THERE has long been concern over how much the BBC has been focusing on Reform UK and Nigel Farage, but over the last week the spotlight on the issue has intensified.
First it was the LibDems launching a petition to Balance the BBC amid “wall-to-wall coverage” of Reform. The party has written to Ofcom to demand new requirements for fair political coverage on the public service broadcaster.
That pressure from the LibDems was turned up when BBC director-general Tim Davie was questioned by MP Liz Jarvis about issues such as why the broadcaster opted to use a GB News clip of Farage being interviewed on a boat in the Channel.
Then the academics arrived to back up politicians’ arguments, as a study from Cardiff University confirmed that between January and July this year, Reform appeared in a quarter of News at Ten bulletins on the BBC .
Coverage of Reform also appears to have been prominent at ITV, with Farage’s party appearing in a fifth of bulletins over the six-month period.
Not only that, it was found that in a fifth of bulletins in the study, there was no scrutiny of the party’s policies or claims.
This is a party that has just four MPs and it is a sign the BBC is allowing polling data to drive its news agenda over the actual political make-up of the current Parliament.
Maybe this would be understandable if we were closing in on a General Election, but we are just one year into a new UK Government and years away from going to the polls (supposedly anyway…).
When I asked Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay about the Cardiff study, she expressed real concerns about the BBC’s coverage, especially given there is a Holyrood election next year which Reform are expected to take seats in .
She said: “There is nothing wrong with analysing Reform’s ridiculous claims and dangerous policies or the damage that they would do if they got into a position of power. That's vitally important, but it's certainly not what’s coming through in these figures.
“With the Holyrood election only months away, media coverage must be reflective of the support levels and electoral track record of parties, with proper scrutiny of everyone who is standing.”
There will have to be some coverage of Reform in the build-up to the Scottish election – we can’t deny the polls that are in front of us.
But in a Parliament that prides itself on diversity, cooperation and proportional representation, MSPs will surely be fearful of this discrepancy with Reform coverage.
The SNP and Labour will all be very aware of this new force they are going to have to fight off, but the media could end up making their job 10 times harder if a hyper-focus on Reform continues. The Scottish Greens should feel especially wary of this tilt in coverage, given how little attention the Greens in England and Wales have received despite having the same number of MPs as Reform.
Now that the LibDems have drawn attention to the issue, we would hope to see more parties in Scotland calling out the mainstream media pandering to the far-right.
The media has a huge role to play in protecting democracy and ensuring dangerous rhetoric is not thrust into living rooms with no rebuttal but, in navigating a political landscape that is changing at a rate of knots, bosses may need to be reminded of this.
