The BBC

Up until 2016 the BBC took more copies of the Guardian than any other paper: 250 per day. Why was that, I wonder ?

I think, and I do accept that not everyone will agree, that the BBC in recent years has had a strong right wing brexitty political bias,

However, because most influential BBC opinion formers work in London, there is also a "social liberal" bias which results in what the Daily Mail would charecterise as "political correctness".

The loudest voices are simultaneously pro equal marriage, very anti discrimination against anyone on the basis of racie or religion, but also very pro-brexit, constantly parroting the mantras about "honouring the referendum" and "will of the people" whilst ignoring all the evidence that our democracy wads high jacked in 2016 by foriegn interference and dark money.

Trisher, a balanced post.

Varian, you seem to see everyone who doesn’t agree with you as ‘ignorant’ (ignorant rantings) as you mention in your post. I’ve learnt to take your posts with a pinch of salt.

There is no doubt that in the past there was a very left wing bias at the BBC. It probably began in the 60s with the comedy programmes created by Cambridge graduates with satirical attacks on the establishment. It might at some point have swung back to the centre but in recent years it has begun to exhibit a real right wing bias. The problem with this bias is, it is not linked any creative or comedic output, but is now rooted in the factual reporting of news. It is a much more dangerous bias than any seen before.

I think that the truth is not that the BBC are politically neutral or anything like it.

During the run up to the 2016 referendum, time and time again expert opinion on the Remain side was "balanced out" by ignorant rantings and sound bites from the leave side.

If you had a debate on the BBC about whether the Earth was round or flat, the BBC could easily find proper scientific evidence that it is round (OK, spherical). The BBC, in an attempt to find "balance" would then scour all the dark places on the internet until they came up with a flatearther, who they would invite along and give him equal time and equal billing.

Since the fraudulent referendum, the BBC have at least acknowledged that this spurious attempt at balance did give an undue prominence to utter rubbish. Unfortunately too late. The damage was done and so they still parrot nonsense about "honouring the result of the referendum" and "respecting the will of the people".

I think we have to assume that as Brexit supporters think the BBC are lefties, remain supporters, and the Remainers think the BBC is right wing, Tory, Brexit supporting....well they must be somewhere in the middle! Channel 4 news is ok sometimes, but I don't like Jon Snow. I heard him once on Desert Island Discs ( outed as a Radio 4 listener) and he was a complete arse, really pompous.

I cannot agree with you Dinahmo when you say "Andrew Neil is reasonably balanced "

Andrew Neil, a former chairman of the Association of Conservative Students, is the chairman of The Spectator magazine and never makes any attempt to disguise his pro-brexit Tory views.

Unsurprisingly he has recently been voted "the nation’s favourite political commentator" in an exclusive Express.co.uk poll that saw the veteran broadcaster scoop a massive 69 percent of the ballot. A weapons-grade interviewer!’ Andrew Neil crowned top Brexit commentator in poll.

www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1180229/brexit-latest-andrew-neil-politics-latest-laura-kuenssberg-bbc-boris-johnson

This poll was, of course not a poll of the nation, but a poll of the readers of the Express, the only national newspaper which is more brexitty than the Daily Mail or The Sun.

He holds a childish grudge against Dr Vince Cable, who was his tutor at Glasgow University and clearly did not rate his efforts very highly and has recently carried out a vicious vendetta against Carole Cadwalladr, the brave investigative journalist who exposed the illegal activities of Cambridge Analytica and the Leave campaign, calling her "Carol Codswallop, the mad cat woman". Neil is so biased he would not be out of place on Fox News.

As I've posted on another thread I'd be willing to pay to watch BBC. Here in France we are within reach of the satellite but we have to pay for French tv via the equivalent of rates regardless of whether we watch French tv or not.

I can watch programmes on I Player on my computer but have to use a VPN in order to do so. A VPN isn't necessary to listen to the radio.

I wish that I could pay to watch the Beeb but I can't. Perhaps they too will introduce subscription programming.

I wish that there was some way in which I could pay the Beeb but there isn't.

Still agree with you Floorflock, and as for the BBC world service being ‘a jewel in the crown of the BBC’, well words fail me. We frequently look at the BBC world service when we’re abroad and I’m afraid we find it to be a roundabout of the same ‘news’ items which goes on all day. You will see exactly the same items at 9.00pm as were on at 9.00am. Lots of their reporting on the world service isn’t news either, it’s small item coverage about something the BBC has decided it wants to report on ie house building in another country or whatever. I gues they have to make use of their correspondents in different parts of the world so they ask them to do a short documentary type article on whatever. It’s not news. Gone are the days when people around the world are glued to the radio (tv) at a certain time every day to hear the latest truthful account of the situation in Britain ie the Second World War.

I watch the political programmes on the BBC, such as the Daily Politics and tend to think that they are fairly even handed most of the time.

My main beef is the lack of decent contributors from the right in any Brexit debates - Mark Francois for example and Tim Martin (Wetherspoons). Even Andrew Neill is reasonably balanced in that he can give representatives of all political persuasions a hard time if necessary.

