DURING the build up to the coronation, eyes have naturally turned to the BBC, well known and – perhaps at one time – well respected for its wall-to-wall coverage of royal events.
But increasingly in recent years, the public service broadcaster has come under scrutiny for its seemingly biased approach to the monarchy in failing to platform sceptics and those with republican views.
The situation has gotten so bad that last month campaign group Republic wrote to the BBC’s director of editorial and policy standards about a perceived lack of impartiality on the royal family, as polling showed as little as 15% of British people were enthusiastic about the coronation.
So in the build-up to the big day, there has been great intrigue as to how the BBC has approached its coverage. Have anti-monarchy voices been platformed? How well has the corporation painted a picture of how the UK really feels?
The week did not start out well, as Republic pointed out, it had counted 145 stories on the coronation on the BBC News website but not a single one platformed a republican or ambivalent voice. With a lot of trivia and explainers, it seemed as if the BBC was trying desperately to bring people on board and make them knowledgeable about the occasion when many simply couldn’t care less.
As the week went on, anti-monarchy voices did start to appear in pockets. Journalist and republican Ash Sarkar made an appearance on Newsnight and said the royal family were a “cartel of some very weird people”.
On BBC Breakfast, the likes of Keir Starmer and Ed Davey were asked about whether the coronation was appropriate during the cost of living crisis.
‘Whatever way you slice it, the monarchy is neither a fair nor representative institution’ Journalist Ash Sarkar says she believes the royal family have revealed themselves to be a ‘cartel of some very weird people’https://t.co/P0zxS1DNGF pic.twitter.com/3onmEh5lMf
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 2, 2023
There were also stories giving a voice to those who have to work during the coronation, and one interviewing a handful of people who would not be watching the ceremony, some of whom said they didn’t agree with the monarchy and felt it is a waste of public money.
At this point you may begin to think the BBC has turned a corner, even more so when an article appeared on the website on Wednesday entitled “five tips on how to avoid the coronation of King Charles III”.
But staunch republicans were probably pretty disappointed when they read that story, as there was no mention of any protests. Alternative coronation parties where people can express their displeasure, yes, but not active demonstrations.
It’s almost as if the BBC settled for platforming anti-monarchy views, but when it came to highlighting ways in which you could express those feelings in a meaningful way, or really pushing on those big questions of whether the royal family is relevant anymore, whether it works for people, whether it’s time to move on, it may still have fallen short.
The question in everyone’s minds is, were those voices given brief spotlight simply as a token gesture? Was it just to tick a box so that it could say it had been balanced?
Poll after poll has suggested, particularly in Scotland, most people are losing their patience with the monarchy and time will tell if the BBC comes to understand it cannot perform a public service and fawn over the monarchy at the same time.
