James Harding defends BBC coverage of cuts after George Osborne attack

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/08/james-harding-defends-bbc-coverage-cuts

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The director of BBC News has defended its coverage of the government’s spending cuts from attack by George Osborne, while predicting criticism of the corporation would reach unprecedented levels in the run-up to next year’s general election.

James Harding said “some people” thought BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith’s reference to George Orwell’s Road to Wigan Pier on Radio 4’s Today programme last Thursday was a “tad strong”. But he said he believed Smith’s editorial judgement was “exactly right”.

He also defended Today presenter John Humphrys, who interviewed Osborne later on the same programme, who he said “did what John Humphrys is there to do”.

Harding said: “BBC News would have been failing in our duty to the public, not to mention the story of the big spending cuts necessary to eradicate the deficit in the course of the next parliament. The austerity still to come has been the focus of attention by the Confederation of British Industry and the Financial Times.

“In fact, it is not the BBC that pointed out that reductions in public spending proposed by the chancellor on Wednesday amounted to a return to state spending on citizens last seen in the 1930s. That was the point made by the Office of Budget Responsibility, the institution created by George Osborne precisely so that the public could peer through the politics to judge for themselves the consequences of decisions taken by the chancellor.

“If some people thought his reference to George Orwell’s Road to Wigan Pier was a tad strong, his editorial judgment was exactly right: spending cuts to reduce the deficit will be a central argument of the election. It’s clear it will be an issue irrespective of whichever party wins.

“And the BBC’s role in this? To keep asking the questions. Particularly the difficult ones.”

Writing in a blogpost on the BBC’s website on Sunday, Harding said: “The BBC, like any news organisation, makes mistakes. No doubt, in the hurly burly of the election campaign in the coming months, we will make some. When we do, we will try to get to the bottom of them quickly and correct them.

“Politicians can and do complain – often very publicly – about how challenging interviews are conducted. This particularly happens around elections when the stakes are high.

“In the coming months, there’s likely to be a lot more of it from politicians of all parties. And the closeness and unpredictability of this election is likely to amplify that like never before. So, it’s more important than ever that the BBC is undeterred by such complaints and defends its independence from political pressure from wherever it comes.

“The BBC’s job is to keep reporting and analysing the news, questioning politicians, investigating the issues, and pressing for the real story. The election campaign has begun. The BBC will, undeterred, do its job. A meek BBC wouldn’t be fulfilling its role for the public.”

Harding said there was “more than ever” the need for politicians to be held accountable in the Twitter age.

“Apparently the ‘Tories are at war with the BBC’,” he said. “Rows between the BBC and the government of the day are nothing new. They go back decades to the very birth of the BBC. And few would argue that a cozy relationship between the BBC and government – or indeed any news organisation – would be a good thing. Scrutiny and accountability can sometimes be a bumpy ride.

“And more than ever, there is a need for that accountability. Tweets from ministers are new forms of press releases. Facebook feeds are run from PR departments. It is only when people in power are asked directly to account for what they have done that the public can judge the choices they have made.”

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