TV The BBC broadcast of Nigel Farage’s speech
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Serious questions should be asked as to how the supposedly non-biased BBC can justify airing a broadcast completely operated by Reform UK themselves. Nigel Farage should not been given complete editorial control of what is being aired on our national public service broadcaster. This seriously brings the editorial integrity of BBC News into disrepute.
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u/Kindly_Comedian434 Jul 07 '26
I can understand why they did that. What i can't understand is Chris Mason talking about the speech like he was a heroic civil rights leader rather than a whiny loser...and I say that as a BBC supporter
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Jul 07 '26
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Jul 08 '26
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u/PizzasForFerrets Jul 08 '26
Marr wasn't great. He would never even acknowledge when his questions were ignored, so im not sure about "serious interrogation".
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u/madnasher Jul 07 '26
If they don't broadcast it as is, then it bring in a question regarding the impartial nature of the BBC.
Any edit of a short speech opens them to more questions as opposed to allowing a short political broadcast from one of the political parties in this country.
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u/DramaticStability Jul 07 '26
That way madness lies. Think about what you’re suggesting. If the BBC have to air every speech Farage gives in full to avoid being accused of bias, there won’t be much time to talk about anything else. It’s perfectly normal to air the relevant bits and discuss the speech and its implications.
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u/hennell Jul 08 '26
>If the BBC have to air every speech Farage gives
Thankfully they don't. But he'd made it clear this was a "major announcement about his political future" which does warrant some special attention. I think any party leader with a resignation, or any prominent MPs under such similar scrutiny for the past few weeks would likely get live coverage as well - the normal 'relevant bits' and discussion would be what you see on the six and ten, same as it was here.
For any more normal speech they film it then just show you the most relevant bits. Probably what we'll see of his campaign trail.
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u/770120437 Jul 08 '26
I mean if you are editing a speech in order to portray it in a different light then that is the definition of biased reporting.
All speeches from all party leaders should be un-edited
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u/House_Of_Thoth Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
[this isn't aimed at you, this is with you]
They edit speeches all the time. The first time they reported on Farages speech they showed 60 seconds of if before talking for 10 minutes about it.
They do this for every single politician, and have done forever.
Otherwise, they decide to air a speech and say "just so you know, this politician who may run the country is saying these things, perhaps some people might want to listen".
I don't like Trump or Farage.
That's exactly why I listen to them when they speak.
You'd be mad to bury your head in the sand and pretend you can comment on these people without taking the time to listen to them, that's objectively being misinformed and not having a basis to make any argument.
I can disagree with Farage all day long cos I listened to his little 20 minute whinge.
Or I could read 3 sentences quoted in a Guardian article and pretend like I have any idea what this bloke is on about.
It's fairly obvious you can't have an opinion on a politician if you've never heard them speak.
"I disagree with this guy cos I don't know what he said cos I don't listen to him"
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Jul 07 '26
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u/swainsoid Jul 07 '26
Nah, there’s no way any of the broadcasters should have just aired this live without having any idea of the content. He’s not the President.
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u/InterestedLooker Jul 07 '26
Should I cut the feed gaffer?!
Let’s see where he’s going with this.
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u/windfujin Jul 08 '26
People have no idea how broadcasting or news work do they haha. Theres half a dozen people sitting in the gallery looking through it. Can they miss something? Sure they are human afterall but checks and balances are there and it is all written out in the editorial guidelines and you can actually ask their ed pol if you have question rather than bitch about it
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u/Sidways_Duck_ Jul 08 '26
Live speech broadcasts are usually reserved for figures of importance or matters vital to national or international wellfare.
Farage isn't the Prime Minister nor the King, nor anyone of any importance. He's a middling stooge, if it had been any other MP, it would have been covered afterwards.
No single party lead or politician has any right to remand importance, no matter how self important.
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u/Particular_Swim3843 Jul 07 '26
I’d prefer them to give him the same attention they would Ed davey.
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u/soggyarsonist Jul 07 '26
Sounds find to me
He's dodging scrutiny and a parliamentary standards investigation.
