BBC Breakfast sparks backlash as fans issue same complaint over guest

BBC Breakfast fans issued the same complaint as the broadcaster zoned in on impartiality.

Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty fronted Saturday's instalment (July 20) of the BBC programme, handing over to Newswatch host Samira Ahmed who shared viewers' opinions on recent coverage of events by BBC News.

This included alleged impartiality by the BBC during coverage of the General Election. One viewer claimed the Six O'clock News proved "beyond doubt" that the BBC were supporting Labour during the election.

Another fan suggested the BBC were leaning towards Rishi Sunak, claiming the bias towards the Conservatives came across "quite strongly".

Meanwhile others complained about the air time received by Nigel Farage, with several believing the Reform leader had more coverage than the other campaigners.

CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness was welcomed onto the show to discuss the claims, insisting to Ahmed that she was "incredibly proud" of the BBC's output during the election.

Responding to claims about Mr Farage's air time, she said: "We were very careful and thoughtful about this, equal numbers of people contacted the BBC to say there was too much and too little.

"We make very careful determinations and we look at a cross section of data to look at those decisions." Shutting down concerns from viewers, the BBC boss added: "I think we got it about right."

Later in the debate, Ahmed mentioned how younger audiences are deserting news broadcasting in large numbers. She suggested this could be an "existential challenge" for BBC News, however, Turness did not agree.

"It could be, but it's not," she simply stated, explaining: "We doubled the percentage of 18 to 35 reach on election night. That is a really positive sign."

She added: "We are investing to find those audiences on Tiktok, Instagram, on those platforms and we are targeting them ruthlessly." Viewers weren't happy with how Turness responded to the issues as they took to social media to share the same complaint.

One wrote: "Interesting variation on the usual BBC 'we are right you are wrong'." A second agreed: "#BBCBreakfast continues to send us your views and as the BBC head of news has basically said we'll ignore them."

Another fumed: "Yet again, BBC Newswatch tells the audience the BBC are always right…. Why do you bother with questions about the BBC’s performance etc. You know you will say you are right?"