Final BBC analysis! :)

The British Broadcasting Company, or BBC is an interesting organization that had a unique perspective on the 2008 United States presidential election. Unlike many of the other news media outlets, the BBC seemed fair and balanced, almost to the point of laziness. In a country where news is told, then analyzed then used as premise to make predictions, having news told without the extra fluff seemed unnatural. To understand exactly the way in which the BBC provides unbiased news, one must understand the history of the corporation, its perspective on the United States and our government, and how that influences the issues the reporters cover.

History of the BBC

The BBC was started with four men in 1922 reading bulletins nightly, so as to not deter the sale of newspapers (BBC, 2008). It has since gained a broader audience and vehicles for communication as the largest news broadcasting company in the world (Sambrook, 2008). Understanding that currently not only the British go to them for news, they have adopted a broader worldview. Their news now must be newsworthy for the world, or presented in a manner that allows audiences to get the news that is most salient to them. Deputy Director of News, Mark Damazer (2008), says, “There is no one universal news agenda that applies to all. That is why we broadcast in many different styles and why a story given prominence in the UK may not even be mentioned by our international channels.”

Organizations that have a worldwide audience must have strong moral and guiding principles. However, one learns that values differ throughout the world. For example, Americans value choice and freedom; Australians also value the same but in a different way. For example, Australians must vote, and it is considered rude to ask to have your hamburger without tomato. In America, of course, it is your choice whether or not you vote, and it is the American way to have your burger ‘any way you want.’ The BBC recognizes this, and has worked to satisfy the needs and wants of those and many other cultures throughout the globe.

The BBC has a mission, vision and then list of values that guide the organization. The mission of the BBC is a simple one: to enrich people’s lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain (BBC, 2008). Further, their vision is “to be the most creative organization in the world” (BBC, 2008). Finally, their values are listed below:

· Trust is the foundation of the BBC: we are independent, impartial and honest.

· Audiences are at the heart of everything we do.

· We take pride in delivering quality and value for money.

· Creativity is the lifeblood of our organization.

· We respect each other and celebrate our diversity so that everyone can give their best.

· We are one BBC: great things happen when we work together.

In America, when people talk about watching the news, most assume that they are watching CNN, FOX, or MSNBC. All three are owned by bigger companies or corporations with vested interests and usually an apparent skewed perspective. For example, FOX is owned by News Corporation, CEO Rupert Murdoch who gives generously to the Republican party and issues owned by that party. Not only are these three owned by bigger companies, but are all based out of the United States.

The BBC, the largest broadcast news operation in the world, is connected to BBC News and BBC Worldwide, both governed by the BBC Trust (Sambrook, 2008). The BBC news u umbrella encompasses BBC News 24, BBC Parliament, BBC World, interactive services, Ceefax and the BBC News Online (Sambrook, 2008). An article by the director the BBC News, Richard Sambrook, insists that the BBC is often the first place that the people in the UK and around the world come to find impartial news (2008). Some statistics he used to back up this claim came from an ICM, a British research company, poll saying that 93% of the United Kingdom population turned to BBC television, radio, text or online during the first two weeks of the war in Iraq. The survey also showed that in the first week of the conflict, BBC News 24 was seen by 70% of the population—40 million people.

In 2006, the BBC was granted a royal charter that has allowed them money from the government. However, in the agreement between the BBC and government, it was clear that the BBC would retain all editorial control over all media sources. This allowed them to stay true to the first value of being impartial, independent and honest. To drive the point home, and emphasize the idea of nonpartisanship and dedication from the BBC, let the chairman serve as an example. The Chairman of the BBC Trust is Sir Michael Lyons. He had been a very active and revered politician in Britain on behalf of the Labour Party for over 20 years (Conlan & Holmwood, 2007). The Labour party is equivalent to the American Democratic Party (Conlan & Holmwood, 2007). However, upon his appointment to chairman, he resigned from the party, and went on to give speeches and interviews promoting the necessity of a ‘spin-free’ broadcasting company (Conlan & Holmwood, 2007). In an article from the Guardian.co.uk, Lyons is quoted saying, “A BBC that is not independent is, frankly, not worth having. It certainly would not be able to meet the demanding public purposes laid out in the new charter, nor would it long continue to enjoy the public's affection and trust,” (Conlan T. , 2007).

This dedication was apparent in the news stories leading up the election. It was sometimes as if the reporters would wait for the fact sheets to roll in from the candidates and then write a story with varying opinions and little analysis.

Perspective

Five years ago, the BBC and ten other national broadcasters from around the world held a poll that asked the people of the world what they thought of the United States of America. It is important to remember that at this time, America had drug the entire world into essentially a 9/11 witch hunt in two Middle Eastern countries. The results were not very favorable to America in many aspects.

