Political bias at BBC - something has to be done surely
Discussion
El stovey said:
Isn’t BBC funding guaranteed until 2027 or something?
Best bbc haters will get is decriminalisation of non payment of license fee.
Oh no. I'm sure, if the government put its mind to it, that other avenues are open. Best bbc haters will get is decriminalisation of non payment of license fee.
For example, were the BBC to go ahead with forcing the elderly to pay a licence fee, the Treasury could impose a discriminatory windfall tax on the BBC that took £1.20 for every £1 raised and ploughed it back into over-75s pensions and the admin of doing it...Can't see many votes being lost doing that
.Countdown said:
If only there was a thread full of extreme right-wing nut jobs perpetually calling the BBC "left-wing" so that we had some balance..... 
It's what I find so funny.When you have both ends of the spectrum screaming "they're biased" it's probably a pretty good indicator that they're doing a pretty balanced job overall.
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hstewie said:
hstewie said: It's what I find so funny.
When you have both ends of the spectrum screaming "they're biased" it's probably a pretty good indicator that they're doing a pretty balanced job overall.
Not really. It is perhaps a pretty good indicator that they have a very insulated NW3/N1/SW13-centric view of the world with no real understanding of the world outside where people do not necessarily have the funds (or inclination) to spend £3 on a cup of Fair-trade coffee or to hire a sweet little Bulgarian girl to do the house twice a week. When you have both ends of the spectrum screaming "they're biased" it's probably a pretty good indicator that they're doing a pretty balanced job overall.
21st Century Man said:
I'd love to not pay the licence fee, I've no real beef with BBC content but they're responsible for the broadcasting network and we get a very poor freeview service, when the weathers nice we lose most of the HD channels and lots of others, if it's nice weather in winter we lose all the HD channels and the bulk of everything else too, no signal. We have a super duper aerial, the best coax cable, filters, and a kick ass booster system. Yet still I can't watch stuff. I could understand if I lived in rural Scotland, but it's a big town near Derby!
I think you need to move to FreeSat - it’s perfect for situations like yours.bhstewie said:
hstewie said:Countdown said:
If only there was a thread full of extreme right-wing nut jobs perpetually calling the BBC "left-wing" so that we had some balance.....
It's what I find so funny.When you have both ends of the spectrum screaming "they're biased" it's probably a pretty good indicator that they're doing a pretty balanced job overall.
21st Century Man said:
bhstewie said:
hstewie said:Countdown said:
If only there was a thread full of extreme right-wing nut jobs perpetually calling the BBC "left-wing" so that we had some balance.....
It's what I find so funny.When you have both ends of the spectrum screaming "they're biased" it's probably a pretty good indicator that they're doing a pretty balanced job overall.
Just watched the Andrew Marr show (relectantly)
Massive bit on SNP and Labour, then interview with Brain Cox (not the prof) about a TV series that is sweeping the nation. I've never heard of it and apparantly it had two 'seasons'.
This Brian Cox (who I had never heard of) then gave his opinion that he used to be a Labour supporter but is now SNP. He loves them so much that he lives in Primrose Hill.
Have they still not realised that actors opinions are not less nor greater than any other member of the public, and we don't care.
Not one positive word to say about the Conservative election win.
Massive bit on SNP and Labour, then interview with Brain Cox (not the prof) about a TV series that is sweeping the nation. I've never heard of it and apparantly it had two 'seasons'.
This Brian Cox (who I had never heard of) then gave his opinion that he used to be a Labour supporter but is now SNP. He loves them so much that he lives in Primrose Hill.
Have they still not realised that actors opinions are not less nor greater than any other member of the public, and we don't care.
Not one positive word to say about the Conservative election win.
21st Century Man said:
Nope. It's not left/right bias which is why so many can't necessarily see it. Those who do see something are trying to classify what they see as left/right, but that's not quite getting it. One or two have posted on the last few pages and have nailed the bias, but it's on an axis that hasn't really registered with most.
But isn’t that just you having a view against something and then thinking the bbc is biased as they’re talking about it. Loads of people think the bbc is biased against their world view both on the left and right and now this other stuff about being on “another axis” but all have different world views.
The BBC can’t be anti left and right and pro some “other axis” which isn’t really specified yet.
To be anti all these different areas it’s got to be pushing a very narrow and specific agenda.
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: It's what I find so funny.
When you have both ends of the spectrum screaming "they're biased" it's probably a pretty good indicator that they're doing a pretty balanced job overall.
The other day I had someone telling me that the BBC produces only hard right output as a mouthpiece of the government, and the left are not represented at all.When you have both ends of the spectrum screaming "they're biased" it's probably a pretty good indicator that they're doing a pretty balanced job overall.
Do you really think that view of 'bias' is... um.. unbiased?
The calls of bias from the left at the moment have a strong smell of sour grapes and delusion.
psi310398 said:
Not really. It is perhaps a pretty good indicator that they have a very insulated NW3/N1/SW13-centric view of the world with no real understanding of the world outside where people do not necessarily have the funds (or inclination) to spend £3 on a cup of Fair-trade coffee or to hire a sweet little Bulgarian girl to do the house twice a week.
