UK Department Recommends BBC Reforms Over Alleged Bias

Facts

• The UK government has recommended major reforms in the BBC to rid it of allegations of bias, and to restore its audience's confidence in the public broadcaster. These recommendations were published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.¹
• Following its first mid-term review, the department stated that the BBC's audiences will be given greater certainty of their complaints being handled more fairly.¹
• To ensure impartiality, the BBC's website and social media channels will be monitored by the Office of Communication ('Ofcom'), UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer announced Monday.²
• The BBC's board will be legally bound to oversee complaints of its bias, Frazer said, adding that the broadcaster's audiences do not feel it is sufficiently impartial.³
• Frazer did not give specific examples of such bias, discussing rather the 'perception' of bias. The culture secretary also claimed that the BBC should not hold the right to sue individuals who do not pay its TV license fees.²
• The opposition Labour Party has accused the British government of waging 'culture wars' against the BBC, and said 'one of our greatest institutions' must be supported 'to create wealth, jobs and joy.'³

Sources: ¹GOV.UK, ²Times and ³Sky News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Theweek. The BBC has been perceived as biased by a variety of people. For instance, one poll showed that only one in 25 Jewish people were satisfied with the British broadcaster's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Others have accused it of a 'left-wing bias' since at least the 1980s. Some others have said it has a pro-establishment tilt. It's clear to all that a lack of neutrality is a widely accepted reality of contemporary BBC programming.
• Narrative B, as provided by Reutersinstitute. The BBC reaches around 400M people worldwide, and among these are audiences containing a wide political spectrum. Recent polling showed the BBC to score higher than any other news outlet in the UK when it came to 'doing a good job,' and Ofcom found that the broadcaster has maintained its reputation among most people for trusted and accurate reporting. Complaints concerning BBC's bias must be taken with a pinch of salt.