MaizieD I really don't see why UK subjects should be the ones to fund this. All other channels fund themselves through advertising. The BBC, with help from the govermnent, tax the public to fund this overpriced white elephant. Don't forget they have supported many 'dubious' characters who worked there too (Jimmy Saville and many others) If this had been a public company they would have been forced to close down instantly through the scandal.

They broadcast around the world - and I you and I are paying for this too, let the rest of the world pay if they want it.

Goodness me! I've always understood the BBC World Service to be a jewel in the BBC crown. It keeps ex-pats in touch with the home country, it acts as something of an ambassador and showcase for Britain and it keeps people in countries where the news is censored in touch with the reality of events. How sad that people think that foreigners shouldn't have access to it.

The BBC is far from perfect, and I too loathe the One Show with the celebrities, insincerity and brash reporting, but that is just my taste, and I too switch to The Repair Shop which is a lovely heartwarming programme. However, the more the backbench Tories and right wing press campaign against it, the more I support it. I am disturbed by the right wing over representation on QT, Farage who is not the leader of a political party, has been on far more than the leader of the Green Party, and last night's attempt at balance was laughable; the 'leftie' was a self confessed communist celebrity who was out of her depth. I do agree that the coverage of European news is very poor, and needs to be addressed. I generally quite like Laura Kuennsberg, but her handling of the incident in Whipps Cross Hospital was not what I would have expected, more of a Sun reporter's type of nastiness.

Floorflock, you have written exactly how I feel about the BBC.
I think it should be funded by advertising the same as other channels.

BBC - outdated and should be scrapped.
The public who scrape the money together to pay this tax, sorry licence fee, have to fund very brazen plugging on the BBC programs, Unfair and biased reporting, game show prize money, outlandish wages to so called 'stars', advertising - of their own programs etc. They don't show the sport that my DH wants to see. They broadcast around the world - and I you and I are paying for this too, let the rest of the world pay if they want it.
If these staff at the BBC really loved their jobs they would do them for the same wages that average Joe is paid. I don't view any of them as stars they are simply vastly overpaid people. Get rid of the lot of them.

I agree with you notentirelyallhere. I've almost given up on British news sources. Foreign media give a much more balanced and informative view. It's tragic really because the BBC used to have such a good international reputation but its news output is pathetic.

I meant, of course, listen to as well as read other European news sources.

I hate the way people being interviewed are never allowed to finish a sentence anymore without endless rude interruptions.

If you read Irish and French newspapers (the latter in translation if need be), not only do you get a wider range of stories about Europe and the world but people are allowed to answer questions fully and the interviewer listens to what they say.

The two presenters on Womans Hour have obviously been threatened with job loss given how they fall over themselves to aggressively 'put the other side' over. BTW, I'm on the BBC is right wing side, ha, ha.

What wasn't true about the sick child in Whipps Cross Hospital?

It seems to me that the BBC is in a very dangerous place now.

I believe that powerful people on the right would really love to get rid of the BBC since they are wedded to the notion of private provision for almost every public service, as is the wish of their powerful donors.

One way of seeing the BBC on its way is to alienate both sides of the political spectrum and any other interested parties.

So right wing newspapers continually harp on about the cost of the TV licence, the salaries of senior administrators and top presenters (never mentioning that the commercial channels pay much higher salaries - which the general public does (either directly or indirectly) pay for). They continue to peddle the idea that the BBC is run by left wing zealots when, in fact, many carefully analysed academic research papers have established that there is a very significant right wing/anti Labour slant.

That proven bias against Labour also alienates people on the left of the political spectrum.

And now, with the controversy re the over-75's TV licence, a large number of people who have no particular concerns about the neutrality or otherwise of the BBC have also been alienated.

So lots of people are unhappy with the present state of the BBC and I fear that ultimately it will disappear.

Former BBC journalist Robin Aitken reveals his experience of the BBC’s left-wing, pro-Remain, anti-Christian bias in his book The Noble Liar: How and Why the BBC Distorts the News to Promote a Liberal Agenda. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785903497/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_rJ.GDb0NMHW16?tag=gransnetforum-21
4.3 stars on Amazon.

The BBC are left wing and have been for a long time! It beggars belief that some people think its right wing! Seriously! Its pro Labout/Liberal and pro Remain - coverage of pro Brexit opinions is invariably sourced from the lowest common denominator. Are we watching the same channel?

Margs you are so right! Not only did the BBC not report the women's pension rally in Manchester recently, they locked the doors and closed the blinds

For those posting about how left wing the BBC is could you explain why the Labour party is constantly vilified and Corbyn insulted by them? Why QT actively recruits audience members from far right parties, but not far left? Why the Brexit party and Farage are consistently given air time and yet the Green Party which has at least one MP is rarely allowed time?
Right wing bias is present in every area. There is no left wing bias.

Icanhandthemback - totally my sentiments.