Do you think the BBC’s monopoly on news coverage should be challenged?
Should an organisation which is unable to report clearly, fairly and impartially on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land enjoy a monopoly on the following scale:
- BBC News reaches 81% of the UK every week across all platforms (ie tv, radio, online)
- Overall BBC TV accounts for 73% of tv news consumption
- The BBC News website is used by more than 20 million UK browsers each week
(Source: BBC Media Centre 16/4/13)
If you think the BBC should be subject to a plurality review examining the dominance over the news sector of different media organisations, please take part in the government’s public consultation exercise.
You have until Tuesday 22nd October 2013 to make your views known to the government.
How to take part
Please go to page 22, Section four, of the consultation paper, which deals with the BBC.
In this section, participants to the consultation are asked: “Do you agree that the BBC’s impact on plurality should be assessed as part of a plurality review?”
You can respond to this question by sending an email to [email protected]:
For a postal address, please see p16 of the consultation document.
Observations
Section Four of the consultation notes the views of the media regulator, Ofcom:
“Ofcom’s advice to the Secretary of State noted that while the BBC adopts different approaches across its news programmes and services as it seeks to serve all demographic groups, this does not guarantee that any individual is subject to a sufficient diversity of viewpoints.”
This is particularly true of the BBC’s coverage of the occupation. In its news and current affairs programmes, such as Radio 4’s Today, through to its online content, the BBC reports mostly from an Israeli perspective and primarily features Israeli spokespeople and government ministers. The Palestinian voice is often never heard.
So what we have is a broadcaster with a near monopoly on news in the UK, and which fails to provide a diverse range of views and perspectives on the situation in Palestine and Israel, but focuses primarily on the Israeli perspective.
Should such an organisation enjoy the monopoly it does, or should it be included in the government’s plurality review, which may lead to a break up of its news dominance?
More information on the BBC’s unbalanced reporting from Palestine and Israel: The BBC’s subjective view of Israel’s occupation should concern us all
News stories about the consultation
Power of the BBC could be curbed, Government suggests (Telegraph)
BBC could be curbed under government plans to rein in dominance of media giants (Daily Mail)
Government plans to include BBC in media plurality consultation (Guardian)