For example, the results, all presented in graph form showed the only Americans had a favorable perception of how we deal with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict (BBC, 2003). In another question, many nations thought that America was more dangerous than North Korea, Iran, Syria and many other hostile nations (BBC, 2003). The final question asked how much safer they were with America’s military.

While many might think that this unfavorable perception of the United States might influence the way that the BBC writes and covers the Presidential Election, this is not true. Stereotypically, America is both envied and hated across the globe. Some insist that ‘Globalization’ and “Americanization” are one in the same, meaning that America’s culture and influence the rest of the world (Owolabi, 2001). This makes it easy for the BBC to be unbiased.

Sticking with their second value, “Audiences are the heart of everything that we do,” the BBC would have to be unbiased. With news like BBC America on one hand, and then news going to Jordan, they have to report the facts; and only the facts. Because people’s perceptions are so different across the globe, and the audiences that the BBC reaches, it does not make sense to shape the news in a certain way or to have a set agenda of news.

Agenda, as defined by McCombs (2005), is “defined abstractly by a set of objects.” This, occurring especially within biased media sources like MSNBC and FOX News, is often defined by ownership of issues. For example, Republicans ‘own’ crime, national security, and foreign policy, while Democrats champion health care, social welfare issues, and income and job security (Petrocik, 1996). Again, since the BBC has a variety of different publics to keep in mind, and also given that those involved with Trust, the governing branch have removed themselves from positions of political influence, it is not surprising that they cover a large variety of issues in nonpartisan ways.

Reports show…

Tracking the BBC for over 10 weeks, then later analyzing the content, it is clear that the newsworthiness of some things differed from other US sites, but was less ‘spun.’ Many times the stories had a much broader perspective. For example, when the economic bailout became big news within the election, the BBC ran stories with comments and insight from the McCain campaign, as well as the Obama. When McCain decided to suspend his campaign, rather than praising him, as Fox probably did, or criticizing him, as MSNBC probably did, they stated the facts. The article headlined, “US rivals in economic crisis talk,” read, “Mr McCain has suspended his campaign over the crisis, but Mr Obama says voters should hear from the candidates. The two men are scheduled to attend a meeting with the president and congressional leaders at 1600 local time,” (BBC News, 2008).

Throughout the weeks, checking at least three times per week (Tuesday, Friday and Sunday), the BBC reportedly had 22 neutrally framed stories based on issues, meaning that they were not supportive or unsupportive of either the McCain or Obama. They also had 28 neutrally framed stories about the character of either candidates. This means that they might say that McCain is a maverick, but Obama is a progressive thinker. Rather than taking ownership and calling either of them anything, however, the BBC had this way of finding someone else to call them that. For instance, they might say, “McCain, the self proclaimed ‘maverick’” or “Obama, who Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, calls the most progressive member of the Senate…”

The BBC has stayed true to their mission, vision and values during this election. They stated the facts, without the ‘spin’ that many see in American news. It appears that in a country of biased news, one may have to rely on the British to hear the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Bibliography

BBC. (2008, November 24). About the BBC. Retrieved November 24, 2008, from BBC Home:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/purpose/

BBC News. (2008, September 25). US rivals in economy crisis talks . Retrieved November 24,

2008, from BBC News: America:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7634810.stm

BBC. (2003, June). What the world thinks of America. Retrieved November 24, 2008, from BBC

News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/programmes/wtwta/poll/html/default.stm

Conlan, T. (2007, November 29). Lyons vows to keep BBC Trust 'spin free'. Retrieved November

24, 2008, from Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/29/bbc.television2

Conlan, T., & Holmwood, L. (2007, April 12). Lyons resigns from Labour party. Retrieved

November 24, 2008, from Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/apr/12/bbc.politicsandthemedia

Damazer, M. (2008). Editorial policy. Retrieved November 24, 2008, from About BBC news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/aboutbbcnews/hi/editorial_policy/newsid_3247000/3247578.stm

McCombs, M. (2005). A look at Agenda setting: Past, present and future . Journalism Studies , 6

(4), 543-557.

Owolabi, K. A. (2001). Globalization, Americanization and Western imperialism. Journal of

Social Development in African , 16 (2), 71-92.

Petrocik, J. (1996). Issue ownership in presidential elections with a 1980 case study. American

journal of political science , 40 (3), 825-850.

Sambrook, R. (2008). About BBC News. Retrieved November 24, 2008, from bbc.co.uk:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/aboutbbcnews/hi/this_is_bbc_news/default.stm