THE BBC TRUST IMPARTIALITY REPORT: BBC NETWORK NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS COVERAGE OF THE FOUR UK NATIONS Including an independent assessment by Professor Anthony King and research from Cardiff University and BMRB JUNE 2008 2 CONTENTS 1 BBC Trust Conclusions 4 including BBC Management’s initial response 2 Independent assessment by Professor Anthony King 13 The following appendices are available as separate PDFs on the Trust website Appendix A: Cardiff University research Appendix B: BMRB research Appendix C: BBC Management's submission to the review Appendix D: A list of individuals and organisations who made written submissions to the review Appendix E: A list of individuals and groups with whom meetings were held as part of the review Appendix F: Terms of Reference for the review 3 BBC TRUST CONCLUSIONS Summary Devolution of power from Westminster to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the last ten years represents a major change in the governance of the United Kingdom. For the BBC, as for all broadcasters, it inevitably adds to the complexity of network news and current affairs coverage of the four nations. The BBC has a particular responsibility to serve the whole UK, not least because it draws the same licence fee from citizens wherever they live. From a variety of sources, however, concerns were expressed to the BBC Trust that the BBC was not covering the different policies of the nations in a way that enabled audiences to understand fully what was happening in different parts of the UK. The Trust accordingly commissioned an independent assessment from Professor Anthony King, with research from Cardiff University and the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB), to assist it in reaching a view on the accuracy and impartiality of the BBC’s network news and current affairs coverage of the four nations. This work is now complete. Among its important findings, it indicates a clear desire on the part of audiences to learn about all parts of the UK. It also indicates that the BBC’s coverage is generally seen as fair and impartial. But the analysis also points out shortcomings in the BBC’s coverage of the whole UK. It suggests that the BBC is missing opportunities to reflect more consistently the reality of devolution, and that it needs to go further in reporting the changing UK with the range that audiences are entitled to expect. It also sets out concerns about the precision and clarity of reporting. Audiences across the UK need to be confident that the BBC understands and accurately reflects policy debates and decisions in each of the four nations of the UK. We are encouraged that the BBC Management is committed to getting this right. We have asked Management for a clear final action plan by the summer, and shall track vigorously their progress in achieving it. Context The BBC Trust represents licence fee payers in its oversight of the BBC. It listens to their opinions and expectations and uses them to inform its own decisions. It expects Management to deliver public value within the Public Purposes established by the Charter through bringing distinctive services of the highest quality to audiences across the UK. It also expects the BBC’s journalism to meet the highest standards of accuracy and impartiality in order to underpin the BBC’s independence and to sustain public trust. 4 In keeping with a practice established by the BBC Governors, the BBC Trust assesses the impartiality of BBC output through independently-led reviews, underpinned by research as appropriate, in order to provide information to the Trust in holding the Executive to account for the impartiality of its services. Devolution of power from Westminster to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland represents transformational change within the United Kingdom. Following elections in May 2007, each of these nations had political parties in power or sharing power which advocated independence. For everyone and for all opinions this represented a significant development a decade on from the start of devolution. Meanwhile, the Trust was hearing concerns from audiences that the BBC was not covering the different policies of the nations in a way that enabled them to understand fully what was happening in different parts of the United Kingdom. This was emerging in a variety of ways: • through comments from the BBC Audience Councils, which are made up of licence fee payers who advise the BBC Trust on how well the BBC is delivering its Public Purposes and serving licence fee payers in different parts of the UK; • through extensive Purpose Remits research carried out for the Trust in 2007 which identified relevant performance gaps – that is the difference between the importance that the audience places on provision and the extent to which it perceives it is being fulfilled by the BBC. In this area, two gaps were identified in relation to the two Public Purposes Representing the UK, its nations regions and communities, and Sustaining citizenship and civil society in the Charter: ¾ in relation to the first, audiences in the different UK nations believed that the BBC could do better in catering for their own communities, and in representing their area to other parts of the UK. The Trust said at the time that "the priority to represent the different nations, regions and communities to the rest of the UK is one where licence fee payers across the UK see room for improvement"; ¾ in relation to the second, one of the priorities is helping audiences to understand how the UK is governed. Research showed that in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales audiences believed the BBC could do better in helping them understand how their nation was politically governed. The Trust noted that there was a clear interest amongst audiences in the nations for news provision which reflects the changing realities in the United Kingdom as devolution unfolds; and • through direct comments to Trustees from the audience at public meetings and through radio phone-ins. 5 Accordingly, the Trust commissioned Professor Anthony King to offer his assessment as to whether the BBC’s network news and current affairs output was impartial, accurate and clear as to which facts and views applied to the individual nations and to consider if the nations’ policies were properly reflected and explained. The project has also been supported and evidenced by two substantial items of research commissioned by the Trust: content analysis by Cardiff University and audience research by the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB). The reports of both research projects are published as appendices A and B to Professor King’s report. Findings Professor King’s report and the accompanying research analysis address serious questions for the BBC. Does its news and current affairs output meet the high editorial standards expected of the BBC, and does it meet the Public Purposes which require the BBC to sustain citizenship and civil society and to represent the nations of the UK? As a backdrop to these questions, Professor King’s report illustrates the significant ways in which the UK has changed in recent years, economically, socially, culturally and institutionally. Such developments inevitably make the reporting of public policy in the UK more complex, and pose challenges and opportunities to BBC network news and current affairs. Professor King acknowledges that BBC Management is fully aware of the issues posed by this large-scale and constant change. The BBC Management’s submission to the review can be found at appendix C of Professor King’s report. Among the research findings from Cardiff University and BMRB, indications are that the vast majority of people are interested in what is happening elsewhere in the UK and want to learn more. The BBC’s performance in reporting the whole UK is seen as consistently superior to that of other broadcasters. Audiences who consume the BBC’s output appear to approve of what they listen to and watch, with nearly 70 per cent considering that the BBC accurately and fairly represents their nations and communities to the rest of the UK. Those who watch or listen most frequently to BBC news and current affairs programmes are consistently among the best informed. Professor King’s review finds little or no evidence that BBC network coverage in this area falls short on grounds of impartiality. On the contrary, the BBC has received praise for the impartiality of its coverage of politics and policy in all four nations of the UK. Notwithstanding examples of good practice, however, and supported by findings from the Cardiff research, the review highlights concern that BBC network news and current affairs programmes taken as a whole are not reporting the changing UK with the range and precision that might reasonably be expected given the high standards the BBC itself aspires to. There are specific concerns as to accuracy and clarity of reporting, the 6 balance of coverage, and missed opportunities of drawing on the rich variety of the UK and communicating it to multiple audiences. As examples, political coverage is seen as unduly focused on Westminster in volume and style; there is seen to be a general bias in favour of stories about England or telling stories from an England perspective; and there is evidence that several stories in the nations which may have been significant to the UK were not taken up by the network. Overall, Professor King concludes that the BBC has not responded adequately and appropriately to the UK’s changing political, social, economic and cultural architecture. In the closing sections of his report, he offers a range of suggestions and issues for consideration in resolving the concerns he has highlighted. Trust Conclusions The Trust appreciates the substantial work undertaken by Professor King, Cardiff University and BMRB.