The BBC and its coverage of the battle of Orgreave

The battle of Orgreave, South Yorkshire, during the 1984-85 miners’ strike. ‘What I remember, and what I discussed with my students, was that the early evening BBC news coverage was filmed from behind police lines,’ writes Michael Weller. Photograph: Photofusion/Rex

I was teaching English and media studies in South Yorkshire at the time of the battle of Orgreave (Opinion, 22 July). Whether the BBC reversed footage or not may be questioned. What I distinctly remember, and what I discussed with my students, was that the early evening BBC news coverage was filmed from behind the police lines. The later ITV News was filmed from behind the miners’ lines and gave a very different view of the police charging undefended miners. By the time of the late-evening news the BBC had changed its perspective. Ironic is it not that the Tory government at that time backed the BBC?
Michael Weller
Selmeston, East Sussex