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The ´óÏó´«Ã½ broadcasts a broad and impressive range of opinions on its news, current affairs and factual programmes, with no persuasive evidence that significant areas of opinion are not represented, an independent review led by the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trust has found. More could be done, however, to ensure voices outside the main political debate are sought out and included on air.

The review is the latest in a rolling programme of impartiality reviews looking at different aspects of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s output, in line with the Trust's responsibility under the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Charter to 'do all it can' to ensure the impartiality of the ´óÏó´«Ã½. 

Breadth of opinion means reflecting a range of voices and viewpoints in ´óÏó´«Ã½ output, and the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s commitment to it is unique to the corporation.  The review published today includes an independent assessment by former ITV CEO and independent producer Stuart Prebble, audience research, and content analysis by Cardiff University.

The review found that overall the ´óÏó´«Ã½ reports and reflects an impressive range of opinions, although it needs to exercise constant vigilance in maintaining this and should make efforts to ensure it is monitoring changing public opinion and reflecting this on air.

The review also found that Westminster and national politicians can tend to dominate views seen and heard on the ´óÏó´«Ã½, and therefore affect the range of opinions heard.   The Trust has concluded that it expects the ´óÏó´«Ã½ to find ways of addressing opinions that have not emerged through Parliament or other formal institutions, although this will not affect or reduce the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s responsibility to report on Parliament and the views of politicians.

As part of the study, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s coverage of immigration, religion and the EU was analysed through content analysis by Cardiff University.  While the findings of this were largely positive and indicated that the breadth of opinion on all three subjects is comprehensive, the research also found that information and opinions provided in stories tended to focus on the specific case, with the larger story of how immigration may affect British society for better or worse covered much less often.

Stuart Prebble also concluded that there had been slowness in the past in accommodating changing opinions on immigration and the EU. 

´óÏó´«Ã½ Trustee David Liddiment said:

"Ensuring that a wide range of views are seen and heard on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is at the heart of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s enviable reputation for impartial journalism, and I am grateful to Stuart Prebble for his independent assessment of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s progress.  Our impartiality reviews are an important inducement for the Executive to question itself, in this case on its breadth of opinion, to ensure it is doing all it can to achieve what licence fee payers expect and that it is constantly alert to changing public opinion. 

"We deliberately chose some complex and controversial subject areas for the review in immigration, religion, and the EU, and our generally positive findings are testament to programme-makers across the corporation.  It is clear that there is more to do and we will look to the Executive to deliver on this."

Stuart Prebble said:

"I have been impressed by the commitment of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s journalists to ensuring that they bring a diversity of voices and viewpoints on a wide range of news stories to audiences across the country.  However it is also clear that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ cannot afford to rest on its laurels and it should ensure it does all it can to keep up with the ebb and flow of public opinion, which means avoiding over-reliance on Westminster voices, making efforts to find new voices even if they are contentious, and challenging their own assumptions on the accepted consensus."

In response to the report the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Executive has set out a number of actions including:

• The appointment of 'story champions' for important and long-running news stories, to create more space for editors to consider whether all relevant opinions have been included;

• Ensuring that audience views gathered by the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s audience response team are more widely and systematically shared across the corporation;

• Cross-promoting a wider range of ´óÏó´«Ã½ services.

• The creation of a pan-´óÏó´«Ã½ forum on religion and ethics.

The Trust has asked for an update from the Executive on progress against the report's findings and the actions it has agreed to take in response, in summer 2014.

The report, content analysis and audience research can be found here.

Notes to Editors

1. This is the fifth impartiality review carried out by the Trust.  Previous impartiality reviews have looked at the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s coverage of business (published 2007); network news and current affairs coverage of the UK nations (2008, with a follow-up review published in 2010); science (2011), and the events known as the 'Arab Spring' (2012).  A review of the impartiality of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s coverage of rural areas in the UK is currently underway and is expected to report in 2014.  More information on this review can be found here.
2. The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s commitment to breadth of opinion is enshrined in its Editorial Guidelines as the necessity to be: "…inclusive, reflecting a breadth and diversity of opinion.  We must be fair and open-minded when examining the evidence and weighing material facts.  We must give due weight to the many and diverse areas of an argument.  Breadth and diversity of opinion may require not just a political and cultural range, but, on occasions, reflection of the variations between urban and rural, older and younger, poorer and wealthier, the innovative and the status quo, etc.  It may involve exploration of perspectives in different communities, interest groups and geographic areas."

1. The 2007 report by John Bridcut can be found here.