Cal Thomas: The biased broadcasting corporation
In a recent controversy surrounding the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), two high-ranking officials resigned following the exposure of a significant editing scandal involving a speech by former President Donald Trump. The incident, which occurred during Trump’s address on January 6, 2021, saw the BBC splice together different parts of the speech, creating the misleading impression that Trump was inciting violence against the Capitol. This manipulation has reignited debates about media bias, particularly within institutions that are expected to uphold journalistic integrity. One commentator highlighted that the first “B” in BBC should stand for “bias,” drawing parallels to criticisms of CNN during the Clinton administration, where similar allegations of slanted reporting were commonplace.
The fallout from this incident raises questions about the BBC’s credibility, which has been under scrutiny for years. A survey conducted by David Pickering revealed that public trust in the BBC is heavily influenced by political affiliation, with stark contrasts between perceptions of the broadcaster among left-leaning and right-leaning citizens. This editing debacle is not an isolated incident; previous internal studies have also pointed to a perceived bias in the BBC’s reporting, particularly regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and climate change issues. Critics have noted that the BBC has established an LGBTQ desk to ensure favorable coverage of transgender topics, further fueling claims of a liberal orthodoxy that suppresses dissenting viewpoints.
Moreover, the BBC’s funding model, which requires viewers to pay an annual TV license fee, has come under fire, especially as audiences face commercial interruptions during programming. This financial obligation, coupled with the perception of biased reporting, has led to calls from some conservative members of Parliament to abolish the license fee, although these efforts have thus far been unsuccessful. Tim Davie, the recently resigned director-general of the BBC, stated that the narrative presented by the organization is one they “own,” reflecting a troubling mindset about media responsibility. Critics argue that for the BBC to regain its standing as a trusted news source, it must embrace a more balanced approach to reporting, potentially by hiring journalists with diverse perspectives to ensure fair representation of all viewpoints. The scandal serves as a reminder of the ongoing challenges faced by media organizations in maintaining credibility and public trust in an increasingly polarized political landscape.
Two friends email from London about the
editing scandal
that led to the resignation of two top officials from the British Broadcasting Corporation. The resignations followed exposure of the splicing together of two parts of a speech by President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021.The edits made it look and sound like the president was urging his followers to violently attack the Capitol.
One emailer said the first “B” in BBC should stand for bias. That reminded me of what some conservatives called CNN during the Clinton administration (the Clinton News Network), because of their perceived bias.
The second writer said the edit was only a “mistake.” It wasn’t a mistake. It was deliberate and it was made with the intention of having viewers accept their desired negative opinion of Trump. In another country and in another era, this would be called propaganda. If this sounds like the editing of the CBS “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris to make her sound articulate, it should. Both flowed from the same liberal worldview.
Kudos to the
London Daily Telegraph
for practicing real journalism and exposing the edit of the Trump speech.
During World War II the BBC was a trusted source of information. It sent coded information to the French resistance and took other actions in support of the war effort. This was accurately depicted in the film “The Longest Day.” In recent years, the BBC has seen its level of trust decline.
A survey conducted by David Pickering of
The Conversation
, a news organization that calls itself “dedicated to facts and evidence,” noted that “Trust in the BBC is heavily conditioned by political identity.” The survey of 11,170 people in the UK “showed striking differences between how people with left-wing and right-wing party affiliations felt about the broadcaster.”
The editing incident isn’t the first time the credibility of the BBC has been called into question. Several internal studies have found the organization to have reported unfairly on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The studies changed nothing as the pro-Palestinian bias has continued. It is the same when it comes to their reporting on “climate change.”
A
Wall Street Journal
editorial notes the BBC has had an LGBTQ desk within its London headquarters to make sure stories were favorable about transgender issues. Stories that did not reflect the BBC’s “liberal orthodoxy” were suppressed, notes the Journal.
On top of this, streamers and owners of television sets are required to pay an annual
TV license fee
of £174.50 (about $230) per year for a color license and £58.50 ($77) for a black-and-white license, a compulsory payment used primarily to fund the BBC’s television, radio and online services.
Does anyone still own a black-and-white TV? And on top of this, viewers must watch endless commercials, some of which are more entertaining and creative than the programs.
Efforts by some conservative members of Parliament to eliminate the TV license fee have failed. As in America, politicians are reluctant to give up money.
Tim Davie
, the now-resigned director general of the BBC said in a statement: “This narrative will not just be given by our enemies. It’s our narrative. We own things.”
Right there you have the reason so much of the media in the UK and the U.S. are held in low regard. They think they “own things,” instead of exercising a responsibility to serve the people fairly and accurately. As with other exposures of bias, I suspect little will change within the BBC unless it follows the example of the new president of
CBS News
and begins hiring reporters with a conservative worldview who will presumably report conservative ideas fairly and accurately.
Readers may email Cal Thomas at
tcaeditors@tribpub.com
. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).
