GLENN DOES IT AGAIN

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Time for another brief ride on one of my more 'out-there' hobby horses. Glenn Campbell, host of The Politics Show: Scotland is, as I've shown in some detail here, biased towards Labour and against the SNP and the Conservatives. Another week, and yet more proof.
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A three-way discussion on spending cuts between Conservative David Mundell, the SNP's Stewart Hosie and Labour's David Cairns saw Mr Mundell interrupted 4 times (I.C. of 0.9), Mr Hosie interrupted 3 times (I.C. of 0.5) and Mr Cairns interrupted twice (I.C. of 0.4). This shows what any viewer could plainly see, that Mr Mundell had a tougher time of it than Mr Cairns.
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I last e-mailed Mr Mundell a week ago with a full, updated list of Glenn's interruption coefficients and his automated e-mail response proves that he's got it (if nothing else). I will send a further update today. Having his appearance on yesterday's show fresh in his mind should help convince him that there's a problem with The Politics Show: Scotland - and that something needs doing about it, and soon.

TRY A LITTLE BIAS

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Time for me to mount one of my favourite hobby horses again, so brace yourselves!
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Today's Politics Show Scotland confirmed (again) my oft-repeated observations about the biases of its Labour-friendly presenter Glenn Campbell. He interviewed 4 politicians - one from Labour, one from the Conservatives and two from the SNP. Here are the statistics:
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Douglas Alexander (Labour) - 8 minute 3 second interview - 5 interruptions - I.C. of 0.6
Kenny MacAskill (SNP) - 6 minute 56 second interview - 7 interruptions - I.C. of 1.1
Richard Lochhead (SNP) - 5 minute 51 second interview - 6 interruptions - I.C. of 1.1
Bill Aitken (Conservative) - 2 minute 20 second interview - 2 interruptions - I.C. of 1.0
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Since I began recording interruption coefficients back in June last year 69 of Glenn's interviews have come my way. What are his averages (as of today) for each of the political parties:
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Conservatives (12 interviews) - 1.13
SNP (21 interviews) - 0.90
Labour (26 interviews) - 0.43
Lib Dems (6 interviews) - 0.32
Independent (1 interview) - 0
Greens (1 interview) - 0
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The evidence is conclusive. Interviews for the SNP are twice as tough at those for Labour - which confirms objectively how it feels subjectively. The Conservatives, of course, fare even worse, nearing three times as tough.
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Glenn's Top 10 looks like this:
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1. 28/6/09 David Mundell (Conservative) - 2.9
2. 14/6/09 Bill Aitken (Conservative) - 2.0
3. 11/10/09 Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) - 1.8
4. 2/07/09 Angus Robertson (SNP) - 1.6
5. 21/06/09 Richard Cook (Conservative) - 1.5
6. 29/11/09 Annabel Goldie (Conservative) - 1.4
7. 11/10/09 Ruth Davidson (Conservative) - 1.4
8. 4/10/09 John Swinney (SNP) - 1.4
9. 4/10/09 David Mundell (Conservative) - 1.3
10. 11/10/09 Willie Bain (Labour) - 1.3

LABOUR IS MY DARLING

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Time for you all to flee to the fire exits because I'm going to talk about The Politics Show: Scotland again! You can come back soon though because I'll be very quick.
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My amply-supported contention that presenter Glenn Campbell is soft on Labour received another boost today with an interview with Alistair Darling that contained only one (mild) interruption, and reminded this viewer of a historical painting of Socrates and his doting pupil. Its I.C. was a mere 0.2. Glenn's big interview with David Cameron was noticably less reverential, though I've seen far worse Glenn Campbell interviews with Tories than this one. The I.C. here was 0.6.
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GLENN'S UNDER THE MICROSCOPE AGAIN

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Though I know I'm treading a very lonely path here (as not even Scots are interested in it), I do find The Politics Show: Scotland really intriguing as concerns political bias. Its presenter Glenn Campbell is so shamelessly pro-Labour and, conversely, so clearly anti-SNP and (when he can be bothered to interview them) anti-Conservative that it stands out not just a mile but several miles. A re-built Tower of Babel in the Netherlands would be less obvious! Perhaps because the show doesn't get high viewing figures (probably only me and a few MSPs), Glenn thinks he can get away with it unobserved.
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Today he interviewed a UK Labour minister (who I'd never heard of) called Ann McKechin. He interrupted her only once, and then only for factual clarification. The resultant I.C. was a paltry 0.3. Amazingly for this highly assertive interviewer, there were even pauses after several of her answers, so respectful was he towards her. I had to smile at that. She shared the interview with an SNP MSP called Anne McLauglin, who Glenn interrupted four times, cutting her off twice (I.C. of 1.3). One of those interruptions was a cheeky contradiction, which put her off her stride and made the Labour MP laugh at her expense.
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Useless SNP minister Fiona Hyslop also came under Glenn's fire. The interview began with Haiti and there were, as would be expected here, few interruptions. However, in the final couple of minutes the conversation turned to Scottish affairs & the interruptions piled in (overall I.C. of 0.8).
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There were no Conservative guests this week (and no UKIP guests, but then again there are never any UKIP interviewees on this programme!!), so no harm came to them.
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As I keep saying, I look at this with complete scientific detachment (strongly disliking both Labour and the SNP). I can't help but wonder though why the feisty Alex Salmond isn't tossing a caber at Glenn Campbell even as I write?
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SN(i)P(ing)

