Political balance in broadcast media restored

A recent Ofcom report has reset bias in broadcast media during the election campaign. That’s a good thing.

While newsprint remains partisan broadcast media is holding the line in scrutinising political parties and candidates during the current election.

Channel 4 News, Newsnight and Sky News are standout examples of news organisations and journalists holding politicians to account in the search for truth. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case during recent political campaigns.

Political dialogue and news broadcast

Broadcasters are held to different standards than in any other area of the media during a referendum or election campaign. These standards are set out and upheld by the media regulatory Ofcom.

The rules for broadcasting conduct during an election are covered in Section 6 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code. It defines the impartiality requirements that broadcasters must follow during an Election Period.

“While the time devoted to all parties and candidates during the Election Period need not be equal, election programming during the Election Period must give due weight to the coverage of the parties and independent candidates.

“In determining the appropriate level of coverage to be given to the parties and independent candidates, we must take into account evidence of past electoral support and / or current support.”

During the EU Referendum in June 2016, General Election in June 2017, and this year’s European Elections, broadcast journalists tripped over themselves to give fair coverage to all campaigns.

Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party were at the front of the pack in demanding attention and air time. They almost certainly received undue attention as a result.

That appears to have changed during this election campaign. The Brexit party is less visible and journalists are providing a greater level of scrutiny than has previously been the case.

Ofcom hits reset on political news bias

The reason for the shift almost certainly lies in part with an Ofcom report published in October. The timing could not have been more relevant for the current election.

The report examined the BBC’s news and current affairs output, and how it could better serve citizens across the UK.

“The BBC’s role as one of the UK’s main providers of news and current affairs is long established. More than three in four people in the UK regularly turn to the BBC for news – more than the next two most-popular news providers combined.”

The report called out the BBC’s requirement to be impartial, suggesting that it had over reached this requirement..

“Broadcasting rules do not require the BBC or other broadcasters to be absolutely neutral on every issue within news and current affairs, but they must be duly impartial. This means journalists should take context into account when considering how to achieve due impartiality.”

It went further and suggested that journalists should feel able to challenge controversial viewpoints that have little support or are not backed up by facts, making this clear to viewers, listeners and readers.

There’s no doubt that the Ofcom report has given the BBC and other broadcasters confidence to be bolder in their approach to scrutinising politicians.

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