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BBC’s Question Time is an institution of British broadcasting and political debate. When you’ve been on the air for nearly 50 years, you’re bound to be accused of bias. Critics from both the right and the left have said that Question Time’s guests and audience questions too often lean one way or the other. It’s difficult to tell who’s correct without tallying it all up – so Matt Walsh and his team at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture have done just that.
In a new analysis of Question Time guest appearances since 2014 – published exclusively in The Conversation – they’ve found that the balance between political parties has been pretty fair, but when you remove politicians there is a clear preference for rightwing voices. The top five non-politician guests have been journalists representing the Spectator, TalkTV, the Telegraph and GB News. In the quest to entertain audiences with fiery debates, the BBC may be
hurting its own impartiality.
One of Question Time’s most controversial guests has been Nigel Farage (though he has only appeared ten times to former Green party leader Caroline Lucas’s 13). Farage is now declaring his party, Reform UK, the “new opposition” after a YouGov poll last week showed Reform gaining ground on The Conservatives. Paul Whiteley analyses what this could actually mean come polling day.
And, what do Donny Osmond, Enrique Iglesias and Catherine O’Hara have in common? Their abdominal organs are on the wrong side. This stomach-twisting piece explains why your organs might not be where they’re supposed to.
All the best.
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Avery Anapol
Commissioning Editor, Politics + Society
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Nigel Farage in one of his 10 appearances on Question Time in the last decade.
WENN/Alamy
Matt Walsh, Cardiff University
The top five most frequent non-politician panellists all write for The Spectator.
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Tolga Akmen/EPA
Paul Whiteley, University of Essex
Data from Ukip’s performance in 2017 shows that once a certain tipping point is passed, Reform is indeed a significant threat to the Tories.
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They could go anywhere.
New Africa/Shutterstock
Adam Taylor, Lancaster University
When organs are in the wrong place, misdiagnosis is a risk.
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World
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Natasha Lindstaedt, University of Essex
Europe’s far right parties are winning more backing in the polls, and will have increasing influence on policy over the Ukraine war.
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Magnus Marsden, University of Sussex
Khorasan is globally associated with terrorism, but people from Afghanistan are out to challenge that assumption.
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Politics + Society
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Despina Alexiadou, University of Strathclyde
Comparing Keir Starmer’s 2024 election manifesto with Tony Blair’s 1997 document is a helpful way to understand why the vision is grander than is being portrayed.
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Clarissa Giebel, University of Liverpool
Social care reform appears at the end of Labour’s key election promises for the NHS. The manifesto acknowledges the sector’s problems – but what about the solutions?
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Anna Tarrant, University of Lincoln
Showing and celebrating that men care – and presenting positive public images of what men do for family – is vital to wider societal wellbeing and health
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Arts + Culture
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Nicolas Scelles, Manchester Metropolitan University; Aurélien François, Université de Rouen Normandie; Maurizio Valenti, Manchester Metropolitan University
Poland, Ukraine and Georgia have all qualified via UEFA’s Nations League. But is this fair to the teams who failed to qualify via the traditional knock-out route?
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Ben Walmsley, University of Leeds
Culture is more than just an industry.
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Patrycja Rozbicka, Aston University
Despite calling the sector ‘world leading’, both Labour and the Conservatives have failed to give any concrete commitments for funding the creative industries.
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Lydia Merrett, Manchester Metropolitan University
Gentileschi’s self-portrait is an astonishing work of confidence and serenity by an artist who has become a beacon of feminist empowerment.
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Anna Walker, The Conversation
From Disney Pixar’s latest hit to the winner of the Women’s Prize for fiction, these are the best things to watch and read this week.
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Business + Economy
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Robert Webb, University of Stirling; Duncan Watson, University of East Anglia
To help raise the cash needed to meet their commitments on the NHS and social care, the Liberal Democrats propose a new tax on banks.
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Shampa Roy-Mukherjee, University of East London
Both parties hope growing the economy can help them avoid difficult choices.
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Health
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James P. O'Gara, University of Galway
There are more antibiotics being developed today than there were a few years ago, but the antibiotic-resistance problem remains critical.
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Peter Sivey, University of York
The NHS is a hot button topic in the UK 2024 general election. However, the party manifestos are light on detail.
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Science + Technology
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Jide Edu, University of Strathclyde
When Apple finally unveiled its AI strategy at its developers’ conference, Elon Musk and privacy activists began raising alarm bells.
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Chiara Longoni, Bocconi University; Valerio Capraro, University of Milano-Bicocca
We’ve tried to take a clear-eyed view of the pros and cons to help governments decide how to move forward.
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19 April - 21 June 2024
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Colchester
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10 - 21 June 2024
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Colchester
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19 - 20 June 2024
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London
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20 June 2024
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Walton Hall
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