BBC bias is ignoring the rural voice once again

At the risk of being accused of a little bias in my opinions of the BBC, I could list some of the times I've mentioned them in this column. For example, badgers, live exports, wild food, traceability and re-wilding.

I know I am very pro-country, but usually my comments follow some biased coverage of rural issues, which influence people who don't understand. But who can blame them, when the reporting is often so distorted? The knowledge-gap between town and country is wider than it's ever been, because the main source of information comes via the media.

Even Open Farm Sundays, country shows and city farms don't realistically bridge that gap. We need to be clear about food security and the costs of production, and why it affects us all and not just farmers' profit.

I loved it when the Independent Panel's review found that the BBC's coverage of bTB and badgers was "skewed in favour of the anti-cull lobby". The BBC was asked questions which I've been asking, like where are the pictures of sick badgers, or farmers grieving for their dead livestock? The review found that they often quoted the RSPB or the National Trust, rather than farmers, and stories were "too often viewed through the environmentalist lens". Apparently a poll of audiences indicated that rural problems were viewed with a "metropolitan bias". Brilliant.

It said that too many celebrities were quoted, i.e. Brian May and badgers, instead of scientists and experts, and the BBC was too "squeamish and simplistic, and they should tackle issues head-on". When George Monbiot promoted the return of beavers and wolves, they gave little realistic coverage of the impact this would have on people and animals living in the "wild". Probably this wouldn't be an issue until the wolves took over from urban foxes and patrolled city streets and gardens, making it less than safe to go out at night.

The recent flooding was highlighted, and one critic commented that the consequences to farmland were under-reported, and only increased when the "effluent met the affluent". Brilliant.

Recently, we saw Prince Charles re-visiting Somerset, and the message was, everything is back to normal. Really? Where were the farmers whose cattle are still inside because they have no grazing and who won't have enough forage for winter? They seem to have been forgotten.

They said the BBC "could do better", that they could be more accurate and emphasise the importance of the countryside's role in national life. Their response was, of course, to highlight the good things in the review and almost ignore the criticisms.

They did suggest some changes to their reporting, not least to appoint a rural editor to ensure accuracy. You have to wonder who that might be, don't you? Not so brilliant.

They need a panel with some opinionated women on it to ask awkward questions! Me? How likely is that?

* Rosemary Allen is a retired livestock farmer now living near Ellesmere and with her husband Peter is part of CowCash-UK.