A survey into the BBC’s coverage of asylum and immigration issues during the period of September 1 – December 15, 2004, was based on the monitoring of seven programmes – On Radio 4, the Today programme, World at One, PM, the Six O’Clock News and the World Tonight, on BBC1, the Ten O’Clock News and BBC2, Newsnight.
Survey of the Today Programme, Winter 2004
On Monday 11 October 2004, Minotaur Media tracking began a ten-week investigation into the Today programme’s coverage of European Union news and current affairs. Minotaur sought to establish whether the BBC’s charter requirements of broad impartiality and fairness were met by the Today programme in its coverage of European affairs, and whether sufficient space was given over to the discussion …
European Election Survey – June 2004
This report assesses whether coverage of UKIP by the BBC Radio 4 programme Today – the corporation’s flagship news programme – in the build-up and immediate aftermath of the elections to the European parliament on June 10, 2004, was fair, impartial and accurate. The election was a remarkable result for UKIP. Although opinions vary about whether or not support will …
Paper for the Centre for Policy Studies – ‘Blair’s EU Turn’
On Tuesday 20 April 2004, Tony Blair formally announced his decision to hold a referendum on whether to accept the proposed EU Constitution. This announcement had been expected since Thursday 15 April. It was a major change of direction of Government policy. In the light of well-publicised concerns over its coverage of the EU, the BBC now had an opportunity, …
Paper for the Centre for Policy Studies – ‘An Outbreak of Narcolepsy?’
A paper for the Centre for Policy Studies examining the limitations of the BBC’s EU coverage, arguging that reporting is insufficient to cover the development of the EU and Britain’s relationship to it, and how this may have impacted on voter turnout in the 2004 European Parliamentary Election.
Full year monitoring of Radio 4’s Today Programme September 2002 to August 2003
On Monday 2nd of September 2002, News-watch began a year-long investigation into the Today programme’s coverage of European Union issues. Over the next-twelve months every edition of the programme was monitored in its entirety, amounting to 313 individual programmes and a total of 818 hours of broadcast output. This project was the most detailed and comprehensive uninterrupted study of BBC …
Coverage of the June 2002 European Council Meeting in Seville
This study considered the coverage of EU-related items on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme over three weeks before the EU leaders’ summits in 2000 (Feira, Portugal, June 2- June 22) and 2002 (Seville, June 4- 24). The aim was to examine whether the coverage met the important BBC Charter obligation of being wide-ranging.
The Launch of Euro Notes and Coins, 1-8 January, 2002
An examination of the treatment of the issue of the introduction of euro notes and coins in Europe on the main BBC national news and current affairs programmes, based on the full transcripts of the relevant broadcasts.
General Election Survey – 14 May to 7 June 2001
A survey based on the comprehensive monitoring and transcribing of more than 250 programme items during the period of the 2001 general election The analysis is divided into several key areas: first the coverage of Andrew Marr, the most high-profile BBC political editor in the BBC’s history, and Jeremy Paxman, its most important television interviewer, responsible for conducting the biggest …
BBC ‘Europe and Us’ week, 18 February to 23 February 2001
News-watch, then known as Minotaur Media Tracking, investigated a strand of BBC programmes across radio and television channels in February 2001, entitled ‘Europe and Us’, which attempted to explore the UK’s relationship with the EU across a range of programme genres, from ‘reality television’ to documentary, studio debate, phone-ins, children’s programmes and bespoke web content. Included in the survey were …