Countryside Alliance Raise "Rural Representation" with Ofcom

The Countryside Alliance has submitted evidence to Ofcom's "Thematic review of representation and portrayal on the BBC", highlighting our concerns regarding the representation of the rural community.

Following a spate of recent complaints against the BBC, the Countryside Alliance met representatives from Ofcom to discuss our concerns regarding BBC impartiality on rural issues, to highlight the failings we had identified with the BBC complaints system, and to get a better understanding of Ofcom's role as the BBC's independent regulator.

One outcome of the meeting was an invitation to contribute to Ofcom's first Thematic Review of the BBC. Ofcom is committed to producing at least two such comprehensive reviews of the BBC as part of its role as the broadcaster's regulator, the first of which is considering the representation of the country's different communities.

The Alliance has now submitted evidence to the review team. The Alliance pointed to the failure of the BBC to implement the recommendations of its own 2015 review of rural coverage. That review advised the appointment of a Rural Correspondent and pointed to a need to stop portraying rural issues as controversial, by relying on a narrow set of protest groups for comment, just to serve their metropolitan audiences. Three years later, no Rural Correspondent has been appointed and the Alliance offered evidence that the BBC continued to report on rural issues as conflicts between protest groups rather than delving into underlying issues.

The Alliance also took the time to highlight how the BBC had failed to deliver on its 2016 Editorial Committee Findings relating to Chris Packham's campaigning. We highlighted how the reviews of Mr Packham's campaigning activities recommended by that report were clearly either not happening or were entirely ineffectual, with clear implications for the working countryside.

Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Tim Bonner said: "We believe the countryside deserves a truly neutral BBC. Our campaigning on this issue is relentless because BBC bias on rural issues is relentless, and it is vital that we highlight every occurrence until the problem is sorted. We are very grateful to Ofcom for the opportunity to discuss our concerns, and for the opportunity to contribute to this thematic review. Hopefully it marks the beginning of improved rural coverage at the BBC."