Analysis: The Beeb, the bias and the bashing

Analysis: The Beeb, the bias and the bashing. By Professor Ivor Gaber , Professor of Journalism at the University of Sussex My entry for the prize for the most unsurprising allegation of 2015 was the uncannily similar complaints that emanated from a number of Conservative MPs who claimed that the BBC's reporting of the general election had been overtly pro-Labour (fat lot of good it did them, one might opine). Let me state at the outset that I believe that political journalists need not, indeed should not, be political eunuchs. If you are interested in politics - and one would have thought that that was a basic requirement of working in the area - one is going to have political views. Hence, the fact that some BBC journalists have, or had, left or right-wing leanings should not be a cause of surprise, nor of concern. In fact, I would argue that if your own political opinions are on the record then it is that much easier for colleagues and, more importantly, the audience to judge whether you are allowing those opinions to influence your output. Indeed, I worry about those political journalists I know who proudly state they have no political views.