BBC NI 'is a cold house for unionists'
A DUP MP has said a unionist-minded journalist told him that the experience of the BBC in Belfast was "more chilling than a Sinn Fein press conference".
Upper Bann MP David Simpson told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee meeting at Stormont that there was a perception among some unionists that BBC Northern Ireland was biased towards republicans.
The committee had been discussing the role of public service broadcasting, digital switchover, the role of local news, current affairs and other programming, and the place of broadcasting in a devolved nation of the UK.
"There is a perception that the BBC in some ways is very biased when it comes to the nationalist or republican side of broadcasting," Mr Simpson said.
"A journalist from the unionist community recently spoke to me and described the BBC in Belfast as the coldest media house for a unionist journalist that they had ever walked into - an experience more chilling than a greeting at a Sinn Fein press conference."
BBC NI controller Peter Johnston said while he could not comment on the experience of one individual, audience research did not support this.
"I have heard that perception portrayed by politicians primarily and some associated interest groups," he said.
"We have done, over many years, huge amounts of audience research, and that is not what people believe in general.
"A core purpose of ours is impartiality and I have never seen any audience research evidence that this perception is shared more widely."
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Weather for Belfast
Monday 13 February 2012
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