To think that the BBC are showing a clear labour bias?

[blaeberry]

I am basing this mostly on their news webpage. Over the last two weeks Corbyn has been smiling, looking benevolent, or standing at a podium on the BBC news home page nearly every day. Each time the headline has been pretty positive 'labour announce that' type thing. In contrast, May has been almost completely absent and Tory headlines have been negative 'Tories shown to be wrong'. I noticed this a few weeks ago so have been screen shot-ting a couple of times a day for the last two weeks (yes a bit mad I know). I have noticed a similar trend with the Radio 4 headlines though haven't been able to check that one. The question time audience last week was unquestionably partisan.

I did wonder if the Tories had hidden May or just decided not to bother campaigning but even then I thought the BBC were meant to be impartial?

[mummytime]

The BBC is more Tory by biased than anything. And I wonder if it is to placate those in power who could harm the license fee.

May is not going out and about in public, so there are far less opportunities to show her. Also by hiding from the "general public" there are fewer interesting encounters. She also doesn't say much which is new or interesting.

I did find it amusing that when the BBC agreed to give the Greens more airtime that the BBC assumed it was just Green supporters who had complained, I had complained as it seemed obviously unfair, but I'm a Lib Dem supporter.

[PseudoBadger]

This thread is hilarious! It shows how well the BBC does its job of impartiality; you are all arguing that it is right or left wing depending on your own bias.

[Embolio]

what Pseudo-badger said

[charliethebear]

The BBC is not impartial, I think it was LSE showed that they had a bias against Corbyn and I think there were another couple that showed the same thing.

[ohgoshIdontknow]

The BBC is a nightmare and has always been biased. It's why I don't watch it. Their news coverage in general is also appalling - they have to check everything several times before they run it, so are always very slow with breaking stories.

I'm no fan of Murdoch but far prefer Sky.

[TheNaze73]

The BBC is institutionally left wing & has even admitted it previously so YANBU.

We should have a referendum as to whether to axe the communist stealth tax, which is the BBC license fee. Why should I pay to fund the BBC when I don't watch it anymore.

Scandalous

[MaisyPops]

mummy
I go between green and labour and find it awful that UKIP gets more airtime in the press than the greens. The greens have an MP and have more council seats.

Yet the media have allowed UKIP so much air time in the last few years.

[tabbymog]

The view of the BBC from news organisations in Europe is that they are biased quite heavily in favour of the Conservative Party. This is separate from their opinion of BBC foreign correspondents who they think are outstanding.

I've alway been interested in how the media works and influences people's opinions, and delve into this stuff. I'm also fluent in Italian (learned at home from my Italian father equally with English), German (educated there) and French (lived there), and reasonable in Spanish, so I read those countries' national newspapers in their native language as much as I can. The translation algorithms that produce their foreign language pages don't give the same nuance and accuracy.

The different voting systems in Europe produce differently balanced outcomes than our first-past-the-post system and rather more influence for minority parties. This has a feedback effect into media coverage, of course it does. In UK it's all media to electorate, there's nothing going the other way and the influence of a few wealthy media owners and top BBC staff is overwhelming, shutting out anything else. That Jeremy Corbyn is now getting more representative coverage is entirely due to the effect of many progressive ordinary voters getting out and campaigning and, yes, Momentum. Look up what Noam Chomsky, who understands the media as well as anyone else today, says about Momentum, and has written about the media. I do wish he'd collect all those essays into books, but he's been sidelined in the American media culture despite being so greatly respected by his peers, students and readers

[MaisyPops]

Corbyn has to have a certain amount of coverage so it may suddenly feel that he is getting more coverage because at other times he won't necessarily get into the news.
It's what the news USE that time for.
As far as I can see, labours gets a figure wrong but had a costed manifesto = air time wasted rehashing the same thing or aksing corbyn to reply to the insukts being thrown by the tories.
Theresa May does massive u turns and refuses to turn up = just repeat that she is strong and stable and focusing on Brexit.

