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BBC viewers say the broadcaster’s TV news is more biased than ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky News
- Only 58% believe the corporation’s coverage is impartial, 1% fall from last year
- Decline was enough to see it drop to bottom of list below Channel 5
- BBC admitted a Newsnight episode did not meet ‘standards of due impartiality’
The BBC is the least impartial main TV news provider, according to viewers.
It lags behind Channel 5, Channel 4 and ITV for its coverage, according to research by Ofcom.
Only 58 per cent believe the corporation’s coverage is impartial, a fall of 1 per cent on last year.
The BBC lags behind Channel 5, Channel 4 and ITV among viewers for its perceived impartiality, according to research by Ofcom. Only 58 per cent believe the corporation’s coverage is impartial, a fall of 1 per cent on last year. This decline was enough to see it drop to the bottom of the list below Channel 5, which saw its own figure rise from 58 to 61 per cent
The BBC is the least impartial main TV news provider, according to viewers
This decline was enough to see it drop to the bottom of the list below Channel 5, which saw its own figure rise from 58 to 61 per cent in the year.
Impartiality at the BBC has come under scrutiny in the last 12 months following several on-air controversies.
There was a huge row in May after Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis delivered a highly critical monologue about the Dominic Cummings lockdown controversy.
The BBC admitted the programme had not met ‘standards of due impartiality’.
It followed tensions with government over the election coverage last year. The BBC has also come under scrutiny over its journalists’ use of social media.
The reach of BBC news sources to audiences within the DE socio-economic group has fallen substantially from 71 per cent two years ago to 63 per cent this year. In contrast, the reach of BBC news sources among the AB group has remained consistent, with 81 per cent of AB adults claiming to use BBC sources for news, according to broadcasting watchdog Ofcom
There was a huge row in May after Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis (pictured) delivered a highly critical monologue about the Dominic Cummings lockdown controversy
New BBC director general Tim Davie has made strengthening impartiality at the broadcaster a top priority.
As for the BBC’s rivals, the Ofcom analysis showed that 63 per cent thought ITV’s news was impartial. Channel 4 got a score of 66 per cent while Sky News got the highest with 69 per cent.
The figures were included in this week’s annual report into the BBC by the media regulator.
The BBC said impartiality was ‘one of its top priorities’ and added: ‘Independent research repeatedly shows the British public are most likely to turn to us for impartial news coverage.’