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As a disinterested party in this (strongly disliking both Labour and the SNP), I find The Politics Show: Scotland and its pro-Labour presenter Glenn Campbell intriguing but not particularly unsettling (at an emotional level). In any interview featuring a Labour and an SNP spokesman, it's pretty much a dead certainty with Glenn that the SNP spokesman will come off worse. Today was yet more proof of this.
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Discussing health (smoking in particular), the SNP's pale-looking spokeslady Shona Robison was interrupted twice, while Labour's Richard Simpson was not interrupted at all. Even to this disinterested viewer, the disparity in the treatment between the two was blatant. When Glenn went on to interview UK energy minister (Labour) Lord Hunt, it was (like the Simpson interview) an interruption-free zone (I.C. of 0). I suspect regular SNP viewers of the programme will fume at Glenn Campbell rather as I fume at Andrew Marr or James Naughtie!
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OCH, THAT'S NAE FAIR

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For anyone who doesn't watch BBC 1 in Scotland, or the BBC's Parliament Channel, The Politics Show: Scotland is available on the BBC i-player. Today's edition confirmed many of the points I have made (intermittently) on this blog about the programme's various biases. I have suggested that the show's presenter Glenn Campbell is a leftie sympathetic to Labour and the Liberal Democrats while being unsympathetic to the Conservatives and SNP.
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The Pre-Budget Report of Alistair Darling and the coming Scottish S.N.P. Budget was discussed in a joint interview between the Scottish government's finance secretary John Swinney (of the SNP) and Labour's Andy Kerr. The interview could not have been less evenly handled! Though Mr Swinney got a little bit longer to speak (4 minutes 40 seconds to Mr Kerr's 4 minutes), he was interrupted 5 times while Mr Kerr was not interrupted at all. The I.C.s work out as 1.1 against John Swinney and 0 against Andy Kerr. Kerr was allowed to ramble along to the very end of his answers (with no great coherence at times) while Swinney was badgered throughout. Case proved I'd say as regards anti-SNP/pro-Labour bias. (I, naturally, don't care for either party!)
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The issue was also discussed with Tavish Scott, affable leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Here there was only one interruption, resulting in a small I.C. of 0.3. Further proof!
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There were no Conservative on the programme. The nearest we got to a Conservative was Iain McMillan of the Scottish C.B.I., described (in typical left-wing terminology) by Glenn Campbell as "the bosses' organisation". This interview resulted in the day's highest I.C. of 1.3 (with 9 interruptions). During the interview Campbell called public-private initiatives "a rip-off" and spoke up for the public sector. This may be a questioner's stance, but it's not a surprising one for this interviewer (who is now appearing nationally as an occassional presenter on Radio 4's PM.)
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A NOT SO LOVABLE EXPERIENCE FOR ANNABEL GOLDIE

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Bias on a single edition of a programme is at its most obvious when there are interviewees from a range of political parties being interviewed by just one interviewer. Such a situation was afforded by today's Politics Show: Scotland, hosted by Glenn Campbell (who now does an occasional stint on Radio 4's PM as well).
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The first interviewee was Labour's Susan Deacon, a former Scottish health minister. Glenn did not interrupt her once in 4 minutes 37 seconds (I.C., obviously, of 0).
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The closing interviews featured Mike Russell of the SNP and the Labour leader in the Scottish parliament, Iain Gray. Russell was interrupted 4 times, but got 6 minutes 23 seconds of the interview (I.C. of 0.6). Gray was interrupted only twice, but got less time, namely 3 minutes 46 seconds (I.C. of 0.6). The I.C.s here don't quite reflect the intensity of Glenn's interview with Mr Russell (who carried on talking regardless, as at one stage did Glenn Campbell).
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In between came the fine Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie. She got 7 minutes 2 seconds of Glenn's precious time but was interrupted no less than 10 times (I.C. of 1.4)!!
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It's the usual pattern with this man.
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SOME MINORS GO MISSING, BUT THE POLICE AREN'T NEEDED

