BBC caught in crossfire of polarised political and media landscape

Around half of Britons have a positive opinion of the BBC, compared with 29 per cent who hold a negative view, according to a YouGov poll... While 31 per cent said it was too left-wing, 19 per cent said it was too right-wing.

- 

Accused of being biased by some, defended as a champion of impartiality by others, the BBC is once again the subject of a thorny debate about the role of a publicly funded broadcaster in an increasingly polarised landscape.

The BBC is regularly used as political football, with the organisation facing flak for how it chooses to cover issues from climate change to Brexit.

Now it is under greater scrutiny than ever before, following the revelation that a documentary it aired in 2024 misleadingly edited a speech by US President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump has issued an unprecedented threat to sue over the documentary, which was broadcast before the US presidential ballot and examined why US voters were prepared to reelect a convicted felon.

In the former constituency of ex-prime minister Boris Johnson, a vocal critic of the BBC, one pensioner questioned by AFP appeared torn between her attachment to the BBC and its struggles sometimes to fulfil its public service duty when it comes to the news.

“I don’t want to get rid of the BBC... but I think they have been biased on a lot of things,” said Ms Sandra Madden, a resident of Uxbridge, west London.

The octogenarian retiree said the editing of Mr Trump’s speech - which gave the impression he made a direct call for violence before his supporters attacked the Capitol in January 2021 - was “really the straw that broke the camel’s back”.