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6 September 2010updated 27 Sep 2015 2:14am

Is the BBC biased to the right?

Columnists quoting the NS Mark Thompson interview miss the point

By James Macintyre

A last word on my interview with the BBC Director General Mark Thompson last week. It was rather painful, if all too predictable, to read over the weekend several right-wing columnists — including Peter Hitchens and Rod Liddle — leap on Thompson’s quote that the corporation had in the past suffered from a “massive left wing bias”.

Especially as there is a very strong case for saying that the BBC is — if anything at all — in league with David Cameron’s Tories, as we saw last week, if not actively biased to the right, as my colleague Mehdi Hasan argued in an unmissable piece last year.

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Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
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