London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

How truth gets lost in the BBC’s search for balance

How truth gets lost in the BBC’s search for balance

The broadcaster must countervail the rightwing-dominated print media, writes Dr Richard House, while Dr Richard Milne says it played into Boris Johnson’s hands, and Philip Cunningham warns against false equivalence

I’ve long since given up making the effort to formally complain about the BBC’s anti-Corbyn and anti-Labour bias, because whenever I have (and I have done frequently, and in detail), the ultra-defensive robotic response denying any bias has been pitiable.

I know others have had a similar experience, so this alone could account for the BBC receiving a larger number of formal complaints about anti-Conservative coverage than anti-Labour (BBC ‘bias’: Tory voters more likely to complain en masse, 31 December). Conservatives are perhaps also more likely to be “anti” the BBC per se, thus generating a greater likelihood of complaints being made.

With print media overwhelmingly dominated by rightwing conservative interests, it is essential for democracy that our flagship public-service broadcaster provides some kind of countervailing balance. Historically, this was indeed a role that the BBC discharged reasonably well – being a key factor in the election of a number of Labour governments since 1964. Without a relatively neutral broadcast media, Labour will always start with a massive handicap; it has a mountain to climb just to get over the line.

t’s just not good enough that, in a year or two, independent academic research reports will conclusively demonstrate the BBC’s anti-Labour bias. When voters’ access to unbiased information is compromised in this way, democracy itself is gravely threatened. For when a government is elected to absolute power, carried over the line by bias and propaganda, its very legitimacy is in severe doubt – with grave implications for the sheer governability of a deeply disgruntled, disenfranchised citizenry.

Dr Richard House
Stroud, Gloucestershire

• In search of balance, during the recent general election the BBC repeatedly gave too much prominence to the unsupported assumptions of Brexit supporters, the rightwing media and a certain “Downing Street source”, and too little to stating established facts. Opponents of Brexit see bias in the former; supporters of Brexit see it in the latter. Based on this, some have attempted to defend the BBC’s recent output by saying that if both sides attack you, you are doing it right. In fact, when one side lies all the time and the other does not, then being attacked by both sides means you are charting a path somewhere between truth and lies, and need to do better.

For far too long, the BBC and others made similar mistakes over climate science coverage. The solution is simple – to quote Garry Kasparov: “Just keep repeating the facts. Stop giving equal times to lies.”

Dr Richard Milne
Edinburgh

• Tony Hall would do well to read Prof Steve Jones’s 2011 report on the BBC’s science coverage (Election coverage was not biased, says Hall, 23 December). As noted by Diane Coyle, a former vice-chair of the BBC Trust, which commissioned the report, it highlighted the danger of this false-balance interpretation of its editorial requirement of “due impartiality”. Jones wrote: “Attempts to give a place to anyone, however unqualified, who claims interest can make for false balance” – and the opposite of impartiality.

I assume the report was ignored by the BBC’s politics staff because it is about “science”, but wider reading of it might help the BBC’s coverage generally.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
×