Brian May's four word response to 'bias' accusations about BBC documentary
Brian May has publicly responded to accusations his recent documentary The Badgers, The Farmer and Me was bias.
The hour long film, which aired on BBC Two on Friday night (August 23) saw the acclaimed musician and scientist spending years investigating the causes of Bovine TB, a condition which blights farms and leads to cattle being destroyed, as he aimed to stop badger culling.
The Countryside Alliance were one of the complainants and issued a statement following broadcast which said the BBC had, "failed in its stated commitment to impartiality" by allowing "blatant partisan" Brian to front the film. However Brian has insisted the work was completely unbiased due to "all sides" being represented.
Posting a clip from the documentary to his 3.3 million Instagram followers Brian wrote a lengthy caption. "This clip from our documentary shows us asking the question: 'Could the slurry in this pot have any relevance in the spread of bovine TB in the cattle herd?'
"Incredibly, at the time nobody could tell us the answer - even though the entire Dairy farm industry was worried about the tiny defecations of badgers way over in the bushes, in the carefully designated latrines that these fastidious badger families use. Well, by using a new 'enhanced' testing technique - PCR - we found our answer as you see here.
"COMPLETELY SHOCKING. It was our first strong clue that all talk of badgers being the cause of TB getting out of control in cattle had been nonsense from the start.
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Brian May has defended his recent documentary against claims of bias (Image: BBC)"And that was just the beginning," he continued. "The full documentary film is available NOW on BBC iPlayer. It's had 100,000 views in the last 3 days.
"If you're a farmer and think this is a load of old tosh please watch it just once - and see if it rings any bells.
"Please remember that it's a journey shared by a TEAM - one dairy farmer, one farm vet, one wildlife expert and myself, a curious and doggedly persistent scientist.
"There can be no bias in the programme because all 'sides' are represented in our team. Cheers all - Bri," he signed off.
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In a statement which laid out their grievances, The Countryside Alliance said: "As predicted, the BBC's badger cull documentary contained little more than the opinion of its presenter - Brian May. That the Corporation was pressured into adding a last minute cursory reference at the end to the very significant fact that TB had returned to Gatcombe Farm on three occasions, does nothing to constitute reasonable balance.
"From the outset, it was clear the BBC had made a huge error in permitting a blatant partisan to front a current affairs programme on such a sensitive and emotive issue. By doing so, it has failed in its stated commitment to impartiality. Regardless of the barriers the BBC may put in the way, we will be pursuing a complaint,” they insisted.
A BBC spokesperson responded: “While this is a first-person piece authored by Sir Brian May, the documentary, which aired last Friday (23 August) features numerous voices in the debate on badger culling, including farmers and academics."It follows Sir Brian on his journey over a decade to understand the crisis caused by Bovine Tuberculosis and his opposition to the controversial badger cull. The BBC adheres to strict editorial guidelines on impartiality on this matter.”
Brian May's four word response to 'bias' accusations about BBC documentary
Brian May's four word response to 'bias' accusations about BBC documentary
Brian May's four word response to 'bias' accusations about BBC documentary
Brian May's four word response to 'bias' accusations about BBC documentary
Brian May's four word response to 'bias' accusations about BBC documentary
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