The Bothersome Bias Of The BBC

Accusing the BBC of bias is a classic knee-jerk response that generally indicates the commenter is either a) a moron or b) politically extreme. At least, those saying that the BBC is hugely right-wing because it does or doesn't cover story X, Y, Z, are basically equalled by those saying that the BBC is hugely left-wing because it does or doesn't cover story X, Y, Z. It's not at all unusual to see people both claiming that the BBC is a horde of raging anti-Semites and that it's enabling Palestinian genocide. 

Spoiler alert : it isn't. 

I don't believe that the BBC has this sort of straightforward bias on any political position. I don't think it's even, as is sometimes more credibly claimed, especially pro-establishment, given the amount of airtime it's given to Nigel Fuckface over the years.

And I hope don't need to spell out that any attempt to be politically neutral will never be 100% perfect because that's literally impossible; detecting any slightly lean one way or another on any individual position demonstrates exactly nothing and is just a waste of energy. I'm not going on a more general rant here. If you're fervently convinced the BBC does have some massive political preference, then this isn't the post for you.

Instead, I want to point out three other specific areas where I think the BBC is genuinely biased. The first is one I've not seen much discussed elsewhere, the other two are mentioned more frequently but I hope to give an angle on these that's at least presented less often.

This post is strictly anecdotal and I make no claim to empirical verification whatever. I'm only posting this because the effects seem so strong that while the magnitude is certainly open to debate, I think there's very little chance indeed that the effects themselves aren't real.

The first is a victim bias. That is, on BBC Breakfast at least, it seems to me that victims of crimes are put front and centre. Their responses are overwhelmingly the ones which are aired first and given far longer coverage than any other involved parties (except politicians) or any discussion of wider context. Little is said about the cause of crime, and the morning session, deliberately touchy-feely though it is, becomes barely more than a victim campaign group that tends to want to punish the criminals and nothing else – even without ever saying so explicitly.

Two examples : with the murders committed by Valdo Calocane (and similarly for the Southport murders), the prospect that the criminal is mentally ill is mentioned, but the coverage given to the victims and their desired response not to treat him as such is far, far greater. The result is that the idea that the man needs medical intervention more than punishment is never seriously considered. Second, the current obsession is with the possible release of two men who murdered a police officer. Again, discussions of the context of the early release scheme aren't zero, but they're very much on the back foot compared to hearing from what the victims think.

Of course, I'm not saying that the victims don't deserve a voice. But it seem ludicrous to me to essentially only give the victims a voice and not that of independent experts. For the criminally insane, we deserve to hear from mental health professionals. For the prospect of early release, we need to hear from prison officers. And yes, technically we do, but only a very little bit. Any sort of complexity is drowned out by emotion of the people who are understandably distraught.

It isn't the job of journalists to stand for victims. Campaign groups are certainly entitled to do this, but independent journalism should present the different sides more equally. There are other factors involved besides the victim's emotions and the viewer needs to know what these are. They can't make an informed judgement if the only thing they hear clearly is how upset people are.

I'm not claiming that this is by any means unique to the BBC or even that the BBC does this more strongly than other media outlets; it's also entirely possible that BBC Breakfast is worse than other BBC programs for this by its very nature. It may well be that if you watch the news later in the day, or specialist programs, you get a much more multi-faceted view of an issue. But for serious and violent crimes, BBC Breakfast is little better than a tub-thumping call to "lock 'em all up and throw away the key". The problem is that if this is your main news-watching time, as it is for me, then it doesn't matter if other programs have more sophisticated commentary : you'll come away having heard from those who are most closely involved with the case at the huge expense of more objective professional evaluators.

The second issue is the more well-known "both sidesism", expressed brilliantly in this classic webcomic. I won't go into this at any length, but I just want to mention one especially frustrating aspect of this : absolutely everything is presented as awful. By interrogating all people as though they were equally (in)competent, treating all positions as though they were equally respectable – or more to the point, disrespecting everything equally – nothing is ever allowed to be seen as good. Everything must have some downsides. Everything must cause problems for someone. Everyone must be cynical. It feeds this "grumpy old man" habit compulsive addiction to expect everything to be awful and therefore to interpret everything as awful. The result is perpetual misery.

Look, there's enough which is self-evidently horrible in the world as it is. "Manufactured misery" is simply not a thing that needs to exist. All news outlets do this, but my point is that even if you're relentlessly centrist/neutral, the result is the same. At least if you're avowedly pro-some position or other, you're allowed to enjoy it when your side gets a win. The centrist BBC just appears to hate everything.

The third, final issue, is topic fixation. Topic priorities are a more obvious and related issue, but refusing to let go of a story long after what as initially breaking news has well and truly broken, seems to me to be less discussed. This tendency comes and goes and at the moment it's on a bit of a low, though they are absolutely obsessed with this whole "early release" thing as though there was nothing else worth talking about. Even when nothing new of any substance has occurred, still they must repeat the same story day after day.

The reason I say this is currently on a low is because this was much, much worse when they were obsessed with medial problems and charities. They mentioned Rob Burrow and his motor neurone disease to the point where it started getting downright creepy and weird, and the same for Deborah James and bowel cancer : these are both important topics, but the focus on these individuals began to feel like the behaviour of a stalker, not someone genuinely concerned. All other conditions and individuals were excluded because these were apparently Special People, and nobody else experiencing any suffering seemed to count.

There comes a point where raising awareness is just no longer possible because awareness levels are now saturated : BBC Breakfast did this to the nth degree, continuing to report as though their deaths were a recent event months and even years later. This is the Matthew Effect of cumulative advantage of the most perverse sort. Shall we seek out other causes and activists and give them a boost by giving them TV time ? Nah, let's stick with the ones we already know about. Nobody else is important enough.

Look, I love the BBC, and I get dismayed when people call it biased in the usual ways; it is, hands down, one of the best news sources in the world and one of Britain's greatest institutions. It isn't perfect, but that's not a realistic standard for criticism. But not expecting perfection does not eliminate the need for constructive suggestions. These three areas, at least, are surely areas where things can be improved without needing massive systemic overhaul. The underlying structure is sound, but like everything else, it needs a good sweep and a lick of paint from time to time.