Comments by "Ash Roskell" (@ashroskell) on "the concept of an Impartial BBC" video.

  1. The Brexit debate was a good example of actual bias and on both sides. The problem was not institutional bias (edit: not just institutional bias), but poor journalism. What irked people was that journalists and anchors were not willing to challenge political statements made, as if they were facts, leading to public being deliberate lied to without fact checks at the time.
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  2. I have pointed out myself, on many occasions, that, “propaganda,” was not a dirty word during WWII, and the government made no secret of their ministry for propaganda at that time. That word has certainly become loaded, especially since the resurgence of the far right, globally, rather unsurprisingly.
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  3. Another, “quick bench mark,” we can use, to gauge the integrity of our government at any time, is if the government appoints a genuinely independent Chair of the BBC. If the chair doesn’t have a record of donating to either party or doing financial favours for the PM, that would be hugely reassuring.
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  4. The admission that we can never achieve 100% impartiality is only acceptable out of the mouths of those who seek and strive for 100% impartiality, every day. Otherwise, we are just like Pontius Pilate, who asked, “What is truth?” according to Francis Bacon, “yet would not stay for an answer.”
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  5. Whilst we must accept that genuine issues of national security may require the government to shut down some of the BBC’s reporting, it is also fairly clear that the broader public understands abuses when they occur. That’s why they were up in arms when it was shown that Richard Sharp was the friend of Boris Johnson who got him a meeting with a banker friend who arranged an eye watering loan for him, just before being appointed as Chair of the BBC.
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  6. Another quote from Bacon, more apt for our day, “‘What is truth?’ asked Pilate, yet he would not stay for an answer.”
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  7. There may be, “clarity in the BBC system,” as to, “fairness,” but we all know that minority views get disproportionate coverage. Look at Farage and the far right? Reform represents less than 3% of public opinion. Even less of informed public opinion. But Farage makes for good telly and he has friends inside the system that give him more coverage than an actually representative party, the Lib Dems. Obvious distortion and bias at work.
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