On the other hand most of their drama output is liberal left and anti-American, from the good (Burn Up, Occupation) to the drivel (Bone Kickers, Spooks: Code 9).

And Diane Abbott doesn’t need Neil and Portillo to gang up one her, she’s just sits their giggling and gurning like an idiot. Give her a show of her own and even more people would vote Tory.

@1 Anti-americanism is not the preserve solely of the Left. Conservatives have much to say in that regard. If the caricature of the ‘Left’ position on the United States is that America is evil, then the caricature of the patrician Right view is that America is stupid. If we’re going to start claiming that every example of anti-Americanism is a form of pro-Left bias, then several tabloids frequently exhibit it. Alongside their casual racism. I think, therefore, that it’s important to distinguish between what is genuinely Left or Right, i.e. of a consistent ideological bent, and what is mostly a very crudely populist attempt to reflect values which television writers think their audiences have.

As for being liberal-left, I don’t know where such an accusation comes from. The liberal bit is fine – I expect even the Conservative Party would regard themselves as coming under the umbrella of ‘Liberalism’ the ideology – but left-wing? Don’t see many people arguing for wealth redistribution and stronger welfare nets these days. Plenty of New Labourites arguing exactly the opposite. Plus Melanie Phillips’ regular appearances on Radio 4 more than balance out whatever Diane Abbott says.

If it has a conservative bias, then it isn’t fulfilling its public service remit, and you won’t have any problem abolishing the license fee in that case and letting it swim or die on its own as an independent company?

I think the right just can’t get over the fact that the BBC has to be impartial. The BBC can be viewed as a liberal and secular station and that’s just reflecting a nation which we are. Its not the BBCs job to change the politics of the UK.

I don’t see the left being anti-American either. I can see the left being anti at aspects of American society as it does have its dark side with race and what we are witnessing at the moment with disgruntled Republican but as a whole the majority of people there are decent, thoughtful and entertaining. I guess also the constitution of the USA is something more left wing than the set up which we have over here in the UK.

Andrew Marr: “the BBC is not impartial or neutral. it’s a publicly funded, urban organisation with an abnormally large number of young people, ethnic minorities and gay people. it has a liberal bias not so much a party-political bias. it is better expressed as a cultural liberal bias.”

It’s pretty clear from Burn Up, etc that the Americans are portrayed as evil rather than stupid. The Last Enemy, State of Play, The State Within, even Doctor Who, Torchwood and Robin Hood all address matters of government from a left-leaning perspective.

The Street, Casualty, Holby and EastEnders all adopt a left of centre attitude to social issues.

Sunny’s main charge is that the BBC broadcast Neil’s Hayek speach four years ago (gee, a Hayek lecture in favour of privatisation – who saw that coming?) and he’s currently hosting a midnight show nobody watches and a daytime one even students can’t be bothered getting up for.

Sunny has railed against the BBC before. You and the New Statesman have timed this attack well, Sunny. James Murdoch has lashed out. Maybe you should team up and have it the BBC privatised.

Shatterface – just a few dramas you can think of (and I don’t know how they’re anti-American anyway) does not a general policy make.

Richard – Andrew Marr’s comment is already dealt with in the article. It’s typical liberal-left guilt rubbish.

Sunny’s main charge is that the BBC broadcast Neil’s Hayek speach four years ago

Not my main charge. There are in fact plenty of charges made quite well in that article. Deal with all of them.

Nick – yes I’m not happy with its conservative bias. But I’d rather it acknowledge that first.

“Shatterface – just a few dramas you can think of (and I don’t know how they’re anti-American anyway) does not a general policy make.”

In that case, how does a few figures and incidents a general policy make? I mean, I see your Jeff Randal and raise you Paul Mason.

I agree that the Beeb’s not anti-war or Anti-American – and, indeed, that it holds a bias towards (largely Western) power – but that doesn’t necessitate Conservatism.

I agree that the Beeb’s not anti-war or Anti-American – and, indeed, that it holds a bias towards (largely Western) power – but that doesn’t necessitate Conservatism.

The BBC is pro-establishment, it is pro-business (heavily) and it gets most of its stories from the right-wing press like the Daily Mail (if you look at the running order of news).

Countering that are bigger points. Which is why I always respond to lame quotes by Richard Marr with other examples to point out that isn’t enough as an argument.

‘Shatterface – just a few dramas you can think of (and I don’t know how they’re anti-American anyway) does not a general policy make.’

