Representation clip

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01pvbp3/growing-up-poor-original-series-1-girls

The BBC also has to represent Britain and reflect how Britain actual is to the audience watching their programmes. The BBCs mission as quoted from the BBC webpage is “To enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain”. This means the BBCs mission is to tell facts but also entertain audiences which means they must represent Britain truthfully and honestly due to the BBC potentially having an international audience also so that it does not offend viewers who are watching. An example that I analysed from the BBC is a programme called ‘Growing up poor’ which follows the lives of teenagers who are trying to survive on £10 a week and struggling with their daily lives. The BBC represents Britain honestly and seriously as it shows a balanced debate and impartiality to the situations the people have to deal with, the programme shows how people have to deal with poverty and how they ended up this way which doesn’t show the BBC being subjective but objective due to them only showing the facts and never being opinionated. Overall from analysing this programme I believe the BBC are honest in their representation of Britain and tell the facts of what is happening.

Objectivity clip

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04t63y7/newsnight-26112014

The BBC also has to be objective when telling factual news and stories due to the BBC being required to be impartial and only deliver the facts to the audience without the opinions of the reporters/people working at the BBC if this were to happen then the BBC would not be impartial and objective but would be subjective. Objectivity is when reporters tell the news that is happening but only base their conclusion on facts rather than their own opinions. A quote to support this is Steven Maras (2013) “Objectivity is the reporting of reality, of facts, as nearly as they can be obtained without the injection of prejudice and personal opinion”. This quote shows that objectivity is reporting on facts and reality without reporters being subjective (Bringing in their own personal opinions) and coming to a conclusion based on facts and not opinions. An example from the BBC which shows objectivity is a programme called ‘Newsnight’, Newsnight is a current affairs programme which reports on news which is happening in the UK. From what I can see from analysing this programme is that the beginning of the programme the reporter says a point but then follows up with some factual information and uses evidence to report what is happening, this happens throughout the show. During the show we hear a voiceover and several different interviews which are always objective and impartial towards the subject, I also saw that when the interviewees answered the questions being asked by the reporter, the reporter never voiced his opinion he only talked about the factual information when coming to a conclusion. From watching Newsnight I believe that the BBC when reporting are objective as they always use facts and evidence to create their conclusion.

impartiality clip

The BBC Is required to ensure all subject matters are treated with due impartial due to it being an international public broadcaster which means the public pay for it through TV licences. This means the BBC has to be impartial because they must treat various different views and opposing viewpoints equally and not be biased towards one viewpoint so that it does not offend the audience watching it. A quote to support this Eric Barendt (2002, pp 108) states “In contrast, Television and radio are required by law to be impartial in their treatment of political and industrial controversies”. This quote shows that subject matters concerning political and industrial controversies should be dealt with due impartiality when it is being discussed on television and on the radio as it is the law. An example from the BBC is a programme called ‘Question Time’ which I analysed to see how the BBC are impartial. This topical debate show deals with issues and debates which the members of the public pose questions for guests which are on both sides of the panel. The Question Time I analysed dealt with Nick Griffin from the BNP who debated with the people who oppose his political ideology and questions from members of the public. The host David Dimbleby is impartial due to him giving both sides of the debate the opportunity to voice their opinions without giving his opinion or siding with one side of the debate which would mean he is not being impartial if he sided with one side of the debate, David Dimbleby is also impartial throughout until the end which shows that the quote “Trust is the foundation of the BBC: We are independent, impartial and honest” is true when  it comes down to the BBC being impartial due to hosts on the BBC such as David Dimbleby being impartial.