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BBC inundated with complaints as public confidence in state broadcaster plummets

Sunday, 11 July 2021 3:25 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 11 July 2021 3:27 PM ]

The BBC is engulfed by an intensifying public confidence crisis

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) received an unprecedented number of complaints last year as public confidence in the state broadcaster’s supposed impartiality continues to plummet.

The state broadcaster received 462,255 complaints in the year 2020 to 2021 which according to the BBC’s own annual report is an increase of 93,878 on the previous year.

Some of the more serious complaints against the BBC revolve around its perceived bias in reporting and analyzing news.

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The one item that attracted most complaints was top presenter Emily Maitlis’ monologue on BBC Newsnight in May 2020 about Boris Johnson’s former senior advisor, Dominic Cummings.

Maitlis’ rant attracted a staggering 23,647 complaints, prompting the broadcasting regulator Ofcom to warn the state broadcaster that hosts must not “inadvertently give the impression of setting out personal opinions.”

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Despite the gravity of the situation, BBC bosses appear more intent on damage limitation than addressing the causal roots of the problem, which is the widespread public perception that its journalists and hosts are biased.

In trying to contain growing public discontent the Chair of the BBC's Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee, Ian Hargreaves, issued the following statement: “The volume of complaints to the BBC remains a concern. This financial year has seen another sharp increase in the number of complaints received”.

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“The committee has explored the reasons behind this increase in volume year-on-year and asked the executive to review the operational handling of complaints”, Hargreaves added.

The dramatic drop in public confidence in the BBC’s impartiality (or lack thereof) dovetails with growing calls for either the abolition or failing that the substantial modification of the annual license fee which keeps the state broadcaster financially afloat.