I feel like the BBC's "aura" of impartiality makes it all the more dangerous when it does occasionally engage in propaganda. A lot of regular folks put a lot of trust in the BBC.

[–] towerful@programming.dev 40 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yup.
Similar to the "equal airtime" or "show both sides" when it comes to science.
It puts unscientific opinions alongside scientific theory as if they are equal.

The only thing I can say in favour of the BBC is that it seems like the majority of people feel it's coverage is favourable to "the other side".
So, while we may be saying "BBC is clearly biased" because of things like this, I guarantee there are people that we don't agree with saying exactly the same about other topics.
So the situation is probably not as bad as it seems.

It does seem the majority of these "scandals" are about the BBC acting in favour of the Westminster UK government. But maybe that just the ones I actually see.

[–] darq@kbin.social 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm a little hesitant to put much stock in conservatives' claims of bias, because plain factual reporting tends to strike a lot of them as biased. Reality is biased against modern conservatism.

I don't think the BBC is the worst by any means. But a couple of years ago, they did come out with one of the most egregiously misleading articles I've ever seen with regards to transgender people. Very obviously deliberate in its misinformation and even including proven lies about contacting sources. And to this day the BBC stands by it and has dismissed complaints.

So yeah, worth being wary.

[–] towerful@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago

Very good points.
I just wanted to temper the discussion a bit, and just check that I wasn't getting too carried away, echo-chambered or whatever.
Having done that, I still agree with you. I don't think the BBC is impartial or unbiased.