Which of course neatly sidesteps the organisation’s significant investment in, and commitment to, regional programming and engagement.What this really boils down to is that a certain breed of PHer doesn’t like the style and output of certain factions with BBC news and current affairs and as result fails to see anything else.
Personally, I'm in favour of the BBC being well funded by the state.
Producing good quality television these days is expensive, and the commercial pressures make it difficult to take risks and produce a broad range of news and entertainment. Take a look at commercial outfits like Netflix, and outside of a few high profile successes, their content is a near mono-culture.
That doesn't mean we can expect the BBC to produce programmes that will always entertain us, but there is usually something to point to for most tastes and interests.
More importantly, the BBC does a lot in the background to advance broadcasting in general. They had iPlayer successfully delivering streaming content (with licensing issues resolved) years before the others caught up, and they pioneer filming, archiving and distribution techniques.
All this means that as a small island with a tiny population, we punch way above our weight in global culture. If you turn that all over to commercial broadcasting, that will change.
Is it biased? Yes. Watch two minutes of Marr and tell me that's impartial viewing. Then point to the commentator that shows a balancing right wing bias (hint: there isn't one). It's significantly better than Channel 4, so certainly the remit is working to some extent, but no, it's not unbiased. We should (and do) hold it to account for that, but it's really not a reason to dismantle the whole thing so much as give it an occasional shake.
Producing good quality television these days is expensive, and the commercial pressures make it difficult to take risks and produce a broad range of news and entertainment. Take a look at commercial outfits like Netflix, and outside of a few high profile successes, their content is a near mono-culture.
That doesn't mean we can expect the BBC to produce programmes that will always entertain us, but there is usually something to point to for most tastes and interests.
More importantly, the BBC does a lot in the background to advance broadcasting in general. They had iPlayer successfully delivering streaming content (with licensing issues resolved) years before the others caught up, and they pioneer filming, archiving and distribution techniques.
All this means that as a small island with a tiny population, we punch way above our weight in global culture. If you turn that all over to commercial broadcasting, that will change.
Is it biased? Yes. Watch two minutes of Marr and tell me that's impartial viewing. Then point to the commentator that shows a balancing right wing bias (hint: there isn't one). It's significantly better than Channel 4, so certainly the remit is working to some extent, but no, it's not unbiased. We should (and do) hold it to account for that, but it's really not a reason to dismantle the whole thing so much as give it an occasional shake.
Peter911 said:
Massive bit on SNP and Labour, then interview with Brain Cox (not the prof) about a TV series that is sweeping the nation. I've never heard of it and apparantly it had two 'seasons'.
This Brian Cox (who I had never heard of) then gave his opinion that he used to be a Labour supporter but is now SNP. He loves them so much that he lives in Primrose Hill.
Have they still not realised that actors opinions are not less nor greater than any other member of the public, and we don't care.
He's typical of old school scottish socialism, used to vote labour automatically, probably continued under Blair or perhaps abstained after the iraq war, but since 2010 have realised that the party they knew does not exist anymore and have been tempted by the pretendy socialism on offer by the SNP; they're no more socialist than Boris is, it's a convenient subterfuge to attract bewildered voters that are vaguely disappointed that the shouty socialists a la Tommy Sheridan have all vanished up their respective arses.This Brian Cox (who I had never heard of) then gave his opinion that he used to be a Labour supporter but is now SNP. He loves them so much that he lives in Primrose Hill.
Have they still not realised that actors opinions are not less nor greater than any other member of the public, and we don't care.
eccles said:
I think the BBC has an innate slight left wing bias, but no so much it bothers me, but when it comes to things like Brexit or climate change then the bias is so far one way it's over the horizon!
So let’s list this bias then from the last couple of pages.Slight left
Anti Corbyn
Anti Boris
Anti brexit
Pro AGW climate change
London centric (although they have the Salford thing)
Pro woke liberal
Pro cultural inculcation
sneer at every opportunity at the right
hijacked by luvvies
biased against Labour because of Laura Kuenssberg
NW3/N1/SW13-centric view
adopting a pro SNP position
It’s a very specific bias isn’t it?
El stovey said:
So let’s list this bias then from the last couple of pages.
Slight left
Anti Corbyn
Anti Boris
Anti brexit
Pro AGW climate change
London centric (although they have the Salford thing)
Pro woke liberal
Pro cultural inculcation
sneer at every opportunity at the right
hijacked by luvvies
biased against Labour because of Laura Kuenssberg
NW3/N1/SW13-centric view
adopting a pro SNP position
It’s a very specific bias isn’t it?
It’s a disgrace.Slight left
Anti Corbyn
Anti Boris
Anti brexit
Pro AGW climate change
London centric (although they have the Salford thing)
Pro woke liberal
Pro cultural inculcation
sneer at every opportunity at the right
hijacked by luvvies
biased against Labour because of Laura Kuenssberg
NW3/N1/SW13-centric view
adopting a pro SNP position
It’s a very specific bias isn’t it?
Something has to be done, surely ?
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