to say the BBC might be imperfect but

In my opinion the BBC should now be disbanded - it simply can’t be trusted as an impartial news source.

No.

I have many issues with BBC and there are many questions about the funding model but disbanding them would be ridiculous. There is no chance that a new broadcaster rising from the ashes would be anywhere near as neutral or verifiable.

Personally it's nice to have one broadcaster that's not continually interrupting my thoughts and enjoyment to sell me something.

Whilst I'm furious with them for damaging trust we have to remember that these issues arise on topics where there is no neutral ground so its hard to adopt an impartial position.

• You either think Trump was fighting for justice or you think he was guilty of insurrection.
• You either believe trans women are women, or that they're still men.
• You either believe Israel is defending itself against a murderous enemy or that its a genocidal regime.

But on so many other topics (excluding the awful Woman's Hour) I do believe the BBC does the best an organisation can.

I wonder if the Beeb will decide that panorama is more trouble than it's worth. Particularly as this hasn't come that long after the expose of the Panorama interview with Princess Diana, which revealed that Martin Bashir mocked up fake bank statements in order to gain access to her.

Of course the Panorama program wasn't made by the BBC, but they should have vetted it before it was shown, as usual lack of funds.

Well two points. One is that economics is a pretty soft science and economists have a history of getting things horribly wrong. See the GFC, Project Fear, Brown selling all the gold and BOE inflation forecasting.

The other is that not every voters priority is short term economic benefit first second and third.

A lot of people might for example want to trade more political independence in the long term for less economic growth in the short term.

If people thought that the best way to run a country was solely on economics we could get rid of the government and voting and stick a technocrat in there with a degree from LSE instead.

There's a reason why we don't.

I broadly agree with what you're saying, but anyone can say they're trying their best to follow guidelines, and then...not, I don't really think that's good enough, and I don't think they actually do try to follow them on some issues at all.

I'm not a defund the BBC kind of person or anything, I just think there have been some glaring examples of the BBC not trying to be impartial, and in some cases, it hasn't been a one-off but a sustained way of doing things (the trans issue, for example).

Reform being overrepresented is an example of the very problem I'm talking about. Their having so much more time than the Greens and Lib Dems is not fair or balanced.

I've thought this past year - though think they blame polling data but it's not one of the issues I saw raised where they had clear biasis and outright misinformation.

There is always room to debate what impartiality looks like in practice - whether that’s is moment by moment, programme by programme, or measured over the output as a whole.

Impartiality doesn’t mean, for example, that you have to give every opinion equal weight, and it doesn’t mean you can’t make a judgment based on evidence. The BBC doesn’t have to be impartial on whether the world is round, or give The Flat Earth Society as much credence as…well, anyone else! For the BBC it also doesn’t mean having to be impartial on fundamental democratic principles - freedom of speech, the right to vote, etc. All of this is online in their guidelines.

Amongst all that, and all the other judgments that have to be made I’m sure there is lots to disagree on. I think the fact people might disagree on some of these decisions is less important than the aspiration - the fact that these guidelines exist, and they have said that they will try to follow them.

I much prefer that to a news organisation that makes no promise whatsoever to try to be impartial.

It’s been obvious for a few years that the BBC was biased on many issues.

Now it’s known to be fact that they have behaved disgustingly with their editing, essentially changing what a person has said. That is not journalism, it is slander and fake news - the type you would expect in China not the UK.

In my opinion the BBC should now be disbanded - it simply can’t be trusted as an impartial news source. I expect there to be a petition about it soon enough.

I said in a fair and balanced way. So, obviously, it wouldn't be balanced to give equal weight to both viewpoints, and the stats should be pointed out very clearly when discussing it, so everyone knows the facts. It's totally possible.

Reform being overrepresented is an example of the very problem I'm talking about. Their having so much more time than the Greens and Lib Dems is not fair or balanced.

I don't expect them to be perfect.
I do expect to be able to trust what they are telling me and not have to wonder if it's been doctored or misrepresented.
I do expect them to own their wrong doing or "mistakes" as they would say and apologise to the people involved. Even if that person is at the opposite end of the political spectrum to them.
I do expect them to not reward their presenters who have been charged with a serious crime with a walloping bonus.

That doesn’t always work though does it? During the Brexit referendum for example it was widely reported that 9 out of every 10 economists thought it was a bad idea. And yet it gave each side equal weighting. So always one for, one against. That’s quite skewed. Currently for a Party who so few seats, Reform is unfairly represented to the detriment of the Lib Dems and the Greens.

Hard agree

Very true.

My point is that I dont think they are ashit show in the sense of being shoddy which is what I think the post i responded to implied.

The issue isnt capability it's accuracy, integrity and deliberate bias imo.

This, absolutely

Yes, but the BBC needs to show both sides fairly whether they agree with them or not, which I think they don’t always do, not in a fair and balanced way anyway.

They have shown themselves to not be impartial. They are a dinosaur in terms of funding, news and other shows. They have had many recent issues with how they hand out contracts to 'stars'.

Its another nail in their coffin and i dont expect them to be around much longer. I fully understand that other news organisations are as susceptible to not being impartial but the BBC and how it was funded was established upon being impartial. That is now gone.

Everyone self evidently believes that the opinions they hold are the correct ones (if they didn’t, they wouldn’t hold them!).

When people hear their own opinions played back to them, whether that’s from a friend, a newspaper article or someone on TV it barely registers - it is the gentle background hum of hearing you are “right”. Conversely, when you hear an opinion you disagree with it jars, it stops you in your tracks, you may feel irritated, maybe confronted, maybe angry.

I think that is why people from all sides often complain that the BBC is biased against them - they can easily ignore the comforting noise of agreement and only really focus on the moments that jarred, that made them feel angry.

I think that's a really good point.

You forgot the punch line.......😂

I think, rather than being left or right wing, per se, it decides what it thinks the "correct" opinion about any given issue is, and then doesn't provide enough balance to counter that.

I personally won't miss it, and it would have been unthinkable for me to say that 15 years ago, but there's nothing for me on the BBC now. I literally only watched two shows in the past 15 years, and they've both finished now. I listen to podcasts rather than the radio, and get my news elsewhere.

It's sad because I was an avid Radio 4 listener since I was about 11 and used to listen to it with my grandad, and I used to love BBC comedy and drama in my teens/early 20s, but it just seems like their content isn't being produced for me anymore. It's not exactly just a BBC problem though. I find very little to watch on any platform, terrestrial or streaming!

It’s left wing except when it’s very right wing. Countless examples

I see. Of course we would also need to know what the corrections were for. Are they general, or do they all err in the same direction...