Is BBC Right or Left wing? It depends on your age...
Over-50s think it’s full of liberals, young believe opposite, says boss
OVER-50s think that the BBC is stuffed with Islington liberals while students believe it is part of the Right-wing establishment, the corporation’s chairman has admitted.
Sir David Clementi spoke about the age-related ‘bias’ accusations he claims are hampering the national broadcaster during an online event.
He said research revealed that about a quarter of the BBC audience thought it leant to the Left, while slightly less thought it leant to the Right.
‘But the interesting thing about it, is it is very age related,’ he said. ‘Once you get over 50 there are a significant number of people who are convinced that we all live in Islington... they’re convinced of it. But if you speak to a younger generation they occasionally think we are part of the establishment and we lean to the Right.
‘When I was up in Salford earlier this year giving a speech... after the speech six or seven young students came up to me to berate me on the BBC’s performance in the December election, which they said had been so heavily biased towards the Conservatives they couldn’t believe it.’
He told the virtual event, held by campaign group the Voice of the Listener & Viewer: ‘There is a very big age-related issue around the matter of impartiality. We take it seriously and getting letters from two people both arguing in different directions that we’ve failed doesn’t prove that we are right. But we work incredibly hard at it.’
Sir David, who is leaving his post in February, also admitted that the corporation ‘can do more’ to cover more upbeat news on its services, adding that there ‘never is a moment for a news bulletin of pure negativity’. There have been claims that during the Covid-19 crisis it has not done enough to try to lift people’s spirits in its news coverage. The BBC chairman warned that any moves to ‘diminish’ the broadcaster would be ‘an extraordinary act of self-harm’.
His comments come as the Government prepares to make major decisions about the BBC’s future including the next licence fee settlement and a decision on whether to decriminalise evasion of the licence fee.
Sir David said his successor as BBC chairman should be selected by an ‘open’ and ‘fair’ competition. He said it would be good if it was someone with a ‘genuine interest’ in content on radio and television.
Last month it was reported that Boris Johnson had offered the job to Charles Moore, ex-editor of The Daily Telegraph. Lord Moore has since ruled himself out. Among the names linked to it are former chancellor George Osborne, ex-culture secretary Baroness Morgan and former No 10 communications director Sir Robbie Gibb.