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A couple of weeks ago, the Politics Show: Scotland (hosted by Glenn Campbell) held a debate between the candidates for Scotland's four main political parties for the forthcoming Glasgow North East by-election (the one to replace arch-trougher Speaker Michael Martin, now scandalously ennobled by the Labour government as Baron Martin of Springburn) - SNP, Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
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Today it featured three short video presentations by some of the minor parties. Which minor parties? Well, firstly the far-left Solidarity (Tommy Sheridan), then the far-left Greens and finally the far-left Scottish Socialist Party. I aha-ed at this, thinking 'That's left-wing bias, if ever I saw it.' At the end came a list of the other candidates who didn't get a spot on the programme, including the BNP, the Jury Team (that admirable brainchild of Sir Paul Judge), a blind chap called Mikey who appeared on Big Brother and a rag-bag of other mysterious names. Why weren't they selected? Were they not left-wing enough?
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Well, looking at the programme's website , all the candidates are given a video spot there and those mysterious candidates all turn out to be yet more far-leftists. Frankly, I can't get too worked up about them not getting a spot on the main TV programme, nor the BNP for that matter. It would have been nice to hear from The Jury Team (and maybe even Mikey). Still, democracy is democracy and if three of the nonentities get a place on the TV, why not all of them?*

OCTOBER'S I.C.s - GLENN CAMPBELL

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Usually available nationwide on the BBC's Parliament Channel (Sundays) and always on the BBC i-player The Politics Show: Scotland is very much the counterpart of its UK sibling - though its host Glenn Campbell is, in my view, more clearly biased than Jon Sopel. I have been suggesting for a while that he seems to be softer on Labour and the Lib Dems than the SNP and the Conservatives. (see http://beebbiascraig.blogspot.com/2009/10/im-so-biased-i-could-cry.html and http://beebbiascraig.blogspot.com/2009/10/bias-on-my-mind.html).
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Here's what he got up to last month:
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11/10 Nicola Sturgeon SNP 1.8
11/10 Ruth Davidson Conservative 1.4
04/10 John Swinney SNP 1.4
11/10 Willie Bain Labour 1.3
04/10 David Mundell Conservative 1.3
11/10 David Kerr SNP 1
18/10 David Mundell Conservative 0.9
11/10 Steven Purcell Labour 0.6
11/10 Alistair Darling Labour 0.6
18/10 John McFall Labour 0.4
18/10 Alex Salmond SNP 0.1
11/10 Eileen Baxendale Lib Dem 0
18/10 Michael Moore Lib Dem 0
25/10 Brian Wilson Labour 0
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His averages are:
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Conservatives - 1.2
SNP - 1.08
Labour - 0.58
Lib Dems - 0
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They seem pretty clear-cut, don't they? Well, even more clear-cut are his super-averages since June (covering 30 interviews):
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Conservatives (6) - 1.67
SNP (8) - 1.05
Labour (13) - 0.51
Lib Dems (3) - 0
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If you are a Conservative politician you are 3 times more likely to be interrupted than a Labour politician, and if you are an SNP politician you are twice as likely to be interrupted than a Labour politician. It pays to be a Labour politician - or a Lib Dem - when being interviewed by biased Glenn Campbell!
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I'M SO BIASED I COULD CRY

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If the UK-wide Politics Show was on less biased form that usual, the same may not be said of The Politics Show: Scotland. A three-way discussion on the future of Scotland's banks between Michael Moore for the Liberal Democrats, John McFall for Labour and David Mundell for the Conservatives resulted in the following interruption coefficients for presenter Glenn Campbell:
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David Mundell - 0.9
John McFall - 0.4
Michael Moore - 0
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One of the Mr Mundell's interruptions was a classic Politics Show ambush, quoting some mischief-making about his position from the centre-left The Sunday Herald.
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Worse was to come.
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Here's how Glenn began the next segment: "Now, MPs expenses are back in the news with Gordon Brown, David Cameron and others being ordered to pay back money they'd claimed."
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This is simply untrue. Sir Thomas Legg did indeed suggest that Gordon Brown should pay back more than £12,000, but he did not suggest David Cameron should pay back a single penny, only asking for more information about a £200 payment.
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My suspicions that Glenn Campbell dislikes the Conservatives and is not too keen on the SNP either, but has quite a soft spot for Labour and the Lib Dems grows stronger by the week.
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BIAS ON MY MIND

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My suspicions about The Politics Show: Scotland's presenter Glenn Campbell seem to be being bourne out. Essentially, these are that he is softer on Labour and the Liberal Democrats than on the Conservatives and the SNP.

