BBC News Election Coverage
The BBC News website has been running in-depth coverage of the US 08 election since late last year. Certainly the attention BBC is devoting to this election far surpasses any US coverage of a foreign election, but this is not in the least surprising.
This is the BBC News site sub-section covering the 08 election.
The BBC coverage is somewhat different from what may be found in the US news media. The BBC is more neutral, more distant. There is no partisan slant. The reporters are fairly good at hiding their personal preferences and hence are regularly accused of being in the tank for either candidate.
During the primaries, there was perhaps a very slight pro-Hillary bias - I suspect that the reporters genuinely didn't believe Obama could win. Even now, the reporting is far more neutral than one might expect from a supposedly leftist organization like the BBC. There is no real criticism of McCain, even though the reporting makes it clear that McCain's chances of winning at this point are virtually nil.
Since the conventions, the BBC has several new reporters on the ground. Some of them, in addition to regular reporting, also have their own blogs. These blogs are great for adding color to the normal reporting, especially because they're written from a non-American perspective.
The BBC also has regular "Voters' Views" mini-features like this one, where random voters are giving their opinion on certain events. These are always interesting to read for the sheer range of diametrically opposing views.
When it comes to primary news reporting, BBC's election coverage frankly has very little new or different to offer, simply because the election is so well covered by all news organizations. The background and analysis features are rarely boring, however. The BBC often tries to explain the intricacies of the US political process; this is aimed at non-Americans, but some Americans may find it enlightening as well (not necessarily the political junkies comprising the TPM readership though).
A final note about form - the BBC News website features relatively short, easy to read articles. The site is light on advertising (no ads if you read in the UK I believe) and the layout is very clean and well organized. Worth reading.
This is the BBC News site sub-section covering the 08 election.
The BBC coverage is somewhat different from what may be found in the US news media. The BBC is more neutral, more distant. There is no partisan slant. The reporters are fairly good at hiding their personal preferences and hence are regularly accused of being in the tank for either candidate.
During the primaries, there was perhaps a very slight pro-Hillary bias - I suspect that the reporters genuinely didn't believe Obama could win. Even now, the reporting is far more neutral than one might expect from a supposedly leftist organization like the BBC. There is no real criticism of McCain, even though the reporting makes it clear that McCain's chances of winning at this point are virtually nil.
Since the conventions, the BBC has several new reporters on the ground. Some of them, in addition to regular reporting, also have their own blogs. These blogs are great for adding color to the normal reporting, especially because they're written from a non-American perspective.
The BBC also has regular "Voters' Views" mini-features like this one, where random voters are giving their opinion on certain events. These are always interesting to read for the sheer range of diametrically opposing views.
When it comes to primary news reporting, BBC's election coverage frankly has very little new or different to offer, simply because the election is so well covered by all news organizations. The background and analysis features are rarely boring, however. The BBC often tries to explain the intricacies of the US political process; this is aimed at non-Americans, but some Americans may find it enlightening as well (not necessarily the political junkies comprising the TPM readership though).
A final note about form - the BBC News website features relatively short, easy to read articles. The site is light on advertising (no ads if you read in the UK I believe) and the layout is very clean and well organized. Worth reading.
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Thanks for this codegen! Our household also started to bypass the domestic coverage as often as possible when it became clear they were slanting their coverage outrageously and that the level of analysis had plummeted to a near mindless, uncritical, and facially biased nadir.
November 1, 2008 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
"How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?"
=D
November 1, 2008 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greatest title ever. Summed up exactly how I felt four years ago.
November 2, 2008 12:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
I check the BBC election section every morning, it's nice. I also see what they're carrying on Aljazeera (english) and Der Spiegel (international).
What I love more than the coverage though is reading the reader comment sections. There are a lot of US folks who write in, but obviously also quite a few commenting from outside America. It's interesting to see peoples' impressions of our crazy election season -- and needless to say, the majority of foreign commentators have an Obama bias. :)
November 1, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is really good to get a second, third , fourth and sometimes fifth opinion from outside the bubble we live in. I read some articles I strongly disagree with and some that are spot on.
November 1, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink