On the air since 1979, the BBC’s venerable Question Time is an important part of Britain’s political life, including during election campaigns. Millions are likely to tune in to the leaders’ special on June 20. The leaders of the country’s four largest political parties by number of MPs (Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the SNP) will be quizzed by a studio audience.
At Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture, we are conducting ongoing analysis of how guests have been chosen for the programme over the last decade. Our findings so far – published here for the first time – reveal that while the Question Time producers have broadly balanced the main political parties, they have frequently relied upon a small number of rightwing guests to provoke entertaining debates.
Like most public service broadcasters worldwide, the BBC believes that impartiality is a core tenet of its approach to covering political debate. Coverage should be unbiased, balanced and objective, with no favouritism towards any side. This is monitored by the UK’s media regulator, Ofcom, who can levy fines or even end a broadcaster’s licence if impartiality rules are repeatedly flouted.
