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This survey examines the Today programme‟s coverage of EU news and current affairs for a thirteen-week interval between Monday 20 September and Saturday 18 December 2010. Newswatch monitored and analysed each edition of the programme in its entirety. All news items were timed and logged, and all those of relevance to the European Union or its relationship with the UK were transcribed in full.

This survey examines the BBC’s coverage of EU news and  current affairs during the period of the 2010 UK General Election campaign. Newswatch monitored every edition of nine selected BBC radio and television programmes between Monday 29 March and Friday 7 May, an interval of 40 days. This amounted to 278 hours of programming in total.

Newswatch carried out a thirteen-week investigation into Today’s coverage of European Union news and current affairs between 14 September and 12 December 2009. Each edition of the programme was recorded, logged and archived in its entirety, and every item of relevance to the European Union was fully transcribed.

On Monday 27 April 2009, Newswatch began a 44-day investigation into the BBC’s coverage of European Union news and current affairs. The survey focused on the period approaching the Elections to the European Parliament held on Thursday June 4, and continued until Tuesday June 9, two days after the announcement of the results.   Ten BBC news and current affairs programmes were monitored during this period, five from Radio 4, and five from BBC Television. In total, this amounted to 289 hours of news broadcasts.

On Monday 31 March 2008, Newswatch UK began a twelve-week investigation into Today’s coverage of European Union news and current affairs.  The monitoring interval included the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty on 12 June and the EU’s biannual European Council meeting on 19-20 June. Other significant EU issues to arise during the twelve week period included controversy surrounding MEP’s expenses, the re-emergence of a call for an EU-wide army, and the rise in the value of the euro against the pound.

On Monday 31 March 2008, Newswatch UK began a twelve-week investigation into Today’s coverage of European Union news and current affairs. Each edition of the programme was recorded, logged and archived in its entirety, and every item of relevance to the European Union or its relationship to the United Kingdom was fully transcribed.

The monitoring interval included the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty on 12 June and the EU’s biannual European Council meeting on 19-20 June. Other significant EU issues to arise during the twelve week period included controversy surrounding MEP’s expenses, the re-emergence of a call for an EU-wide army, and the rise in the value of the euro against the pound.

In November 2007, the BBC Trust published an Independent Editorial Adviser’s report into an appeal to the Editorial Standards Committee by Lord Pearson of Rannoch.[1] Lord Pearson’s initial complaint had been based on the findings of a previous Newswatch survey[2] undertaken in Autumn-Winter 2006, and the IEA report marked the first significant attempt by the BBC to engage with Newswatch’s methodology and survey data on anything more than a superficial level.  This survey addresses the findings of the IEA report, and also presents a fourteen-week survey of the Today programme, beginning on Monday 10 September 2007.

[1] Independent Editorial Advisers Considerations Regarding the Appeal to the Editoiral (sic) Standards Committee Concerning the Today Programme’s Coverage of Europe, From September to December 2006. BBC Trust.

[2] This survey was published under Newswatch’s previous name, Minotaur Media Tracking.

On Monday 19 March 2007, News-watch began a fourteen-week investigation into the BBC’s coverage of European Union news and current affairs. Each edition of the Today programme was recorded, logged and archived, and every item of relevance to the European Union and its relationship to the United Kingdom was transcribed in full.

BBC Radio 4’s Today programme was monitored for fourteen weeks leading up to the EU’s heads of government summit in December 2006. In total, 84 consecutive editions of the programme were tracked, logged and analysed.

On Monday 27 February 2006, Minotaur Media Tracking began a sixteen-week investigation into the Today programme’s coverage of European Union news and current affairs.