The impact of interventionist regulation in reshaping news agendas: A comparative analysis of public and commercially funded television journalism

Abstract

In this article we draw on a specific case study -the re-regulation of BBC political reporting in the nations and regions in the UK post-devolution -to compare the BBC's interventionist, public service framework with the 'light touch' regime of commercial broadcasting. We carried out a content analysis of BBC Television News (where issues of accuracy and impartiality are regulated by the BBC Trust), and three commercially funded channels (where programme content is entirely regulated by Ofcom) before and after an editorial intervention by the BBC Trust.We found that the BBC improved the balance and accuracy of its television news coverage whereas commercial broadcasters continued to overlook or misrepresent the reality of devolved politics in the UK. While it can be difficult to demonstrate empirically how regulation can enhance media content compared to a 'light touch' system -as our study found -we suggest that the impact of regulatory interventions should be more central to journalism studies internationally.

Data Journalism, Impartiality And Statistical Claims

“…While impartiality is a normative aim for many broadcast journalists, scholars have long studied how it can be measured empirically in news coverage-exploring, for example, the type of news agenda pursued by different broadcasters, the sources used in coverage or the degree of contextual information about a particular issue or event (Barkho 2014;Cushion, Lewis, and Ramsay 2012;Wahl-Jorgensen et al 2016 To what extent are statistical claims accepted or challenged?…”

Why context, relevance and repetition matter in news reporting: Interpreting the United Kingdom’s political information environment

“…But there has been less sustained academic engagement with how different political systems influence the information environment and affect the opportunities to learn about politics. Although comparative studies have theorised how political dimensions can help shape national media systems (Cook, 1998), few empirical news studies focus on the complexities of understanding power and responsibility, especially in the many countries where that power is devolved and dispersed between local, regional and national governments (Cushion, 2012;Cushion et al, 2009Cushion et al, , 2012Dekavalla, 2012). This is particularly important when power is not only devolved to different levels of government, but where those levels can be politically distinct.…”

“…While the UK government still holds reserved powers, in areas like immigration or defence, the devolved institutions now have considerable policy-making power. Previous research about how devolution is reported in the United Kingdom has shown the media have largely ignored politics outside England and struggled to accurately reflect policy debates in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (Cushion, 2012;Cushion et al, 2009Cushion et al, , 2012Dekavalla, 2012). Dekavalla (2012), for example, found Scottish newspapers were far more informative than their English counterparts during the 2001 and 2005 general election campaigns.…”

“…Dekavalla (2012), for example, found Scottish newspapers were far more informative than their English counterparts during the 2001 and 2005 general election campaigns. However, most of the United Kingdom's major broadcasters have public service obligations that require news programming to reflect the United Kingdom as a whole, particularly the BBC which has clear editorial aims about reporting the nations and regions (Cushion, 2012).…”

“…In 2009, 62.1 per cent of all BBC news items about devolved issues in England signposted its geographical applicability; in 2016, this had increased to 78.0 per cent. This improvement followed a series of policy initiatives within the BBC to address this issue (Cushion et al, 2012). We see a much more limited improvement on commercial television: but even in the best year (2016), only around half of those items that only applied to England were signposted as such.…”