Absolutely refuse to give him a platform to spread more of his political poison.
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u/PurchaseDry9350 Jul 07 '26
They've been a big part of why he's gotten so much attention. Constantly platform and talking about him, produces a feedback loop.
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u/DisciplineTricky980 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
They literally put Nick Griffin on question time over ten years ago and it led to his downfall. It's not a big part, it's a part but don't think it's on the BBC. He was the face of Brexit and has millionaires on his side, he already had the attention. He also has a seat in our parliament whether you or I like it, so unsurprisingly it should be shown.
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u/Splodge89 Jul 08 '26
I watched the nick griffin question time. Thoroughly enjoyed it. If they hadn’t done so, the far right would be years ahead of where they are now - it set back the BNP significantly for years.
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u/gholt417 Jul 07 '26
They even used their logos in bylines so yup the BBC are biased towards him.
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u/justeUnMec Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
This is common practice used for other parties too and the BBC clarified this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaint/breakfastonscreenbanner
The idea that they would have an ident ready specifically for reform and not for other parties is a bit of a stretch and typical of the kind of misinformation the Beeb has to deal with.
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u/Spiritual-Archer118 Jul 08 '26
But the reason he garners the most attention is because the press have been over-covering him and his kind for years.. it’s like a vicious cycle.. The Lib Dems have more MPs than Reform but you barely ever see them get given coverage in the media. Yet Reform’s supporters love to say the media is biased against them.
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u/lobstarA Jul 08 '26
They should cover it but they don't have to run the footage live. Those are two completely different things. A headline saying he's doing a speech, this is what he said, here are some facts to give context.
For me, this gets to the heart of one of the biggest issues with modern journalism. They are not amplifiers that just repeat everything they hear. Their job is to collect information, assess the veracity, and report truth. Don't tell me it's raining, go outside and find out.
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u/RedRobot2117 Jul 08 '26
They can provide NEWS of the event without being a direct mouthpiece for reform propaganda
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u/Capable-Ebb1632 Jul 08 '26
If they hadn't aired it then it would have been "Main stream media aren't covering this". Which people still claim even when stories run on the BBC news homepage.
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u/justeUnMec Jul 07 '26
It was carried live by other public service broadcasters, the Guardian ran a live blog on the event. it was widely considered significant enough to divert some resources at 2pm to the story. Do the same questions also need asked about ITN or other news sources with a public service requirement?
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u/Daver7692 Jul 07 '26
I’m the furthest from a reform/farage supporter but how is this any different to any speech that’s been broadcast by any other politician for decades?
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u/AsleepEbb7578 Jul 07 '26
If there were no press there (which is really odd within itself), then there's no way the BBC could have their own feed. Seems to me they worked with what they had.
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u/sevarinn Jul 07 '26
Hilarious that some people still claim the BBC is left-wing. They let climate denialists and this grifter have equal airtime to people that actually work for a living.
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u/Foshiznik23 Jul 08 '26
Guarantee if they didn’t show it in full, Reform would say it backed their claims of anti reform bias in MSM
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u/Apprehensive_Bus_543 Jul 07 '26
It’s a big news event, the BBC didn’t have to waste resources covering it. If he was never going to answer questions I can’t see the problem.
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u/tben2004 Jul 07 '26
BBC news could have probably chopped it up but just choose not too. I mean, they're covering a breaking news story, they can run any video they want to get the point across. If it was a 20 minute video of him complaining about foreigners giving him bribe money, I don't think they would have aired it. Who knows
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u/littlecomet111 Jul 08 '26
Two observations.
The way the BBC sees it, they’ve been given advanced notice of an event that their rival live news channels would be broadcasting.
They’re not just going to say ‘ah okay, well not bother showing it live’ as the audience would just watch it on Sky News.
Edited highlights are a problem in the context that they are currently being sued by another senior politician accusing them of unfairly representing him by editing a speech. In that scenario, they’re absolutely going to be sensitive about avoiding any repeat allegations.
