scottish Labour modifying its election strategy.

BBC Scotland doesn’t reflect changes in our society, it sets itself up as a barrier against them. BBC Scotland is going to go after the SNP because that is what it does.

If our professional pundits want to ensure the increasing political engagement is meaningful and leads to change, then they have to take the BBC on – collectively.

Nothing has changed. Not yet anyway.