BBC Trust to Examine Science Coverage

LONDON: The BBC Trust is to review the accuracy and impartiality of the BBC’s science coverage, accessing news and factual output that refers to scientific findings, public policy and politically controversial matters.

This is the latest in a series of reviews from the BBC Trust that look at the impartiality in specific areas of the pubcaster’s output. For the purposes of the review, "science" will be defined to include not just the natural sciences but also those aspects of technology, medicine and the environment that entail scientific statements, research findings or other claims made by scientists. The review will be carried out this spring and findings will be published in 2011.

"Science is an area of great importance to license-fee payers, which provokes strong reaction and covers some of the most sensitive editorial issues the BBC faces," said Richard Tait, a BBC Trustee and chair of the Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee (ESC). "Heated debate in recent years around topics like climate change, GM crops and the MMR vaccine reflects this, and BBC reporting has to steer a course through these controversial issues while remaining impartial. The BBC has a well-earned reputation for the quality of its science reporting, but it is also important that we look at it afresh to ensure that it is adhering to the very high standards that license-fee payers expect."