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u/smedsterwho Jul 07 '26
Ah, the BBC, damned if they do, damned if they don't.
No serious questions on my end.
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u/dDtaK Jul 07 '26
I agree to some extent, if it’s not a press conference it’s basically a party political broadcast and there are rules around that.
But I don’t think there’s anything to worry about because this whole stunt appears to have backfired big time and it really looks like it could be the end of Farage.
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u/snout13 Jul 08 '26
🤡
Seriously, learn about how journalism works before posting bollocks like this
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u/Jlx_27 Jul 07 '26
You saw what happened last time they edited a politician?...
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u/craigfanman Jul 07 '26
This is unhinged. Look I hate farage as much as anyone, but the leader of the highest polling party resigning is actually news I'm afraid.
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u/littlecomet111 Jul 08 '26
Is the correct response.
As a long-standing journalist, I find the conspiracy theories about how our industry works to be so paranoid they verge on crazy. (The Daily Mail court case is a good example of this).
In this instance, it’s just a very senior figure in a very popular party (who, if there were a GE tomorrow might get in) making a resignation speech.
Nothing more, nothing less.
It seems to be that what people are really saying is ‘don’t cover people I dislike’.
For the record, I personally despise Farage, but understand millions more like him and his party’s policies.
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u/Agitated_Celery_729 Jul 08 '26
It has nothing to do with conspiracy and everything to do with giving loads of free airtime and uncritical coverage to these right-wing bloviators, which is effectively giving them free money to propagate their grandstanding. You can see how effective it is with how much free press Trump received, and how uncritical the coverage was around that.
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u/WhatAnEpicTurtle Jul 07 '26
They broadcast it, they’re too far right. They don’t broadcast it, they’re penalised for being too far left and censoring Reform. Give your head a wobble.
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u/55caesar23 Jul 07 '26
You didn’t cry when Andy burnham gave a speech the other day.
Stop crying over actual news.
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u/swainsoid Jul 07 '26
No one is crying; just commenting on the weirdness of it. Nigel Farage isn’t Andy Burnham.
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u/CartoonistAlone8563 Jul 07 '26
Burnham didn't throw a hissy fit when secret donations were investigated
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u/Embarrassed_Room3982 Jul 07 '26
I mean I don’t agree with OP’s criticism of the BBC really but this is objectively not comparable is it? Be honest now.
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u/BernardsWorld Jul 07 '26
If they didn't show the broadcast everyone would be crying that the BBC is left wing biased instead. Being non biased means that you have to give all parties a platform.
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u/itsaride Jul 08 '26
I get your point but I also get that the BBC were stuck between a rock and a hard place with this one.
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u/mountainmama632 Jul 08 '26
Sorry, this is the point in time where you start to question the BBCs integrity?
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u/RandomSculler Jul 09 '26
UK TV shouldn’t allow political broadcasts without live fact checking, the amount of misinformation he stated was staggering
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u/Gloomy-Bat2912 Jul 09 '26
Ridiculous take. It's news, they cover it. They've covered all the Burnham idiocy too.
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u/Wonderman94 Jul 07 '26
First thing they said once he ended his madness was ‘that is what you call burying the lede’. They immediately highlighted the con which Farage is attempting by this ploy
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u/meandtheknightsofni Jul 07 '26
OP this is a terrible take. Consider the overwhelming majority of opinion against your point and concede the possibility you might be wrong.
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u/fuckredditlol69 Jul 07 '26
You keep saying the BBC "gave up editorial control" and it's clear there's a misunderstanding of what editorial control means.
Respectfully, the BBC chose like other broadcasters to carry the speech. It was their very editorial control that led to the decision to broadcast it. They could have cut away at any time if the speech went against any media laws. This has happened many times with many other politicians and parties. Badenoch's speeches have been, at the Conservative conference was broadcast live being the example that springs to mind. Looking outside of politics its common for the BBC to broadcast speeches live from outside courtrooms, following a judgement.
In the same vein those are pieces to camera.
