Fee-(Glover)-fi-fo-fum, I smell the bias of the BBC

Non-editorialising Fi(ona) Glover

Radio 4's The Listening Project is doing a two-week series of 'Referendum Tales'. 

Listening to the first two episodes and hearing the balance of pro-Brexit to anti-Brexit voices go against pro-Brexit voices, I just knew how things were going to go.

And 'go' they most certainly went.

And now, with half of the ten episodes down, the imbalance against Brexit stands thusly:

8 pro-Brexit voices

18 anti-Brexit voices

That's clearly a hefty imbalance (with much wailing and gnashing of teeth about Brexit to be heard, along with some more reasonable voices)...

...but The Listening Project appears to be intensely relaxed about this bias. Thus, presenter Fi Glover has (twice so far) preemptively waved away any potential accusations of bias by simply asserting:  

(On Wednesday's edition) We don't editorialise our conversations in the Project and in these little shows we aren't aiming for total political balance. Many of those motivated to chat are those not entirely pleased by the Brexit outcome. 

(On Thursday's edition) Now, our job here at The Listening Project is to archive your thoughts and feelings. This is not a political polling resource. So when we asked for your referendum tales we thought we'd probably get more people wanting to talk about their pain rather than their satisfaction at the result. We're hear to listen not to editorialise. 

In other words (as the youngsters say these days): It is as it is. 

Never mind how many voices moan about Brexit racism and Little Englanders and wonder what went through the minds of stupid Leave voters (though the TLP Remainers aren't all that bad), it is as it is.

One problem with such an insouciant attitude is that it appears to conflict with the programme's main purpose - a purpose restated at the very start of this week's five editions of The Listening Project:

We talk a lot about the value of The Listening Project to future generations and we are aware there will come a time when 'events of 2016' is just a topic in some Key Stage 4 projects. So we thought it might be helpful if people could find a Brexit section in our archive where they could hear what we feel about this country's seismic shift.

The 'falling-down' here is that this sample doesn't accurately reflect what "we" as a country think (though it may reflect what Radio 4 listeners - and the BBC - think). 

Pupils studying these interviews decades hence for their Key Stage 4 project are, therefore, unlikely to realise that they are listening to a heavily biased sample of opinions (the word 'biased'  being used here in the statistical sense) and mostly hearing from the minority (losing) side of the referendum vote. The BBC, therefore, risks skewing the perceptions of the future. 

The other problem, of course, is that all of this merely adds to the strong impression - an impression now backed by an overwhelming body of evidence - that Radio 4 is betraying a heavy bias (in the statistical and non-statistical sense) against Brexit across vast swathes of its output, despite its charter-bound obligations towards impartiality.

And (in other news), yes, bears are also renowned for giving the strong impression that they favour unburdening their bowels in certain tree-filled areas.