The BBC\u2019s director general has insisted the corporation is not \u201ctrying to ingratiate\u201d itself to Reform UK, as he defended its increased coverage of Nigel Farage\u2019s party.<\/p>\n
Confronted with examples of the BBC\u2019s reporting on Reform, which has led the political agenda over the summer<\/a>, Tim Davie told MPs the broadcaster was having to adapt to the fact that \u201cthe landscape politically has changed fundamentally\u201d.<\/p>\n While Reform only has four MPs, he said there was an \u201cactive discussion\u201d over the level of coverage given to Reform and smaller parties. He pointed to the significant fall in the collective poll share for Labour and the Conservatives, as well as Reform\u2019s strong showing at this year\u2019s local elections.<\/p>\n \u201cOur only objective is to deliver fair and impartial coverage, and we\u2019re always listening when people think we\u2019re not delivering that and the balances are wrong,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have got a challenge in terms of a new landscape. The two parties were 80%, now they\u2019re 60%. Meanwhile, it is appropriate we look at the latest election results, polling and Reform.<\/p>\n \u201cI think [Reform\u2019s vote] was an estimated national share of about 30% \u2013 they got the councils, they got the mayoral contests. I think we\u2019re trying to get the balance right. I think it is difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Appearing before MPs on the culture, media and sport select committee, Davie was confronted with a list of the BBC\u2019s recent coverage of Reform. It included a clip of a Farage interview on a boat talking about immigration on the BBC<\/a> Six O\u2019Clock News, which had been taken from GB News, the rightwing news channel.<\/p>\n \u201cI take the point on prominence and just the balance,\u201d said Davie. \u201cBut again, I want to be blunt as well: some of the reporting that we\u2019re trying to ingratiate ourselves to one party or lean one way or the other is, frankly, for the birds. What we\u2019re trying to do is negotiate a new landscape, fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n He said some critics of the BBC simply wanted the corporation not to \u201cgive voice to someone I don\u2019t agree with\u201d \u2013 a demand he said he would resist.<\/p>\n Samir Shah said while Reform only had four MPs, it also received 4 million votes at the last general election. The chair of the BBC said: \u201cWe need to make sure that we are adequately reflecting Reform voters in our coverage \u2013 their views and their attitudes as much as everybody else\u2019s is important.\u201d<\/p>\n In a wide-ranging session, Davie was also confronted over an error made in a Gaza documentary about children on the strip. The BBC was found to have breached the corporation\u2019s editorial guidelines for accuracy by failing to disclose its child narrator was the son of a Hamas official<\/a>.<\/p>\n He also stood by a decision not to broadcast another documentary about medics in Gaza, saying he had concerns about the perceived impartiality of the programme and wanted a BBC journalist to narrate it. Channel 4 eventually broadcast the programme in full.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n