[StillDrivingMeBonkers]

The BBC has always been left wing, even as a child I remember my parents complaining it was biased, so much so, it was banned in our house.

[TheMonkeyAndThePlywoodViolin]

Well, it has changed now.

[expatinscotland]

Hahahaha @ they're being left-wing.

[AlternativeTentacle]

The BBC has not been left wing for a long time. Maybe in the 70s.

If it is showing slightly leftie bias it is only because it thinks that Corbyn will be the next PM.

I agree with Maisiepops that if it is showing any labour coverage it is still finding tiny issues and exploiting them which it is not doing with the tories. Just repeating what the bosses have told them..strong and stable bollocks.

Those this think it is left wing are getting confused between presenters who might themselves be lefties and the editors and producers. It is still an institution run by ex public school boys.

[Onthecouchagain]

The BBC is so anti Corbyn it's unreal. The days of the BBC being left leaning are long behind us.

[Meripenopause]

The BBC is managed by people who could be described as pseudo-left. So neither Tories nor Corbyn supporters/Socialists particularly like its reporting. If there was a New Labour option, the BBC would probably be pretty biased!

[thinkiamgoingcrazy]

Personally, the Tories were happy when the press were slating Corbyn and making stuff up. But now people are starting to do policy over personality they're quite annoyed and want to have a strop.

Yes I think they are in a strop too. It's great .

Last night's debate when Rudd did not get a single round of applause was the first time I have felt lighter since last year's referendum. I felt this awful weight lifting. I really hope that there is a hung parliament and yes a coalition of chaos. There is more common sense and compassion within that coalition than in anything the strong and stable liars do or say.

[Carolinesbeanies]

"It is still an institution run by ex public school boys."

This. The champagne socialists who whip up ideological fervour, as long as the poor people pay for it.
Cant count the amount of people Ive met who live their lives in utter hypocrisy, genuinely believing that if they hold a set of beliefs, it excuses not living by them.

[Noitsnotteatimeyet]

As a former BBC and Sky journalist I find the idea that news editors are either cravenly kowtowing towards the Tories or blindly adoring Corbyn (both at the same time) fascinating and depressing. It is so far from the reality in broadcast newsrooms.

pseudobadger has it spot on

[makeourfuture]

May has been almost completely absent

I think she was invited?

[BakewellSliceAgain]

I think the people who work for the BBC tend toward the liberal left. They don't necessarily like Corbyn though, see Kuensberg! To put that in context though his MPs aren't chuffed to have him as leader.

Conservative website comments I read often LOVE Corbyn as leader!

[saoirse31]

Yesterday on news page they'd headline quote suggesting farren did great in debate. When u read article that quote was from a lib dem baroness .. Bias?

[LittleLionMansMummy]

Even if it is, it has some way to go to redress the balance of the near total domination of other right wing mainstream sources.

For the record, the BBC have all but refused to give Corbyn air time until the pre election guidelines on coverage kicked in. Funny how his popularity has increased since being given direct and unedited airtime along with the other leaders.

[ShatnersWig]

Interestingly, it was Laura K who tackled TM on her visit yesterday about not showing up for the debate. And David Dimbleby spoke out yesterday or the day before to say he doesn't think the media have given Corbyn a fair deal.

[annandale]

Like pseudobadger i think this thread is hilarious, but am also left feeling sad that so many people are completely convinced that the Beeb is biased in a straightforward left/right way.

[ProfessorHannigan]

YANBU - I've noticed this. It's evident in the language they use too, for example "economy does well DESPITE brexit" which strongly implies a remain perspective.
Today's lead story is only concerning an absence rather than what was actually said in a debate?!
There's a huge amount of implicit bias in the BBC and it fucks me right off. I haven't read most of this thread because I was hounded on here last time I dared to quote a couple of BBC stories that showed such bias. Good luck OP.
(And I say this as a person who voted remain so I have no axe to grind as my own view is being supported!).