A study by Cardiff University has found that broadcasters are letting down voters by relying heavily on 'vox pop' interviews and failing to scrutinise political claims during election campaigns. The research examined coverage of this year's national elections in Wales and Scotland, as well as local elections in England, on UK-wide television news between 2 March and 6 May.
The report, authored by Stephen Cushion, Keighley Perkins and Maxwell Modell, argues that strict impartiality rules directly undermine the media's ability to thoroughly examine political pledges. For the first time, the BBC's election guidelines labelled seven parties as 'major', requiring broadly similar coverage levels. The researchers found that 'large chunks of airtime were dedicated to vox pops', which featured in 26.3% of all Welsh television news items covering the election, at the expense of policy coverage or scrutiny of political claims.
Lead author Stephen Cushion said: 'In an age of multiparty politics, our new research raises serious questions about whether the UK's current due impartiality rules are fit for purpose during an election campaign period. This does not mean impartiality should be abandoned in a Fox News-style way, but the rules need to be rethought to give broadcasters the flexibility to provide greater scrutiny in day-to-day news reporting.'
The study found that over 70% of claims by politicians on TV news received no or limited scrutiny. In items specifically focusing on party policy, candidate interviews or political claims, 49% featured zero scrutiny, 22% offered only brief scrutiny, and just 29% provided substantial scrutiny. Instead of substantive policy debate, much coverage focused on the 'horse race' elements of the election.
The report also noted that 164 individual vox pops were broadcast, far more than the perspectives of political candidates. While acknowledging the value of understanding voters' anxieties, the researchers argued that relying on vox pops 'on this scale, they took up valuable airtime at the expense of policy coverage, scrutiny of political claims and explanation of the workings of the Welsh political system'. The study examined flagship UK bulletins including BBC News at Ten, ITV News at Ten and Channel 4 News, as well as key evening bulletins in Wales.
