BBC balance
From Michael Cockerell
Sir: I was glad that Charles Moore (The Spectator’s notes, 11 June) enjoyed my BBC documentary on the 1975 Common Market referendum. But in talking about the unanimity then of the media for a ‘yes’ vote he repeats the oft-made charge that the BBC was a pro-Market propagandist. This is not the case. I made four films at the time about the campaign and the issues, such as sovereignty; all were strictly neutral and no hierarch ever told me what to say. Nor did I find any evidence of bias when I looked again at all the other broadcasts the BBC made during that campaign. Incidentally, Charles Moore was also wrong to say that the Daily Express was then anti-Market — it was pro.
Michael Cockerell
BBC Political Documentaries, London SW1
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