Consultation Response - Media 12 - Cardiff University PDF 2 MB

cases, this involves news items about England or England and Wales being
presented, as far as audiences without a detailed knowledge of devolution are
concerned, as if they apply to the UK as a whole. We look further at this issue
in one of our case studies.
Our expanded analysis of comparisons between nations suggests that on the
BBC there has been an increase in the volume of comparisons between
nations, particularly in a substantive fashion.
5. Case Studies
We have chosen two of the three case studies in response to our quantitative
findings. The first focuses on an example of the kind of reporting we highlight
in Section 4: stories about England or England and Wales which are generally
reported as if they apply UK-wide. The second case study looks at examples
of good practice – instances which increased in 2009 – where reporters take
the opportunity to compare and contrast policy between nations. The third
case study contrasts coverage of stories involving devolved issues or powers
on network bulletins and the subsequent opt-outs.
Case Study 1: A review of police cautions
We have chosen this case study to exemplify the most common form of
misleading coverage identified in Section 4: instances where news reports
limited to England or England and Wales give the impression that they refer
to the whole UK.
On 9 November 2009 the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, announced that a
review would take place about how police cautions are dealt with. While the
Justice Secretary’s review has implications for England and Wales, it has none
for Northern Ireland or for Scotland, where criminal justice is devolved to the
Scottish Parliament and the police do not use the cautions system.
Ten news items in the sample covered this story. There was one BBC News at
Six television news item, two online pieces and six radio items (three on the
World at One, two on PM and one on Radio 4’s Six O’Clock News). Of the
other news outlets, only Channel 4 News dealt with the story.
On both the BBC television and radio items, the reporting of the police review
did not make clear that the story applied only to England and Wales, or that
Scotland does not have a cautions system. Channel 4 News likewise made no
reference to it. It was left to BBC News online to point out that Scottish police
do not issue cautions. No news outlet explicitly stated that the review was not
relevant to Northern Ireland.
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