Comment on A pattern of negative posts about the BBC
thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 2 weeks ago
I came back to provide you the longer list of academic studies I mentioned in the earlier reply (there’s about 3 or dozen without counting them), however having skimmed through this thread I don’t think there’s any point.
If you actually want to to understand (I’m fairly confident from your comments you actually were seeking validation not understanding) then you need to first read up on what the different biases are
- Partisan balance — are parties/campaigns given proportionate airtime and equivalent challenge?
- Source and ideological range — whose voices are treated as authoritative (think tanks, economists, business, unions)?
- Framing — what is treated as the natural or common-sense way to describe an issue (e.g. the deficit as a household budget)?
- Institutional political economy — how governance, charter renewal, funding and recruitment shape output over decades.
Then look up how those biases evidence themselves - others have referenced things like “Israelis are murdered but Palestinians are killed” (diminishes the impact of the same act) , a missile from Hamas is a “terrorist attack on settlers” but a missile from the IDF is “retaliation for attacks” (one is valid one is not) etc etc.
Or for economic takes person A on a panel will be introduced as “economist A Jones” (unmentioned they are employed think tank funded by billionaires to push their interests) and the other person will be “spokeperson for left wing think tank” (unmentioned that they’re an academic, with more academic prizes than they have letters in their name). Credibility deliberately watered down.
Or even just the most egregious blatant one - Reform on every BBC panel known to man despite 5 seats (and none before the 2024 election when he was even more ubiquitous) and the Lib Dems with 65 rarely getting a look in, let alone SNP who have more seats and the Greens who have similar. Yes there was a brief moment where tearing Starmer down meant Polanski got a few appearances (still not proportional to Reform), but have you noticed that’s disappeared as the Greens voters are currently warily positive about Burnham so it doesn’t undermine Labour to have him on.
Etc etc. It goes on constantly. It’s blatant, so blatant I have dozens of academic papers on it and yet you’re on here saying you only “engage with comments I deem worth engaging with” - cool but don’t bitch when everyone tells you your self perception of being reasonable and attempting to understand is utter self serving bullshit.
TL;DR you don’t perceive bias at the BBC because either a) their bias aligns with your world view so it is not noticeable and/or b) you don’t understand the sub
JohnSmith@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Thank you for taking the time to share thoughtful and informative perspectives. It is rather different from compared to many other commenters.
I’m not sure at what point I was bitching, but OK. Quite why you felt the need to hurl insults my way at the end of your post is a mystery, but not unexpected here.
thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 2 weeks ago
Given there is literally no ad hominem in my post, some introspection about what you perceive to be an insult may be helpful about why you got the reactions you did.
FWIW my post is not at all different to the rest of the posters, so that difference is in your perception, not mine, and by the upvotes/downvotes, I’m fairly confident my read is in line with the rest of the group
JohnSmith@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Very good. Have a nice weekend.