Well, if you don’t know how Burn Up, The State Within, Occupation, etc. aren’t anti-American you are beyond help.

Do you actually watch TV? Seriously?

Maybe you should provide a list of conservative dramatist which balance out Jimmy McGovern, Paul Abbott, Howard Brenton, Simon Beufoy, Stephen Bowker, Russell T Davies, etc. in terms of creative freedom and resources they are given?

Shatterface @ 13

“Maybe you should provide a list of conservative dramatist which balance out Jimmy McGovern, Paul Abbott, Howard Brenton, Simon Beufoy, Stephen Bowker, Russell T Davies, etc. in terms of creative freedom and resources they are given?”

Ah, but wait a minute, to say that most successful dramatists are ‘left wing’ is not the same thing as suggesting that the ‘BBC is left wing’. You cannot blame the BBC for the quaility of ‘Right wing playrights’ anymore than you can blame the BBC for the shortage of good Right Wing stand up, can you? They can only hire the people who are writting, can’t they?

The demise of the ‘working man’s clubs’ and the rise of the comedy club has meant that comedy has moved to the Left, so it stands to reason that the BBC’s Comedy output has move somewhat vaguely to the left as well. The comedy landscape has changed, for better or worse, and so has the politics.

If the ‘great white hope’ of Right Wing comedy is still doing his ‘Chalky’ voice for comedic effect and poor old Bernard went to his grave convinced the term ‘nig nog’ was still funny that is not the BBC’s fault, is it?

Sunny, I like and respect both you and your work, but I think you’re wrong here. The BBC has gone through many phases, from the faintly, but benevolently patrician in the early days to being the only genuinely balanced news and media service in the country during the Thatcher years, which made it appear left-wing in comparison to the hard-right dogma that continues to plague the majority of our commercial press (which looks likely to spread into television if the independent broadcasters were to merge with a commercial print firm).

It’s not that Auntie has a conservative bias, what you’re describing is a consequence of Blairism moving the political centre of the UK to the right – and this has been done with the influence of the aforementioned hard-right commercial press this country has. What would have been considered genuine left-liberalism 30 years ago is completely off the political compass now, and the BBC reflects that.

bluepillnation – thanks, but let me clarify my position. I’m in favour of putting pressure on the bbc when it reflects right-wing dogma but not left-wing ideals. I say this because if the only pressure comes from the right, then the BBC will move right-ward.

Also, the point of the article linked above and all the rest is to show how the BBC also has a deep strain of conservatism and many of its presenters/journalists are from that strain. So when right-wingers say it’s a liberal-left institution, all they’re doing is whining and tactically trying to force the BBC to move right-ward. We have to resist that.

On the political centre – I’m on the centre left broadly. I think the country is roughly where I am (though on issues around immigration it may not be). People want less interference from corporations and they’re happy to pay taxes for centrally funded services like the BBC and NHS (providing they offer value for money). They are socially liberal (more so than the US) though liable to the odd outburst of anger at the unemployed.

It’s the libertarians who are completely out of touch. It’s the Tories who had to move left-wards in order to detoxify their brand. I’m not that pessimistic about where I stand…

Say it ain’t so…

What planet are you on? The BBC has a huge left-wing bias but this is evidenced by omission and mis-balance over time rather than a bias within any one news item or programme. There is rarely any mention of the huge cost of the welfare state or public sector (a point of huge public interest) whilst there is often huge coverage of individual stories of poverty or inequality (also of huge public interest). The BBC is not Labour biased, it is left-wing biased.

A planet based on evidence as seen above in the post?

Rufus @ 17

What planet are YOU on? Are you seriously suggesting that you have never seen a programme highlighting the cost of the Welfare State? Or you have never heard it discussed? I have seen and heard the BBC tackle that repeatedly.

I do not think there is any mileage in accusing the BBC of Right Wing bias when clearly no such bias exists. I admit that I see things that I dislike, but that is not evidence of bias, in my view.

What we should be doing is challenging those who accuse the BBC of ‘Left Wing’ bias and tackle them on the issues they bring up.

The Right are trying to mould the BBC into a sort of ‘Fox/Daily Mail’ clone, but I think it a mistake by attempting to counter that by dragging the BBC onto the Left. We need to make sure the BBC remains as objective as possible. It is the BBC ‘s objectivity the Right Whingers dislikes the BBC’s objectivity, not the so-called bias. That objectivity makes them look bad.

Mr Hasan seems unfamiliar with the concept of the exception that proves the rule!

How so?