LISTEN: BBC Breakfast editor, Richard Frediani and former Sun reporter, Graham Dudman on bias in UK media

The year 2020 has been one to remember for all the wrong reasons, and we’re only in June. The year was kickstarted with the aftermath of the general elections and then Brexit, followed by concerns over the mysterious and deadly virus spreading in China which eventually travelled and causes destruction globally. Countries across the world bare the heavy burden of thousands of deceased daughters, sons, mothers and fathers; members of their community lost to the Coronavirus and now, the United Kingdom falls face first into an oncoming recession. For weeks now, Protesters have filled the streets in the Black Lives Matter, civil rights movement. The absolute tragic death of George Floyd on the 25^th of May 2020 has amplified what was already a justified thunderous anger and outcry for change toward the "systematic racism" in our society.

On the 2^nd of June, the Black out Tuesday movement took place, following the killing of Floyd which received some backlash.

Activists first filled squares and streets with 'Black Lives Matter' banners all over the United States and it wasn’t long before the United Kingdom got involved. Billy Perrigo wrote in Time: "'The U.K. is not innocent' went a regular chant aimed at those who have said in recent days that racism in the U.S. is a uniquely bad phenomenon."

The Guardian published statements from protesters on the 12th June, Chantelle West, 32 from London said: "I’m standing in solidarity with black people across the world. As a black race we’ve continually been subjugated to oppression and systemic racism and we are not taught our own history."

Protestors are mostly peaceful, some are doing their best to follow the social distancing rules laid out by Government and hand out necessary PPE. Some groups took advantage of the opportunity to begin looting and rioting. Furthermore, scientists are concerned the mass grouping at the protests will serve to spread the Coronavirus. Oh, and there is a new prime suspect for the kidnapping of Madeleine Mccann thirteen years ago. These are strange and difficult times and our news outlets are always out there, competing to report on the goings on.

Our news comes to us in many forms now a days, we have the traditional, or mainstream media, the independent media and social media. We are bombarded with information spewed from each and every direction.

Publications in England and Wales are held to account by the Editor's Code of Practice through IPSO or Impress which enforces that all reporting must be fair and accurate. Additionally, news broadcasters are regulated by Ofcom which dictate that these platforms be impartial.

We have free speech; we have a free press and we have a system of regulating the media to ensure it adheres to the Editor’s Code of Practice. However, of course, there are also critics who claim otherwise. Open Democracy published an article last year, listing five reasons why the UK does not have a free and independent press. The author, Ed Jones writes: “The billionaires that own the press set the agenda”. Jones explains how who owns the media shapes which stories are covered and their angle. The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Metro, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday, The Times and Sunday Times are all owned by the infamous Rupert Murdoch. A decade ago, the BBC published: “Media ownership has long been an area of political controversy - particularly when it involves Rupert Murdoch. The idea of one man or company controlling a large proportion of the nation's newspaper and broadcasting interests is an issue of public concern - particularly when that person takes a close interest in the political agenda of his newspapers and one of them claims to influence general elections,” – and yet in ten years nothing has changed.

Jones also mentions censorships in the media; the demographic of UK journalists being dominated by “privately educated white men”; neutral sources used for political use and the influence of the intelligence services, all participating in devaluing our free and independent press.

Guardian columnist Owen Jones wrote in 2017, that the UK media is a “highly large and sophisticated aggressive form of political campaigning and lobbying.

"It uses its extensive muscle to defend our current economic order which, after all, directly benefits the rich moguls who own almost the entire British press. Whether it’s the Sun, the Telegraph, the Time, the Daily Mail or the Daily Express, that means promoting the partisan interests of the Conservative party.”

The BBC received various different allegations of bias during the last general election. Peter Osbourne wrote in the Guardian: "The written press have always tended to support Conservatives. In this election, though, they have an unusual ally – the BBC. The British Broadcasting Corporation is bound by rigorous rules of impartiality that do not apply to newspapers – one reason the organisation has often been unjustly accused by those very same newspapers of being biased towards the left. In the 2019 general election, however, the BBC has been behaving in a way that favours the Tories."

Even now, accusations of the BBC "giving up on impartiality" in the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement have been raised. The Daily Mail published:"If ever our national broadcaster were needed to give a balanced account of these remarkable events, this was the moment." Claiming that the the "illegal acts" of the protestors, are being "ignored or seemingly condoned" by the BBC and that the news provider has "assumed that all the grievances of protesters were well-founded."

Click below to listen to Richard Frediani, editor of BBC Breakfast on allegations of bias and Graham Dudman, current director at News Associates, school of Journalism in London and prior Sun reporter on our free press.

We have bias in our press. As Graham Dudman explains, “That’s just how newspapers role in a free press, where they’re allowed to be biased one way or another.”

Ultimately reporters play a vital role in keeping the public informed on the goings on in the world and we choose to consume our news from various platforms in accordance to our preferences. 

Critically, journalists have the power to hold people to account: politicians, members of the royal family, businesses, the list goes. And our right to free speech opens the door for a journalist to scrutinise the reporting of another journalist, of course. 

A key point Richard Frediani makes, in regards to broadcasting is that a reporters duty is to challenge politicians on what they say, this does not mean they agree or don’t agree with what is being put forward, nor does it dictate the political stance of that journalist. They are simply doing they job as broadcasters, to be fair, balanced and impartial. Richard also adds that this isn't to say there aren't times where you need to challenge or disrupt.