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.
People trust TV journalists and want them to scrutinise government coronavirus policy
Generally, it has been claimed the public want health information not adversarial journalism at a time of national crisis. However, our study with almost 200 participants during the pandemic showed news journalists are trusted – particularly those working for broadcasters. Moreover, we found they wanted more – not less – critical coverage of the government’s response to the pandemic.