How much do you trust the BBC as a source of news?

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My dh takes the BBC as gospel. I take it with a (large) pinch of salt, as I think it has baked-in biases. I value the BBC highly, and think we are lucky to have it, by the way.

I'm interested in how other people view the BBC's reporting.

I dont.

That wasn’t news department - it was Panorama, a documentary

I trust the BBC to be completely unbiased. My husband sees left wing bias.

We both watch the channel 4 news, though that definitely has a left wing bias, we find the reporting very high quality, particularly the US stuff.

What precisely was it that they did re Covid to make you question their position?

I stopped trusting the BBC during Covid when it was corrupted by Boris Johnson and turned into a propaganda machine. I no longer pay for a TV licence (which I don't need as I don't watch any live TV or use the BBC player).

The air time that is given to Farage and the lack of scrutiny of Reform are unacceptable and I will not contribute to paying the salary of client journalists like Laura Kuenssberg and Fiona Bruce.

There have also been too many famous sexual predators within its ranks with executives turning a bling eye for years.

It is sad because the BBC used to be an independent, trusted source of news and information but not anymore.

I can't think of many news sources which are simultaneously accused of both left and right wing bias. Which others are extensively criticised by people both ends of the political spectrum?

As for being impartial, there will inevitably be a degree of bias that creeps in from time to time because people are human and we all have biases. The main difference that I see with the BBC is that it at least strives to be impartial, even if it sometimes falls short of its own standards. I think that's very different from the news organisations that don't even try to keep the bias at bay.

If it’s being accused of bias by both the left and the right then it’s doing its job. It’s not perfect but it’s more impartial than any of the other news sources we’re exposed to these days. Most of the press in the UK is owned by white rich old men, and a lot of sociaL media is similar.

They do. If the BBC were to go which spectrum of politics would benefit? I’d say the left would lose out.

I trust it, although sometimes it leaves out some salient points. I find it frustrating when I have to go off elsewhere to find the balance.

If I hear of celebrity deaths on Facebook or Mumsnet I go straight to BBC news to see if it is true. I'm not celebrity obsessed just morbid.

Mainly the scaremongering, pretending we all had the same risk of serious illness/death as each other, the constant pushing about getting vaccinations...
I was surprised they became the mouthpiece for the government so readily as before that I'd naively viewed the BBC as independent.

BBC are untrustworthy shitters

Where did you get the information against which you judged the BBC output? Would you accept that a) at the very least at the beginning stages of the pandemic propensity for serious illness/death was unknown therefore it was reasonable to assume all were at risk and b) the vaccines saved many lives?

When did they suggest everyone had the same risk? That's not what was said at all. And what were they supposed to say other than support vaccination? It sounds like whatever other sources you used were the problem to me.

But, the main thing about news consumption is that we should all use more than one source. Of course, it all has bias.

And the Left think it's a mouthpiece for Reform. Both sides think it's biased which is more than you say for any other source.

I trust BBC News. I have to deal with journalists from all stations and papers through work. The BBC journalists are careful and thorough. I don’t think the BBC always gets things right, but no outlet does.

I also note that the left thinks they are too right wing and the right thinks they are too left wing. Which suggests they are unbiased.

I trust them no more or less than any new source. Not much.

They might say that but do you think they’d want it to go?

Because generally the left want it to stay and more would likely go for a levy to keep it over a subscription model.

If anyone on the left really thinks it’s a mouthpiece for Reform it makes sense for them to say ok we won’t have it.

Not one bit

I think that's probably true, but not because I think the BBC is biased towards the left.

I just think there are far more right leaning news organisations than left leaning ones. As such, the left may benefit disproportionately from a source that strives to be impartial. That in itself doesn't make the BBC biased towards the left. It just means that it shows less right wing bias than the majority of other news sources.

@VanCleefArpels and @Ninetwenty
The question is 'how much do you trust the bbc as a news source'.
I've answered that my opinion of the bbc changed during covid. I've given some reasons. That's my view.
With respect, I have no intention of justifying those reasons ad nauseum. You feel differently and I'm okay with that.

There’s no news outlet without bias. It simply cannot exist because the news is reported by human beings who all have bias and who are all fallible. I think the bbc has the least bias and puts the most effort into being unbiased. There’s no need to throw the baby out with the bath water though if they don’t always get it right imo. Equally though It would be silly to take any information from any source as gospel without even a little bit of critical thought.

I have blown through all my trust capital with the BBC over these last ten years. Out and out lying over genderwang, documentaries made by the Hamas PR machine, unfaithful edits to misrepresent events. It's a mess.

I also note that the left thinks they are too right wing and the right thinks they are too left wing. Which suggests they are unbiased.

As much as I would like to believe this, I don't quite agree with this argument because, say someone might dare to say a man is a man, then the left will accuse it of having right wing bias even if its reporting facts.

The only way is to have a variation of news sources. I actually think MN is a good place for more indepth discussion from all different angles if you're being lazy because of all the wonderful, knowledgeable women here!

It is the centrist dad of news. If you are middle class and into social democracy then it probably seems very unbiased. If you are not, it will probably seem biased.

All news is going to be a bit biased. It is only because the BBC claims that it isn't that it gets more flak about it.