Think Tanks, Television News and Impartiality

摘要

Is the use of think tanks ideologically balanced in BBC news and current affairsudprogramming? This study empirically answers this question by establishing which thinkudtanks are referenced in different BBC programming in 2009 and 2015, and thenudclassifying them according to their ideological aims (either left, right, centrist or notpartisan).udWe draw on a sample size of over 30,000 BBC news and current affairsudprogrammes in 2009 and 2015 to measure how often these think tanks were mentionedudor quoted.udOverall, BBC news reveals a clear preference for non-partisan or centrist thinkudtanks. However, when Labour were in power in 2009, left and right-leaning think tanksudreceived similar levels of coverage, but in 2015, when the Conservatives were inudgovernment, right-leaning think tanks outnumbered left-leaning think tanks by aroundudtwo to one.. Overall, our findings add weight to a pattern emerging from a number ofudrecent academic studies that show, despite its undoubted commitment to impartiality,udBBC news programming has shifted its centre of gravity to the right. We argue thatudbroadcasters need to be more independently aware of how stories emerge, and howudissues and sources should be balanced and explained in an increasingly partisan newsudenvironment.