THE author of a book which was the subject of a “pro-SNP bias” complaint upheld by the BBC has responded by saying that "somehow saying anything positive about Scotland is seen as bias".
Professor Devi Sridhar’s book Preventable: How a Pandemic Changed the World & How to Prevent the Next One was serialised on BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week in the lead-up to the Scottish local council elections.
A complaint that the broadcast was "politically partial" towards the elections with a pro-SNP bias was upheld by the BBC.
Responding to news the complaint had been upheld on Twitter, Sridhar said: “So… I advised Scotland and UK Cabinet Office and Kerala and US Govt and the book is about the entire (globe) and has a section with a long chapter about UK on Scotland.
So…I advised Scotland and UK Cabinet Office and Kerala and US Govt and the book is about the entire 🌍 and has a section within a long chapter about UK on Scotland. One person complained bc somehow saying anything positive about Scotland (lovely lochs!) is seen as ‘bias’. https://t.co/xQU0NuFuNp
— Prof. Devi Sridhar (@devisridhar) November 25, 2022
“One person complained bc somehow saying anything positive about Scotland (lovely lochs!) is seen as ‘bias’.”
One segment of the broadcast discussed the effect Dominic Cummings’s trip to Barnard Castle had on public health.
The report on the complaint explained that the impression of favouring one party over another could have been established “in the context of a campaign in which an invitation to compare Nicola Sturgeon with Boris Johnson was a prominent part of the SNP’s strategy”.
It concluded: "To that extent, it fell short of the BBC's standards of impartiality."
