THE BBC and STV are likely to consider the Scottish Green Party as a minor party and downgrade their coverage of the party, including leaving its leadership out of debates.
Election coverage rules for both the BBC and independent television divide political parties into “major” and “minor” or “smaller” parties – the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the SNP are the four parties designated “major” in Scotland, while despite having many more members and consistently out-polling the Liberal Democrats, the Greens are classed as “smaller”.
Media regulator Ofcom confirmed to The National last night that it is presently consulting on its guidelines for 2016 election coverage, but the Greens are preparing for a repeat of last year’s guidelines which relegated them to minor party status.
STV and Border Television are understood to be awaiting the publication of Ofcom’s guidelines before taking a final editorial decision on the status of parties.
The Greens have also launched a petition asking the BBC Trust to change the status they have been accorded in the draft coverage guidelines – party co-convener Patrick Harvie and other senior members have already met with senior BBC Scotland management over the issue.
The BBC Trust consultation document states: “Where the larger parties are featuring regularly, the Greens should have a minimum of one appearance a week on each appropriate programme strand.”
However, the guidelines do not give equal status to the Greens or UKIP or any other party, meaning that they can be excluded from leaders’ debates or panels.
The latest TNS opinion poll published just before Christmas showed that the Greens now have more than double the support for the Liberal Democrats on the regional list ballot, with nine per cent of those polled indicating they would vote Green against four per cent for the Lib Dems.
Lothians Green MSP Alison Johnstone said: “It’s alarming that mainstream broadcasters are taking so long to catch up with the changes Scottish politics has seen in the past few years. Scottish voters are more engaged than ever and expect balanced coverage of the election race.
“The Scottish Greens are set to be a major party in the next Parliament, and we hope the media take a serious look at how to better reflect the changed political landscape in the lead up to May.’
A spokeswoman for the BBC Trust said: “The Trust is holding a public consultation on the Election Guidelines and the Scottish Green Party, along with all other political parties, have been invited to make submissions – the Trust will make a final decision in February.”
An academic who published research into media bias during the referendum campaigns strongly supported the Scottish Greens last night.
Dr John Robertson, Professor in Media Politics at the University of the West of Scotland, said: “BBC Scotland chiefs and their massed ranks of producers and researchers are not “disconnected from reality” as some have suggested. These are highly- paid and, in some cases, highly-qualified staff who know what they’re doing. It would be appalling if they were just stupid, wouldn’t it?
“These decisions are politically motivated by the unionist and centrist positions BBC governors and senior staff, share with the unionist and centrist parties, Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem and UKIP.
“The data in Scotland makes clear that the Greens should treated as least as well as the Lib Dems. If the Greens are to be a ‘small party’ then so must the Lib Dems.
“If the Lib Dems are to be treated as a “big party” despite their recent collapse and projected near-extinction in 2016, then so must the Greens. In the interests of enhancing democracy, I’d prefer the second option.”
The National View: BBC must give the Greens their fair share of airtime
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