BBC told to improve EU coverage
A report commissioned by the BBC governors, today calls for “urgent action” from the corporation to improve its coverage of EU news.
The report, compiled by an independent panel headed by former Cabinet Secretary Lord Wilson, says the BBC is not providing basic accessible information on Europe.
The panel was asked by the BBC governors to assess the impartiality of BBC coverage of the EU. It based its conclusions on research by MORI into public perceptions of the BBC’s reporting on the EU.
The panel concludes that while there was no evidence of deliberate bias in BBC coverage of EU matters, “we have found that there is a widespread perception that it suffers from certain forms of cultural and unintentional bias.”
It continues: “In short, we think that the BBC’s coverage of EU news needs to be improved and to be made more demonstrably impartial. We have no doubt about the corporation’s commitment to impartiality but it is not at present winning the battle for confidence in its coverage of EU news.”
The panel notes that the problem will become particularly urgent as the referendum on the EU Constitution approaches.
The conclusions were accepted by the BBC governors, who said in a statement: “On the evidence of the MORI research that informed the panel’s report, the BBC is not succeeding in providing basic accessible information on the topic of Europe and urgent action is needed.”
Helen Boaden, the new director of BBC News, will chair a group examining the report’s finding and formulating a response to be presented to the governors by the end of February.