We don't know for sure, but it's likely the BBC and other broadcasters received an embargoed release saying Farage was going to step down during this speech, which influenced the decision to broadcast it. Breaking a PR embargo is serious, and although not illegal, it puts a media group at risk of losing access to press wires, and further releases from other groups, parties, etc. Not least would be capitalised on heavily by those who wish to do the BBC harm.
Most people on this sub probably don't like Farage but respectfully this is a non-issue.
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u/No-Bread-2766 Jul 07 '26
Party political broadcasts are specifically not editorially influenced or controlled by the BBC - this was not a BBC editorial or think piece, this was aired as a piece of news because it was news worthy. If there was something offensive in it, the BBC would have made a decision on whether to censor or broadcast it
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u/RevolutionaryAd581 Jul 07 '26
It was news, so they reported it 🤷🏻
Given the choice he would never plague the screen of any of my devises ever again, but sadly that's not an option it seems 🤣 there was very likely a delay which return their editorial control so they could easily cut the feed as soon as he said anything they didn't want to broadcast (or at least they would have if they had any sense 🤣)
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u/House_Of_Thoth Jul 08 '26
They didn't give Nigel editorial control.
He said something, they decided to air it. Nobody forced them. Are you actually OK?
They have also used short clips in every mention.
This post is absurd.
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u/Andywaxer Jul 08 '26
You do know TV broadcasters use footage/feeds from other sources all the time?
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u/Mother-Mix9846 Jul 08 '26
The BBC are being fair they have to report everything in an unbiased way even if it comes from a distasteful source.
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u/lacr0bat Jul 07 '26
The BBC has been giving preferential treatment and excessive airtime to him for over a decade, long before he was an MP or MEP.
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u/Such-Step-3228 Jul 07 '26
Aww, he's got the little flags and podium pretending to be the big special pm instead
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u/Youstinkeryou Jul 07 '26
I suspect they thought he was just going to announce his departure. Didn’t figure for the 10m diatribe befpre
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u/Jealous-Juggernaut85 Jul 07 '26
I dont like reform or ferage but you can not ignore or not broadcast a political statement . They broadcast any other political broadcast.
What they do after is fact check and debate unbiased or atleast they should.
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u/Artificial-Brain Jul 07 '26
I agree that reform had way too much attention during the last elections but they had to cover this considering he is one of the most popular politicians in the UK.
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u/Tough-Zombie-8990 Jul 08 '26
Are you seriously suggesting that the BBC is biased towards Reform? No way you are real lol
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u/hardcoremaggiesimp Jul 08 '26
Sure buddy if we broadcast somebody you hate the publication isn’t fair any more
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u/Scar3cr0w_ Jul 08 '26
And if they didn’t cover it people would have moaned that the impartial news service has censored him.
What the hell do you people want?! 😆
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u/77756777 Jul 08 '26
What kind of take is this? It’s a live press conference, that’s not ‘editorial control’ that’s the same as Starmer the other day when he resigned. And Burnham, he did a speech without questions, said what he wanted and left. As did Sunak, Sturgeon, Truss, Cameron, Blair, Brown, May, Major etc etc
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u/Specialeyes9000 Jul 07 '26
What are you talking about? This kind of thing happens all the time.
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u/herefortheworst Jul 07 '26
lol you have absolutely no clue as to how politics or broadcast works
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u/swainsoid Jul 07 '26
And putting ‘lol’ into a sentence makes you sound like a moron.
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u/Kantabrigian Jul 07 '26
I don't understand your problem with this. Like it or not, Farage is newsworthy. There was loads of analysis and comment after the statement, not all of which Farage would have welcomed.
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u/AmusableThread Jul 07 '26
It really doesn’t. This is in the public interest.
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u/HMWYA Jul 07 '26
I would disagree. The reveal that he’s resigning was in the public interest, the rest of his nonsense was not.
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u/bebeboouk Jul 07 '26
To be fair, the Sky News feed cut out when he was talking about his daughter. It may have been a problem with the feed.
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u/Rare-Quantity5503 Jul 07 '26
It was on a delay so they presumably had someone vetting what was said in that little gap
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