of its economics coverage said they were “disturbed by how many [viewers] said they didn’t understand [the BBC’s] coverage,” especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
The authors said: “Boring to you, maybe, if you don’t take the bus. Make them interesting – they’re of interest to passengers… There are more journeys by bus than any other form of public transport.” “Several general assumptions seem to lurk like this either unnoticed or uncorrected,” the report found.
Terms like “eyewatering” to describe debt levels and “headroom” for tax cuts also contain assumptions about a “correct” level of borrowing and taxation. Reporting can be influenced by groupthink and hype and be led too strongly by the Westminster narrative, the report said, and journalists should make it clear that “fiscal policy decisions are political choices and are not inevitable”.
The BBC Board has “asked the Executive to address the challenges raised as our public spending and taxation output evolves.”