Tuesday 10 April 2018

Why did the BBC ignore English Greens in election forcast?


 Perhaps we are in Wales in Scotland if we are not hard-line supporters of the Unionist parties, the May council elections  in England will pass us by.

But we need to watch it because it will indicate how the media is responding and whether the bias that exists will continue.

If I was still living in Camden. I would probably vote Green or judge the candidates irrespective of Party.

So  i was interested  i a report that on Left Foot Forward that  a BBC News article published Yesterday  morning on May’s local elections failed to make any mention of the Green Party, despite the Greens contesting over 2,200 seats. 
They say,

The BBC article entitled ‘What to look out for in May’s local elections’ failed to mention that the Green Party are contesting over half of all the seats available.
The article, which was set out as a guide to potential voters, included subheadings such as ‘what are the key battlegrounds?’, ‘how do i register to vote?’ and ‘what about the other parties’, but failed to discuss the Greens’ prospects.
And the omission was even more apparent given that the article discussed UKIP – contesting around 500 seats – and even the BNP – contesting just a handful – in some depth.
Deputy Leader of the Green Party Amelia Womack told Left Foot Forward:
“Time after time the Green Party is shut out by the media while parties like UKIP are given a voice. The truth is that while UKIP are falling apart, the Green Party is thriving.
“With The Green Party standing four times the number of candidates as UKIP in May’s elections, it’s time the media caught up to that story.
“It’s important mainstream media include Greens in the debate so stories about air pollution, climate change, housing and communities continue to be brought to national attention.”
And the BBC told us in a statement:
“We have covered The Green Party and its campaign launch for the English local elections in other national news stories across our output.
“The BBC is obliged to treat all political parties registered with the Electoral Commission and operating within the law with due impartiality.
“We take into consideration any party’s past and current electoral support, which is reflected in the amount of coverage they receive.”

 and they did saying in part
The Green Party has urged an end to "one-party-state councils" as it launches its campaign for next month's English local elections.
Co-leader Jonathan Bartley called for "a Green on every council", saying this could "change everything".
He predicted the Greens would be celebrating "some massive wins" when the results are revealed.
The party is looking to recover from last year's disappointing general election showing.
Voters go to the polls across England on 3 May for local elections with seats on about 150 councils up for grabs
But the  BBC covered other party election launches as well. Labour, for instance.

But it it is likely that the Beeb will do their very best to exclude  a party that already has more councillors than Ukip a party tand despite having no MPs has a regular spot on the "flagship" program Question Time, which seems at time to be packed with an audience full of Kippers.

It's almost as if they were using some form of analytical data to invite them.


Since giving us that statement the BBC has amended , the webpage to read
 
The Green Party says it is contesting 2,200 seats this time, more than half of the total. These include defending seats in Norwich and Solihull, where it is the official opposition party.

Which looks like they have accepted they were at fault in not covering the party in the first place. 


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