John Simpson: BBC’s Brexit reporting is not biased – we tell people honestly what is happening Mr Simpson said there was no subject ‘too important to keep our minds closed about’.

Journalist John Simpson has said he is fed up with viewers criticising BBC News for being biased over its Brexit coverage.

“The basic idea is that the BBC has changed. Once it was even-handed, and now look at it,” the BBC’s World Affairs Editor wrote in the Radio Times.

The complaint, he said, was coming from “middle-of-the-roaders” rather than hard-liners.

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‘The BBC hasn’t changed’

“I promise you, with the perspective that 52 years of working for it gives me, it’s not the BBC that’s changed, it’s them. Maybe it’s because they’re so used to social media, and hearing only the kind of views they like, that they’re enraged by having to listen to arguments they hate.”

He said the public had become persuaded there was something wrong with BBC journalists reporting unbiased information.

“Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t think any subject is too important to keep our minds closed about it.”

Accusations of bias

The BBC has been widely criticised over its reporting of Brexit by Leavers and Remainers, with both sides believing the corporation is biased.

In July 2017, Eurosceptics said the BBC was covering Brexit in a negative light. But the broadcaster said it took impartiality “incredibly seriously” and that it had a wide range of voices on air.

Writing for i, Caroline Lucas of the Green Party once said too much airtime was given to Ukip but the BBC responded by saying “the amount of coverage we give each political party should reflect their levels of support over at least two electoral cycles”.

Fact-checking

In his article, Mr Simpson admitted he had received a “formal ticking-off” from the head of BBC News for publicly saying the corporation was “too willing to allow both sides to lie their heads off” during the Brexit campaign.

He suggested the BBC’s fact-checking systems should be “attached to every single news programme” to counter false statements.

Broadcasters, said Mr Simpson, still followed the principles of John Reith, the former director-general of the BBC, who stipulated that the 1926 general strike should be covered even-handedly, despite backlash from the then chancellor Winston Churchill.

“We think it’s our job to tell people honestly, to the best of our ability, what’s happening,” said Mr Simpson.

“So the next time you’re tempted to yell at your radio or TV because you think that some presenter or reporter is biased, when actually they’re just telling you something you don’t want to hear, pause a moment. You may be listening to the sound of genuine, honest balance,” he said.