Today's programme featured a pretty gentle interview with Alistair Darling (I.C. of 0.6). Glenn interrupted Darling a few times during his answers to questions about a public sector pay freeze. (That does seem to exercise BBC employees, for some reason). When Glenn asked about Conservative proposals, however, and Darling repeatedly turned his fire on the wicked Tories - there were no interruptions whatsoever (in answer after answer). Uncanny!

Regarding Labour and the SNP, we witnessed a joint interview with the Labour leader of Glasgow City Council Steven Purcell and the SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon. Both got to talk for a similar amount of time and on the same topics but, whereas the Labour man was only interrupted twice, Nicola was interrupted 6 times. (In terms of I.C.s, that's 0.6 for Steven Purcell and 1.8 for Nicola Sturgeon).

Somewhat countering my suspicions though were the I.C.s accrued by Glenn Campbell during a debate between the four main candidates in the forthcoming Glasgow North East by-election - though not the one about the Conservatives nor the one about the Liberal Democrats!:
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Ruth Davidson (Conservative) - 1.4
Willie Bain (Labour) - 1.3
David Kerr (SNP) - 1
Eileen Baxendale (Lib Dem) - 0

SEPTEMBER'S I.C.s - GLENN CAMPBELL

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Just one interview too from The Politics Show: Scotland's Glenn Campbell (who was seen more widely on our screens when the Lockerbie bomber was released), a o.9-strength interview with Labour's Jim Murphy.

THEIR EYES MET ACROSS A CROWDED SENATE...

Today's main story on the BBC was the death of the last great prince of the Kennedy clan, Senator Edward Kennedy. Of the BBC's coverage I merely wish to highlight a couple of telling vignettes.

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Firstly, here's a short sample of quotes from John Humphrys on this morning's 'Today', all about Ted Kennedy:

(approx 6.45am) "A lot of people say he would - and indeed should - have been president."

(approx 6.53am) "..and could have been president - some people say should - himself."

(approx 6.55am) "He was a big figure in every respect, wasn't he? I mean, when you saw him on the floor of the Senate, when you looked at the floor of the Senate and saw Ted Kennedy was there, your eyes automatically went to him."

(approx 7.09am) "A staunch liberal, and a man who himself could - some said should - have become American president."

(approx 8.10am) "It's a dangerous thing to say, but he probably would have become president had it not been for Chappaquiddick, wouldn't he?"

I think John Humphrys was, all in all, a fan of the 'dean' of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party (in Justin Webb's phrase), don't you? And I have a suspicion that he thinks Senator Kennedy could - maybe should - have been president too!


Secondly, Glenn Campbell on 'The World at One' reported sympathetically on Ted Kennedy's involvement with Northern Ireland, where (as Martha Kearney's introduction made clear) some Unionists and Conservative politicianS felt he was far too close to the Republican movement.

Campbell's first 'talking (invisible, this being radio!) head' was John Hume. Then came Norman Tebbitt, followed again by John Hume (who criticised what Lord Tebbitt had said, without - of course - any subsequent right to reply for Big Norm) and, last and by all means least, Martin MacGuinness. No Northern Irish Unionist voices? Surprisingly not. So not, perhaps, the most balanced of reports from Glenn.

JULY'S I.C.s - GLENN CAMPBELL

Not to be confused with someone else, Glenn Campbell is the 'Jon Sopel' of BBC Scotland's 'Politics Show' (broadcast across the UK on the BBC Parliament channel, Sundays at 3.00pm). There was only one edition of the programme this month, so there's not much to go on. Still the 4 interviews are not untypical, being dominated by the left and seeming to be biased towards Labour and against the SNP!

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Here are July's mcinterruption coefficients for Glenn Campbell:

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Angus Robertson, SNP (12/7) -1.6

Alistair Darling, Labour (12/7) - 1

Douglas Alexander, Labour (12/7) - 0.2

Adam Ingram, Labour (12/7) - 0

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Average number of interruptions per political party

SNP - 1.6

Labour - 0.4

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Glenn's performance in June was what I expect from him too, with all three top places going to Conservatives (average IC, based on 3 interviews, of 2.1), and a 0.8 score against three leading Scots Nats. The Labour figure for June (with 4 interviews) was only 0.4.

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Charming man though Glenn Campbell is, none 0f this surprises me. I think he's a particularly biased interviewer, and especially against the Tories. (UKIP never gets a look in). When the show returns, we shall find out more.