On news, Any Questions and Today, BBCR4 has allowed the views of hard brexiteers to be spoken unchallenged. For months they spoke about WTO rules being perfect for our needs, seldom with any challenge from interviewers.
The same voices are heard over and over again: Farage, Lawson, Tim Martin, Dyson. Their continued appearances make people think that many people share their views, which is just not true.
R4 is doing little to educate and inform. On Today this morning, for example, the emphasis is on light weight articles about coming to terms with brexit, with little focus on the huge challenges in negotiations before then.
John Humphrys frequently talks about Parliament’s decision (they haven’t made one), the overwhelming decision to leave (52%), and never engages with then tough issues such as continuity of trade agreements.
Opinion polls have shown consistently over months that over half the country think that brexit is a bad decision, but on R4 those with pro-EU views are sidelined, represented by minorities on panels, heckled by interviewers.
There has been little or no coverage of the pro-EU marches, in which tens of thousands of people have participated on multiple occasions. R4 commentators confine themselves to talking to MPs and spokesmen, don’t take notice of grass roots.
The investigations into Cambridge Analytica machinations represent, if proved, the greatest threat to our democracy in recent years, and the lack of coverage on R4 is shocking. Cricket cheating has received more attention.
When was the last time R4 did any challenging, penetrating investigation? Certainly hasn’t happened with brexit. Look at Faisal Islam’s brexit coverage, or Channel 4, and cry. News is not just about collecting sound bites from your usual go-to politicians.
When was the last time the BBC news web site broke a story? It’s usually hours behind in its brexit coverage, even when it does eventually report something.
