A review commissioned by the BBC declared that it is “not racist to be concerned about the impacts of migration” after finding that staff within the publicly-funded broadcaster were discouraged from reporting on the negative impacts of migration for fear of being branded racist or appearing “hostile” towards migrants.
An independent review conducted by Dr Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, which spoke to over 100 BBC journalists and top management as well as reviewing over 1,500 online, radio, and television reports produced by the broadcaster, found that the coverage of migration failed to address the concerns from the public on how it impacts local communities and focussed primarily on political jockeying from Westminster politicians.
“Coverage should pay more attention to how migration affects communities, public services, housing and the labour market,” the report said according to The Telegraph. “All audiences in our research were interested in these questions, but particularly people with concerns about migration. By focusing primarily on political developments, BBC coverage can overlook some of these concerns.”
The report also found that some journalists at the BBC were wary of covering local concerns over immigration or reporting on negative stories such as immigration fraud, for fear of appearing “hostile” towards migrants or be accused of racism.
“Journalists were sometimes anxious about taking on topics they felt could appear hostile to migrants, such as immigration fraud or local concerns about migration. When these topics are covered with sufficient depth, however, it is possible to prove the issues at hand while also being respectful towards the people involved,” the report stated.
“However, some BBC journalists said that some stories felt more risky to cover, particularly if the topics could appear unsympathetic to migrants or migration. One BBC journalist also said that if it was seen as ‘not a nice story’ it was less likely to be promoted across other BBC outlets or reposted on social media.”
Another journalist at the BBC said that staff at the broadcaster want to “seem like we’re nice, caring people, and it’s easier to care for things in the context of migration … and not necessarily caring in terms of the communities in which they have an impact.”
A BBC insider also said that less experienced journalists expressed concerns over the language they used while covering immigration to avoid being “accused of racism by the Left [or] accused of being the ‘wokerati’ by the Right”.
While the review claimed that it did not find a particular left of right-wing bias in the broadcaster’s coverage of immigration, it did find that “for the most part, story selection appeared to be driven not by deliberate choices to cover or not cover certain topics, but by the culture of following the political agenda.”
Some journalists even claimed that they were told by colleagues that immigration fraud was “not a story you should be looking at.” Though they said the stories were ultimately published.
The selection bias against stories involving the negative effects of immigration was likely a result of the overwhelming liberal background of the staffing of BBC newsrooms, with the report stating: “BBC journalists and senior management told us that staff come disproportionately from groups that are more relaxed about migration.”
“Several pointed out that it would be easier for the BBC to represent different views convincingly if staff had a wider range of backgrounds and political opinions. They might also feel more confident exploring all relevant views without worrying that they are stereotyping or patronising them,” it added.
The review, therefore, urged the BBC to recognise that “it is not racist to be concerned about the impacts of migration or to prefer more restrictive policies. BBC coverage should have equal empathy for migrants and UK residents who worry about the impacts of migration.”
The management of the public broadcaster endorsed the conclusions of the report and told journalists: “It’s not biased to hear directly from migrants, just as it’s not racist to air concerns about immigration.”
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