Emily Maitlis has criticised the BBC for both-sideism in its coverage of Brexit suggesting its attempts to hear both sides of the argument led to superficial balance.<\/p>\n
The former BBC journalist also argued the BBC and other media outlets are failing to tackle the impact of leaving the EU today, saying that sidestepping the issue feels like a conspiracy against the British people.<\/p>\n
Maitlis, who left the broadcaster this year for rival media group Global, was addressing the annual MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In one striking passage that won praise on social media, Maitlis said: It might take our producers five minutes to find 60 economists who feared Brexit and five hours to find a sole voice who espoused it.<\/p>\n
But by the time we went on air we simply had one of each; we presented this unequal effort to our audience as balance. It wasnt.<\/p>\n
She added: Id later learn that the ungainly name for this myopic style of journalism: both-sideism, which talks to the way it reaches a superficial balance while obscuring a deeper truth.<\/p>\n
Not everyone agreed.<\/p>\n
The broadcaster suggested the problems continue, and outlets including the BBC adopt an automatic crouch position whenever the Brexit issue looms large.<\/p>\n
She said: Many broadcasters fear discussing the obvious economic cause of major change in this country in case they get labelled pessimistic, anti-populist, or worse still, as above: unpatriotic.<\/p>\n
And yet every day that we sidestep these issues with glaring omissions feels like a conspiracy against the British people.<\/p>\n
Maitlis joined the BBC in 2001 and presented Newsnight from 2006.<\/p>\n
In February, she and Jon Sopel announced they were leaving the BBC to join Global, where they are hosting a new podcast, titled The News Agents, and a radio show together on LBC.<\/p>\n
In her speech, Maitlis also said the BBCs board includes an active agent of the Conservative party as she issued a warning about her former employers impartiality.<\/p>\n
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See original here:<\/p>\n
Emily Maitlis Has A Brutal Message For The BBC Over Its Brexit Coverage - HuffPost UK<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Emily Maitlis has criticised the BBC for both-sideism in its coverage of Brexit suggesting its attempts to hear both sides of the argument led to superficial balance. Continue reading