Latest research
Our latest piece of research has recently been published in Journalism Studies; “Does the political context shape how “due impartiality” is interpreted? An analysis of BBC reporting of the 2019 UK and 2020 US election campaigns.” The research shows inconsistencies with how impartiality seems to be employed within the BBC, and in many instances a continued reliance on balance and “he-said-she-said” reporting, rather than true impartiality.
You can read the full paper here. To watch an animation highlighting some of the main findings of the paper, click on the video to the right. We worked with Learning on Screen to produce the video.
Coronavirus: Public confused and suspicious over government’s death toll information
Our research with just under 200 participants drawn from a representative mix of the UK population found that most people were far more aware of the UK’s high COVID-19 death rate when compared to other nations than they were in April. But, crucially, many people did not realise the UK was the worst-hit country in the world, according to the excess death rate figure. Overall, we found widespread public confusion and mistrust in how the death rate was reported.