BBC had "massive bias to left:" director general (2008 article)

[The Lawspeaker]

BBC had "massive bias to left:" director general

The director general of the BBC admitted Thursday that his organisation had been guilty of a "massive bias to the left" but said "a completely different generation" of journalists now works at the broadcaster. Mark Thompson told the right-of-centre Spectator magazine that there was an institutional bias when he joined the organisation, reinforcing the findings of a 2007 internal report which concluded that greater efforts were required to avoid liberal bias.

"In the BBC I joined 30 years ago, there was, in much of current affairs, in terms of people's personal politics, which were quite vocal, a massive bias to the left," Thompson said.

"The organisation did struggle then with impartiality. And journalistically, staff were quite mystified by the early years of Thatcher."Now it is a completely different generation. There is much less overt tribalism among the young journalists who work for the BBC," he added.

The 2007 report criticised the organisation?s slow response to the rise of Euroscepticism and immigration concerns, which it said were considered "'off limits? in terms of a liberal-minded comfort zone."

Outlining his hopes for the relationship between the national broadcaster and thenew Conservative-led coalition government, Thompson said: "What we want is an effective and businesslike relationship with government -- it's not about personal relations."

[Austin]

I read the BBC but I must say it is extremely left even still in everything it covers which I think is a sad indication of the UK media considering it is supposed to be a conduit of all views due to public funding, but it covers everything so I like it nonetheless but I take it knowing it is leftist in nature.

[The Ripper]

I read the BBC but I must say it is extremely left even still in everything it covers which I think is a sad indication of the UK media considering it is supposed to be a conduit of all views due to public funding, but it covers everything so I like it nonetheless but I take it knowing it is leftist in nature.

Don't they teach you proper punctuation in Texas? Reading never-ending sentences hurts my brain.

And of course the BBC is biased like hell, its owned by the state.

[Grumpy Cat]

Biased, but still better than the Zionist biased right-wing outlets like Fox and Globemedia.


The public is totally getting played by them...

LOL

[Murphy]

LOL@peoplewhobelievethemediacaneverbeunbiased!

[heathen_son]

I read this in the Daily Mail (guilty pleasure). Who exactly is this news to?

[Liffrea]

Old news:

2005:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-BBC-News.html

2007:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle1942948.ece

[San Galgano]

I have seen some reports of BBC over Italy and its immigration issue by asians, africans and gipsies scandalous and offensives toward Italy and italians sometimes. Sometimes they pictured Italy as a dictatorial country of S.America, where there is any freedom and where Berlusconi is like Amadhinejad. On the opposite once they pictured gipsies(in the time i have seen the report, a drunk gipsy had killed 4 young italian people) as poor people who never create problems.

Fortunately there is still someone with a bit of brain admitting that they are biased.

[Crossbow]

I have seen some reports of BBC over Italy and its immigration issue by asians, africans and gipsies scandalous and offensives toward Italy and italians sometimes. Sometimes they pictured Italy as a dictatorial country of S.America, where there is any freedom and where Berlusconi is like Amadhinejad. On the opposite once they pictured gipsies(in the time i have seen the report, a drunk gipsy had killed 4 young italian people) as poor people who never create problems.

Fortunately there is still someone with a bit of brain admitting that they are biased.

And I can add this to your story, certainly you have heard about that in the Italian media, two years ago.

[Osweo]

Is anybody considering demanding a PAYBACK through the courts for all the money that has been coerced out of us during this period in which the BBC has signally failed to conform to its side of the (forced monopoly) of the 'contract' by which all TV owners are made to buy a 'TV License'?