Nicola Sturgeon has weighed into the row over the BBC’s coverage of the independence referendum, saying while there was no “institutional bias”, it was not always objective and impartial.
The first minister said the broadcaster’s journalism was undermined by the ignorance of individual reporters and a tendency to overanalyse proposals from the Yes campaign while failing to properly challenge the status quo.
Her comments came as part of a speech at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in which she also outlined plans for an overhaul of the BBC in Scotland, which would see a new dedicated Scottish television channel and a second radio station.
But even as she explained her proposals, they were undermined by a report showing they had already been considered and rejected by the BBC.
The Guardian, which sponsors the festival, reported that the corporation had rejected the plans, which would cost £75 million, as unaffordable with the overall budget cuts it was facing.
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Ms Sturgeon also struggled to explain what output she envisaged.
The relationship between the BBC and the Scottish government has been fraught since the referendum. In the days before the vote last September, Yes supporters said that Nick Robinson, the BBC’s political editor, had misrepresented Alex Salmond, who was then first minister. There were protests outside Pacific Quay in Glasgow and Mr Robinson was booed at a rally.
The issue returned this week when the BBC man compared the Yes campaign protesters with organised mobs in Putin’s Russia. Mr Salmond retorted that Mr Robinson should be “embarrassed and ashamed” of his work.
Ms Sturgeon has refused to make personal attacks and, as The Times revealed, recently had Mr Robinson and his wife round for dinner at Bute House, her official residence.
Yesterday she was robust in her criticism of the corporation. Delivering the Alternative McTaggart Lecture, she said: “I am not saying there was institutional bias in the BBC’s referendum output. However, there were occasions when its coverage — through oversight, apparent ignorance of the detail of an issue or as a result of simply following the agenda of openly partisan print media — lapsed from the objective output the referendum deserved into what could seem partial and, at times, pejorative.”
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She conceded that the case for independence should be interrogated by journalists but claimed that the “status quo and the consequences of voting ‘no’ were not really analysed at all”.
She also said the BBC’s network journalists “sounded less than fully informed” to audiences in Scotland. This, she said, could “sound like a journalist not being entirely impartial”.
Ms Sturgeon wants responsibility for broadcasting devolved to Holyrood. She believes that, with the UK government looking at the future of the BBC, there is an opportunity for its operations in Scotland to be redefined.
A BBC spokesman said it looked forward to working with the Scottish government and consulting on how the licence fee was spent.
The role of the BBC across the UK was widely debated at the festival. Nick Ross, the former Crimewatch presenter, said that the corporation was “killing itself” through its devotion to the licence fee. James Purnell, the BBC’s head of strategy, insisted the corporation was right to stand by the fee, which was “part of what makes the BBC work”.
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BBC Scotland - the hits
BBC Scotland’s output has been variable. Here, Gabriella Swerling takes a look at the hits and misses from the corporation’s Scottish headquarters . . .
Rab C Nesbitt (1988-99)
Rab and Mary Doll rampaged through a decade of alcohol-fuelled mayhem. The string-vested, Buckfast-swilling philosopher, played by Gregor Fisher, is perhaps the most memorable comic creation of recent decades. The humour even seemed to travel south of the border.
Balamory (2002-2005)
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The award-winning children’s show about a fictional small island community in Scotland had a theme tune — What’s the story in Balamory? — that was known by most in the early noughties. Mrs. Brown’s Boys (2011-)
The television sitcom stars Irish writer and performer Brendan O’Carroll as Agnes Brown, a proud matriarch who revels in meddling in her children’s lives. Despite being lambasted by critics, its popular appeal is remarkable.
Monarch of the Glen (2000-2005)
The drama, which ran for seven series, became essential Sunday night viewing. It told the story of Archie MacDonald, played by Alastair Mackenzie, a young restaurateur who inherits a run-down Scottish estate in the Highlands where he is told he is the new Laird of Glenbogle.
...and the misses
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Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee (1984)
The sketch show, starring Robbie Coltrane, was an experiment with a new format following the success of the Bafta-winning A Kick Up the Eighties. It had kickstarted Rik Mayall’s television career with his anorak-wearing investigative reporter, Kevin Turvey.
However, it ran for a single series of just six episodes.
Young James Herriot (2011)
The three-part drama, based on the early life of the veterinary surgeon, was a prequel to All Creatures Great and Small and featured Iain De Caestecker, below, as the title character.
The first episode had an audience of 6.73 million, the second and third attracting 5.08 million and 4.99 million viewers respectively. It was not recommissioned.
Personal Affairs (2009)
The drama-comedy series, broadcast on BBC Three, revolved around four City of London PAs looking for their lost friend.
It aired for just one six-episode series and received poor reviews.