A review of the BBC’s coverage of the government’s financial policies has found that it is not biased towards any particular policy position, but there are things “that threaten impartiality”.
The report looked at the channel’s coverage of taxes, government spending, government bonds and debt.
Commissioned by the BBC board, this is the first review to result from a 10-point impartiality plan.
It said there was “a lot to applaud” but expressed concerns about some coverage.
There are weaknesses due to “gaps and assumptions” that “can lead to outcomes that appear to favor certain policy positions,” it said.
It added: “Oddly, these lean left and right. That makes a charge of systematic political bias in this area difficult to sustain.”
The review was led by Sir Andrew Dilnot and Michael Blastland, who created BBC Radio 4’s More or Less programme.
They reviewed 11,000 pieces of BBC online, TV, radio and social media posts from October 2021 to March 2022 and spoke to more than 100 people inside and outside the BBC.
They wrote: “We found no evidence of willful bias, but breaches of broad impartiality can still occur.
“For example… we believe that too many journalists lack an understanding of basic economics or are not confident in reporting it. This poses a high risk of impartiality. During the period of this review, this particularly affected debt.
“Some journalists seem to instinctively feel that debt is just bad, period, and don’t seem to realize that this can be challenged and challenged.”
Several such assumptions “appear to be lurking either unnoticed or uncorrected,” they added. “Others that outsiders observed in BBC coverage were: ‘More public spending is good’ and ‘Tax cuts are good’.”
The authors said the BBC’s coverage was “widespread” but they were “disturbed” by how many viewers, listeners and readers said they did not understand it.
“In our audience research, most didn’t comment on the impartiality of tax policies because they didn’t know what the stories meant.”
The document states: “While the risks to impartiality may appear political, we think they require a better explanation, namely that they are genuinely journalistic”.
But it said this is “no less serious and raises questions for the BBC and its journalists about what kind of journalism they want to do and how they should do it”.
The review’s authors added: “Much could at least apply equally to other British media outlets.”
They added that “significant interests and perspectives” in business could be better served and suggested how the BBC could improve editorial standards.
The review also briefly looked at health care in dramas as an example of non-news spending on taxes and spending, concluding, “The audience was relaxed about impartiality in dramas.”
A BBC statement on the review said: “The BBC must lead in terms of impartiality and ensuring that the needs of all audiences are met. As such, the Board has asked the BBC Board to address the challenges posed by the evolution of our public spending and tax outcomes.”
Part of the BBC’s impartiality plan includes regular content reviews, increased transparency and a new editorial whistleblowing policy.
When the impartiality plan was announced in October 2021, Director General Tim Davie said: “Our audiences deserve and expect programming and content that earns their trust every day and we must hold to the highest standards and believe in excellence in everything we do accountable.
“The changes we are announcing not only ensure that we learn the lessons of the past, but also protect these essential values for the future.”
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