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| BBC news chief derides allegations of leftwing bias | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The BBC’s news chief James Harding has said politicians “from all parties” threatened the BBC’s future funding because they were unhappy with the corporation’s election coverage, and poured scorn on allegations that it had a leftwing bias. | |
| Harding said he was “quite astonished by the ferocity and frequency of complaints from all parties” over the way the BBC covered the election, an experience he likened to “hell on wheels”. | Harding said he was “quite astonished by the ferocity and frequency of complaints from all parties” over the way the BBC covered the election, an experience he likened to “hell on wheels”. |
| Harding said criticism of the BBC’s newsrooms was “unfair and unfounded”, including the “fabled leftwing bias” which he said he found “increasingly hard to take seriously in the light of the Conservative victory”. | Harding said criticism of the BBC’s newsrooms was “unfair and unfounded”, including the “fabled leftwing bias” which he said he found “increasingly hard to take seriously in the light of the Conservative victory”. |
| “What’s the argument? That the BBC’s subtle, sophisticated leftwing message was so very subtle, so very sophisticated that it simply passed the British people by?” Harding told a Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference in London on Tuesday. | “What’s the argument? That the BBC’s subtle, sophisticated leftwing message was so very subtle, so very sophisticated that it simply passed the British people by?” Harding told a Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference in London on Tuesday. |
| “I find equally implausible the Labour critique that the BBC is too rightwing. Let me be clear: the BBC is scrupulously impartial. Of course, we make mistakes. I’m not saying we’re perfect; but we are impartial.” | “I find equally implausible the Labour critique that the BBC is too rightwing. Let me be clear: the BBC is scrupulously impartial. Of course, we make mistakes. I’m not saying we’re perfect; but we are impartial.” |
| Harding, the former editor of the Times and a key lieutenant of BBC director general Tony Hall, said he “got it in the ear from politicians and their spokespeople from all political parties”. | |
| He added: “I’ve been asked whether politicians made the link between the BBC’s election coverage and the future funding of the BBC? Mostly, not. | |
| “But, along the way, there were people from all parties who made the connection between their dissatisfaction with the election coverage and the fact that the next government will set the licence fee and the terms of the royal charter. | |
| “Some did so explicitly. Nigel Farage, for example, said he was unhappy at Ukip’s treatment on the BBC and proposed cutting the licence fee by two thirds. Others left it hanging in the air.” | |
| “Labour was angry about the focus on the SNP, the Tories regularly questioned our running orders and editorial decisions, the Lib Dems felt they weren’t getting sufficient airtime, the Greens complained about being treated like a protest movement not a party,” he said. | |
| “Ukip railed against what they saw as an establishment shut-out, the DUP felt Northern Ireland parties were being treated as second-class citizens, the SNP questioned what they saw as metropolitan London bias at the BBC.” And he hit out at criticism that the BBC was “all in the grip of some public sector groupthink”. | “Ukip railed against what they saw as an establishment shut-out, the DUP felt Northern Ireland parties were being treated as second-class citizens, the SNP questioned what they saw as metropolitan London bias at the BBC.” And he hit out at criticism that the BBC was “all in the grip of some public sector groupthink”. |
| “How does that square with the fact that a Conservative prime minister, a Tory chancellor, a proudly pro-enterprise business secretary and a London mayor who is a cheerleader for the City all recruited their spokesman from the serried ranks of pinkoes at the BBC.” | “How does that square with the fact that a Conservative prime minister, a Tory chancellor, a proudly pro-enterprise business secretary and a London mayor who is a cheerleader for the City all recruited their spokesman from the serried ranks of pinkoes at the BBC.” |
| Harding said it was an “unhappy coincidence” that charter renewal, due before the end of 2016, and the level of the BBC’s future funding would be decided so soon after a general election. | Harding said it was an “unhappy coincidence” that charter renewal, due before the end of 2016, and the level of the BBC’s future funding would be decided so soon after a general election. |
| He suggested there might be a new measure to ensure the two mechanisms were kept apart in the future. | He suggested there might be a new measure to ensure the two mechanisms were kept apart in the future. |
| Harding said the media had spent too much time analysing election polls – which subsequently proved to be way off the mark – with too much “coalitionology” as a result and not enough discussion of policies. | Harding said the media had spent too much time analysing election polls – which subsequently proved to be way off the mark – with too much “coalitionology” as a result and not enough discussion of policies. |
| He also questioned whether the media “did enough to hold in check” the increasingly sophisticated political machines of each party. He said: “Sometimes, the result wasn’t news, but messaging.” | He also questioned whether the media “did enough to hold in check” the increasingly sophisticated political machines of each party. He said: “Sometimes, the result wasn’t news, but messaging.” |
| He described the negotiations over the TV debates as “fraught, to put it mildly”. He said “we should promptly agree a timetable for accepting the dates and formats of future debates”, including in the run-up to the EU referendum. | He described the negotiations over the TV debates as “fraught, to put it mildly”. He said “we should promptly agree a timetable for accepting the dates and formats of future debates”, including in the run-up to the EU referendum. |
| The “hell on wheels” comment was made to Harding by the BBC’s head of editorial policy David Jordan when the BBC News chief suggested before the election that it would be “fun”. | The “hell on wheels” comment was made to Harding by the BBC’s head of editorial policy David Jordan when the BBC News chief suggested before the election that it would be “fun”. |
| Harding said: “It turned out to be both.” | Harding said: “It turned out to be both.” |