CONCERNS have been raised over Nigel Farage being "thrust into living rooms" without scrutiny after a study revealed the BBC featured Reform UK in a quarter of News at Ten bulletins in six months.
Cardiff University research has found Reform UK featured in almost 50 bulletins between January and July this year while the LibDems, who have 18 times the number of MPs, only featured in 35.
The study also highlighted ITV News at Ten was giving Reform much more coverage than the LibDems, with Farage's party referenced in a fifth of bulletins compared with just over 6% for Ed Davey's party.
There are also concerns over the level of scrutiny Reform is facing. In just under a fifth of bulletins in the study, there was no analysis of Reform’s policies or claims.
Green MSP Gillian Mackay told The National she is concerned at the apparent imbalance in coverage ahead of the Holyrood election next May.
She said: "This is very concerning. Reform have been thrust into living rooms around the country by a media that has amplified them and helped to build them up every step of the way, often without the scrutiny they deserve.
“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.”
Earlier this week, BBC director-general Tim Davie told MPs the idea the BBC was giving one party more coverage than another was "for the birds", adding the corporation was not “trying to ingratiate” itself to Reform UK.
But the study raises questions about the differing coverage being given to other parties. On the occasions when stories included substantial LibDem claims, they received either high-level or some degree of scrutiny in half of them, according to the study.
The other half of the coverage did not question or challenge the party’s positions largely as a result of the limited airtime it received, the study said.
SNP MP Stephen Gethins said parties like the Greens had "every right" to feel aggrieved by the "outsized influence" of Reform.
He said: "For years Farage, and more recently, Reform have been receiving outsized coverage.
"This gave their policy platform, some of which in other European countries would be considered extreme, credibility.
"At the same time, parties that are bigger than Reform have struggled.
"I think parties like the Greens have every right to feel aggrieved by the outsized influence of Farage and Reform. This has not been inconsequential and we are all suffering from the impact of Reform’s policies, not least the increased cost of living due to Brexit or the increase in asylum seekers getting into dangerous small boats because we left the Dublin Regulation."
The Dublin Regulation is a mechanism by which European countries can return asylum seekers to other nations. Brexit took Britain out of the scheme and the SNP have argued this has led to the spike in asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats.
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, accused broadcasters of "fury-baiting" viewers with too much coverage of Reform UK.
"Farage only has to sneeze and the media far too often run endless discussions about 'was this the right time for this to happen?'," he said.
"I get it. He drives viewing figures. But we have to do better than fury baiting viewers with Reform's far-right extremism.
"People want an alternative the old broken politics and he is partly offering that. His solutions though, full of hate and division, will just make things worse.
"It's far past time that the media also centre other narratives and give them the same amount of coverage."
Professor Stephen Cushion, who led the study, said while there are no rules on reporting party leaders, the research had found Farage was being more prominently covered than Davey and he often leads the news agenda.
A spokesperson for ITV News said the weight it gave to parties should be seen across all of its output, not one programme.
“We strongly refute any suggestion that we do not scrutinise all political parties and their policies regardless of where they sit on the political spectrum,” they said.
The BBC has rejected any suggestion Reform are not being scrutinised, highlighting editorial guidelines requiring editors to take account of past and current electoral support.
