LONDON: The BBC has been accused of lacking impartiality in its coverage of the royal family and the upcoming coronation of King Charles.
In a letter sent to David Jordan, the BBC’s director of editorial and policy standards, the campaign group Republic said the broadcaster made “no attempt to be impartial or balanced” in its coverage in the lead-up to the event next May.
The group’s CEO Graham Smith accused the broadcaster of failing “to tackle the serious questions surrounding the royals” and “most shockingly, (the BBC) openly colludes with the Palace in its coverage.”
Highlighting a recent YouGov survey commissioned by Republic, Smith said that only 15 percent of the general public expressed enthusiasm about the coronation and argued that the broadcaster is serving the interests of “a shrinking minority of people” by over-promoting the event.
“It should be a source of deep shame for all those involved that, instead of such fearless reporting, we have insipid, vacuous and dishonest coverage from a BBC that is fearful of public opprobrium and palace influence,” Republic’s letter said.
“The result of the BBC’s failures is that the coverage serves the interests of a shrinking minority who could reasonably be called royalists. In doing so, they do a disservice to the whole nation.
“Support for abolition of the monarchy has climbed over 30 percent and support for the monarchy among people under 40 has dropped below 50 percent. Yet none of that is reflected in the BBC’s coverage,” he added.
The BBC issued a statement on Monday defending its position, claiming the event is of “historical significance” for many audiences in the UK and globally and represents an occasion to celebrate.
“We believe our reporting is fair and duly impartial, and BBC News always seeks to reflect a range of viewpoints in our royal coverage,” a spokesperson for the BBC said.
Similarly, last year, the British broadcaster was accused of “biased reporting” for its favorable coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, a claim the BBC dismissed as untrue.
Smith continued by saying that the BBC failed to honor its 2011 vow to “achieve balance ‘over time.’”
“Twelve years later and we’re still waiting,” he said.
