A brutal open letter sent to the BBC regarding Question Time bias has resurfaced after Isabel Oakeshott was among the panel members once again for a heated discussion in Stevenage.
Dr Russell Jackson, a senior lecturer in communication and public relations at Sheffield Hallam University, published a letter on Yorkshire Bylines in February, calling the Beeb out for a well-evidenced bias toward panellists from right-leaning media organisations.
He also provides proof that certain panel members get more time to speak than others, highlighting one discussion on immigration where Robert Jenrick was allowed to speak for six minutes and 30 seconds longer than the next closest contributor.
The selection and political balance of Question Time panellists, he says, is also questionable.
As the graphic below and the video above shows, there is a clear and well-evidenced bias toward panellists from right-leaning media organisations, which doesn’t get talked about enough.
Dr Jackson concludes that, based on the evidence, either the desire to drive audience figures and engagement is now overly dependent upon inviting guests who specialise in generating polarising controversy, rather than engaging in nuanced respectful debate, or the people responsible for deciding which panellists are invited onto Question Time have a conscious or unconscious right-wing bias.
Read the letter in full here.
Related: Woman who recently served as home secretary leads Tory revolt over migrant figures
