BBC defends coverage of Pope’s Visit

 

The BBC has defended its coverage of the State Visit by Pope Benedict XVI after 750 complaints made by viewers who felt the visit dominated the BBC’s output or was too positive.

 

The BBC has defended its coverage of the State Visit by Pope Benedict VXI last week. The somewhat controversial visit by the head of the Catholic Church had been the subject of much criticism and protest before the Pope had even set foot inside the country. On the eve of his visit a close advisor to the Pope described the UK as being ‘like a third world country’ adding further controversy to the visit.

Now the BBC has defended its own coverage of the visit by Benedict XVI following 750 complaints from viewers. The complaints range from viewers who felt the visit received too much attention in the BBC’s output while others felt the coverage was too positive – and some even felt it was too negative. The complaints to the BBC highlight just how much the public were divided over the visit. However, it wasn’t all complaints for the corporation with over 100 people commending the BBC’s range of programmes for the visit.

“The Pope’s visit was of historic significance for millions of Catholics and to the wider population of the UK and it has provoked a range of public reactions. In the context of the millions of viewers who enjoyed our live events coverage of the five major ceremonies, the live news coverage on the BBC News Channel, the news bulletins, and the various documentaries, the complaints reflect some of the public’s opposing views about the visit. BBC News coverage of any subject is always approached in an impartial and accurate way, reflecting the different sides of any debate” – BBC Spokesperson on the complaints

In London on Saturday over 20,000 people demonstrated against the state visit by the Pope. The protestors reasons for demonstrating against the head of the Catholic Church varied with some angry at his attacks on homosexuality while others were protesting against his stance on contraception and abortion. Other protestors were angry that the tax payers were footing a bill of millions for the visit at a time with the Con-Dem coalition is savagely cutting budgets across government departments.