Stephen Cushion

Great summary of our Caerphilly by election media study 👇

BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands The Prescott memo contained no research questions or objectives, method, sample, time frame or, crucially, analytical framework for examining output.

A new article by @stephencushion.bsky.social for @theconversation.com highlights while the BBC is no stranger to accusations of bias, the Prescott memo is far from the rigorous assessment many assumed it to be.

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#journalism #journalismstudies #BBC #mediareporting

BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands The Prescott memo contained no research questions or objectives, method, sample, time frame or, crucially, analytical framework for examining output.

The roof is falling in at the BBC on the back of the Prescott investigation, but the report itself is badly flawed. Good piece here by @stephencushion.bsky.social.
theconversation.com/bbc-bias-the...

BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands The Prescott memo contained no research questions or objectives, method, sample, time frame or, crucially, analytical framework for examining output.

The Prescott memo which sparked chaos at the BBC was in no sense a rigorous, systematic or scientific document. All it did was cherrypick a few examples of alleged bias, as well as a couple of mistakes. So why isn’t the memo being put under greater scrutiny, asks @stephencushion.bsky.social?

BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands The Prescott memo contained no research questions or objectives, method, sample, time frame or, crucially, analytical framework for examining output.

BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands
theconversation.com/bbc-bias-the...

BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands The Prescott memo contained no research questions or objectives, method, sample, time frame or, crucially, analytical framework for examining output.

theconversation.com/bbc-bias-the...
Claims of bias against the BBC in the recent furore rest on the ‘Prescott Report’. Apart from the wrongful editing of Trump on Panorama for which the BBC has apologised the claims do not meet normal research standards, as this expert refutation shows.

BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands The Prescott memo contained no research questions or objectives, method, sample, time frame or, crucially, analytical framework for examining output.

And as @stephencushion.bsky.social has written ‘The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands’

‘Not for the faint-hearted’: is running the BBC an impossible job? After Tim Davie’s resignation, the next director general will face internal strife, external noise and looming talks over the corporation’s existence and purpose

NEW: What on earth happened at the BBC this week?

And why would anyone want to replace Tim Davie?

The behind the scenes concerns about this week’s impact on the BBC’s future:

www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...

Our new @cujournmedcul.bsky.social analysis of the Prescott Memo - the research informing was not impartial. We need more rigorous and robust research 👇

“Broadly speaking, we have not found evidence of any systemic [ #BBC] #bias as alleged in the #Prescott memo. Nor have we alleged flagrant breaches of broadcast #impartiality.
We have, however, identified blind spots where more context, background and explanation would help audiences…”

Excellent article from @stephencushion.bsky.social interrogating the quality of evidence in the Prescott memo and whether it proves its claims of systematic bias in the BBC.

Ultimately, it is a rallying cry for robust, transparent and clearly evidenced research into the impartiality.

BBC News - Newswatch, 15/11/2025 Your views on the coverage of events by BBC News.

Talking about the BBC News crisis to @markurban.bsky.social & former dep chief exec of BBC News Richard Ayre for latest BBC Newswatch. From midnight Fri on link or BBC1 Sat 745am www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

For more thorough and rigorous research into the impartiality of news, do follow our @cujournmedcul.bsky.social project with @mattwalshjourno.bsky.social @perkinskeighley.bsky.social @maxwellmodell.bsky.social and myself for our latest studies. Thread Ends: www.enhancingimpartiality.com/blog

The Prescott memo that sparked the BBC’s current crisis has not been transparent or robust in design or approach. Ultimately, the analysis itself falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands. 7/8

While the memo is not a peer-reviewed research paper, to allege “systemic issues” you need to adopt a more systematic approach to analysing news output across a broad range of issues. 6/8

Leaving aside its narrow focus, , there were no research questions or objectives, method, sample, time frame or, crucially, analytical framework for examining output. When the BBC has published its thematic reviews of news these details have been included 5/8: www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/...

The Prescott memo flunks the impartiality test | The Observer

As David Aaronovitch has pointed out, the memo did not include “a single word … about the BBC’s political, business, education, health, royalty, home affairs, climate change or crime coverage, or even Ukraine” 4/8: observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

The memo included occasional references to studies (not publicly available to read) produced by David Grossman. He prepared the reports in his role as a senior editorial adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee, but it wasn’t clear why which topics were selected. 3/8

While there has been widespread debate about the BBC over the last week, there has been limited scrutiny of the Prescott Memo alleging the BBC is not impartial on a range of issues 2/8: art-services.co.uk/filechute/bb...

BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands The Prescott memo contained no research questions or objectives, method, sample, time frame or, crucially, analytical framework for examining output.

I’ve just published a new article in the @uk.theconversation.com entitled 'BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands’ Thread 1/8: theconversation.com/bbc-bias-the...

Is there political bias at BBC Wales News - favouring @plaidcymru.bsky.social? Our new systematic study of the Caerphilly by-election coverage on BBC TV, online and social media found NO evidence supporting this allegation - BBC Wales broadly balanced coverage of the major parties 👇

The Explainer: What Is British Impartiality (And Can It Survive)? How the BBC elevated impartiality to its “very essence” amid documentary cancellations and regulatory pressures, and whether this embattled value can survive partisan challenges

Since joining the impartiality project, I’ve been been diving into debates on impartiality (trying to catch up with @stephencushion.bsky.social, @mattwalshjourno.bsky.social & @maxwellmodell.bsky.social!).

Nick Bradshaw’s new IDA piece is a must-read.

🔗 tinyurl.com/ycxkbu8s

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#impartiality #BBC

Important thread about how the BBC mitigates political polarisation in the 🇬🇧 because it’s so widely consumed compared to the 🇺🇸 where people rely on a wide range of information sources 👇

I’d love to see any editorial guidelines you can send on where the importance of number of MPs is considered to be important as opposed to opinion polls

Thanks Carl. But what do you mean by saying the result was “inaccurate”? We’ve not argued that the bbc was inaccurate.

There should be more evidence based monitoring but that’s what our project is doing (see below for monitoring & survey studies). I think the bbc very conscious of criticism but how they report politics is similar to other broadcasters who don’t receive criticism: www.enhancingimpartiality.com/blog

The worst person to be in Wales A crisis we are just accepting

"The main UK BBC analysis of the Caerphilly result read: 'Extraordinary by-election humbles Westminster’s big beasts' with a narrative centred on the decline of Labour & the Tories.

"Plaid Cymru, who won by 11%, was the fourth party mentioned." Its leader was not.

Farage had a photo AND quotes.

All good debating points - the impartiality rules are flexible and open to a considerable degree of editorial discretion

Thanks for covering. Full study can be read here @josiah.writes.news - bsky.app/profile/step...

The bbc explained judgement - see below - which related to opinion polls trumping past electoral performance (no. of MPs). It would be fascinating to see past bbc guidelines to check critters had changed e.g. if importance of MPs and surveys has changed: www.bbc.co.uk/contact/comp...