SamBally
Dance with me until the sun rises!
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The BBC is often attacked by the right-wing for having a favorable bias towards liberals and the left-wing. However, studies into the broadcaster’s output and coverage show that the BBC is actually biased against the left-wing of the political spectrum. This claim is backed up by the fact that many prominent political commentators and journalists at the BBC also have a background in conservative political groups.
The supposed left-wing bias of the BBC pertains mainly to criticisms by the right that the BBC has a liberal stance on issues such as immigration, Islam, feminism, gay and transgender rights. This appears to be correct — these issues are treated in a relatively liberal manner by the BBC — but that does not mean that the BBC is a liberal-leaning institution.
Rather, the BBC is a neoliberal institution; one that seeks to incorporate a very specific and narrow idea of social liberalism into the centre-right of the political spectrum — to make it appear somewhat liberal and accommodating of alternative opinions and views. The coverage and treatment of Jeremy Corbyn, his supporters, and the left by the BBC is the latest testament to the fact that they are biased in favour of this very narrow neoliberal centre-right.
The right-wing and its press, in particular, have for many years been at war with the BBC. They have persistently insisted that the BBC is biased towards liberalism and that the right is neglected, derided and ignored by liberal elites and the broadcaster.
This is mainly based on the fact that the BBC is sympathetic to coverage of issues such as immigration, and minorities. The treatment of these issues has very little to do with liberalism, and can more easily be defined as a bias towards the neoliberal view of the world — one which is ultimately on the centre-right of the political spectrum. The BBC may give liberal coverage to certain social issues — such as those of immigrants, and minorities, but that is because those views fit very neatly into the central idea of diversity that neo-liberalism has increasingly come to embrace. This, in turn, creates a facade of liberalism, but it is far from a true representation of the left.
Further to this, if the BBC was genuinely a left-liberal-biased institution then surely every Corbyn supporter in the country would be screaming from the hills with sheer delight about the massive amount of positive coverage he — and the center left are getting every day on the BBC.
Yet this isn’t happening — and the opposite claim is being made against the BBC — that they are biased towards the centre-right. This is not just a subjective claim, it has been evidenced by large-scale studies on the subject.
The researchers’ quantitative analysis of BBC News showed that critics of Corbyn were given twice as much airtime as his supporters and that the issues mobilized by his critics were given a much greater prominence. The report also noted the derogatory language BBC reporters used to describe Jeremy Corbyn, his team, and his supporters.
Full article on Evolve Politics.
Enjoy.
The supposed left-wing bias of the BBC pertains mainly to criticisms by the right that the BBC has a liberal stance on issues such as immigration, Islam, feminism, gay and transgender rights. This appears to be correct — these issues are treated in a relatively liberal manner by the BBC — but that does not mean that the BBC is a liberal-leaning institution.
Rather, the BBC is a neoliberal institution; one that seeks to incorporate a very specific and narrow idea of social liberalism into the centre-right of the political spectrum — to make it appear somewhat liberal and accommodating of alternative opinions and views. The coverage and treatment of Jeremy Corbyn, his supporters, and the left by the BBC is the latest testament to the fact that they are biased in favour of this very narrow neoliberal centre-right.
The right-wing and its press, in particular, have for many years been at war with the BBC. They have persistently insisted that the BBC is biased towards liberalism and that the right is neglected, derided and ignored by liberal elites and the broadcaster.
This is mainly based on the fact that the BBC is sympathetic to coverage of issues such as immigration, and minorities. The treatment of these issues has very little to do with liberalism, and can more easily be defined as a bias towards the neoliberal view of the world — one which is ultimately on the centre-right of the political spectrum. The BBC may give liberal coverage to certain social issues — such as those of immigrants, and minorities, but that is because those views fit very neatly into the central idea of diversity that neo-liberalism has increasingly come to embrace. This, in turn, creates a facade of liberalism, but it is far from a true representation of the left.
Further to this, if the BBC was genuinely a left-liberal-biased institution then surely every Corbyn supporter in the country would be screaming from the hills with sheer delight about the massive amount of positive coverage he — and the center left are getting every day on the BBC.
Yet this isn’t happening — and the opposite claim is being made against the BBC — that they are biased towards the centre-right. This is not just a subjective claim, it has been evidenced by large-scale studies on the subject.
The researchers’ quantitative analysis of BBC News showed that critics of Corbyn were given twice as much airtime as his supporters and that the issues mobilized by his critics were given a much greater prominence. The report also noted the derogatory language BBC reporters used to describe Jeremy Corbyn, his team, and his supporters.
Full article on Evolve Politics.
Enjoy.
