How impartial was news coverage of the Senedd election campaign?

Martin Shipton

Broadcasters covering the Senedd election broadly allocated similar levels of coverage to all six major parties, but did not consistently challenge the depth or credibility of competing claims, a Cardiff University study has concluded.

Research at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture led by Professor Stephen Cushion has resulted in a report that states: “Our systematic analysis … has tracked coverage across both UK-wide and Wales-specific broadcasters between 8 April and 4 May, including flagship TV news bulletins on the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, alongside online news articles from BBC Wales, ITV Wales, S4C and Sky News, and social media content produced by these outlets. In total, we examined 509 news items and 1,029 party references.

“We found all broadcasters provided broadly similar levels of coverage of Labour, Plaid Cymru, Reform, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens over the campaign period. But there were subtle but significant differences in party coverage across broadcasters and media platforms.

“TV news and social media channels adopted a more rigid approach to party balance than online news, which gave Plaid Cymru and Reform more prominence. This was largely due to media coverage of the horse race, with many stories focused on both parties leading the polls and speculation about which would likely lead the next Welsh government.”

The researchers examined 105 Welsh TV items and 12 UK TV items, which together featured 390 party references. In Welsh TV news, Plaid Cymru (38), Reform UK (37), Labour (37) and the Conservatives (36) were treated as major parties and received slightly more coverage than the Liberal Democrats (30) and Greens (28), who were treated as significant minor parties.

On UK-wide TV news, coverage of the Senedd election was limited. It focused on short items announcing the launch of party manifestos, polling, and the leaders’ debates. The coverage was broadly balanced, with slightly more prominent coverage of Labour, the incumbent party in the UK and Wales.

Labour was the lead party in most UK-wide and Welsh TV news items (18). This was often driven by stories framed around whether the election would represent the end of Labour dominance in Wales, which was one of the most prominent media narratives of the campaign.

For example, on 3rd May, BBC News at Ten political editor Chris Mason examined the pressing challenges facing Labour across the UK. He assessed whether the party might lose ground in Wales, struggle to hold onto seats in London councils, and fail to end the SNP’s 19-year dominance – raising questions about what these outcomes could mean for Keir Starmer in Number 10.

Plaid Cymru (11) and the Liberal Democrats (8) also benefited from slightly more lead stories than Reform (7), the Conservatives (6) and the Greens (6). Plaid Cymru’s prominence was boosted by the fact that they were one of two parties (along with the Liberal Democrats) to launch their manifestos during the official campaign period. Other parties released their manifestos before we began tracking election coverage.

Beyond stories about the likely end of Labour’s dynasty in Wales, broadcasters did not single out a party on any particular theme. Most items usually focused on one of the following: manifesto launches, one-on-one studio interviews, or campaign features. For example, ITV Wales at Six conducted a series of studio interviews with the leaders of each party, which included scrutinising key policy areas.

Arguing

More frequently, TV news items often presented parties arguing with one another about an issue without always independently assessing the credibility of their respective claims.

This typically happened in the form of condensed highlights from one of the many broadcast debate programmes. Another way all parties featured in a single news story was when a specific policy area was covered and broadcasters simply set out multiple and often brief policy pledges side by side.

For example, on 1 May ITV Wales reported on low school attendance at schools and Wales’ poorer educational performance compared to England and Scotland. Each party had a line each responding to the issue, but there was no scrutiny or challenge of any claims.

Attempting to reflect all parties as well as hold them to account represents one of the most challenging features of the Senedd election campaign. All broadcasters have been committed to rules on impartiality, but at times coverage has provided more breadth than depth when covering the parties’ competing policy positions.

The report states: “We examined 125 online news items, which featured a total of 484 party references. Unlike broadcast news, online and social media content are not subject to the same impartiality requirements set out by Ofcom, which gives broadcasters greater flexibility in how political content is selected and presented in digital formats. Despite this, coverage was principally through the lens of all six larger parties demonstrating a commitment to impartiality.

“However, there was a greater focus on Plaid Cymru and Reform over the course of the campaign. In online news, Plaid Cymru (61) and Reform (58) received the most substantial references, followed by Labour (50), the Conservatives (43), the Liberal Democrats (38) and the Greens (35).

“One of the main reasons Plaid Cymru and Reform featured more was due to coverage of the horse-race, with stories featuring both parties leading the polls and their prospects of forming the next Welsh government.

“The prominence of Plaid Cymru (31) and Reform (30) resulted in them leading the most online news items with Labour (27) not far behind. The Liberal Democrats (21), Greens (16) and the Conservatives (15) were the leading party in far fewer online news stories. This meant they did not appear in as many headlines and were less visible to the casual news consumer.

“Online news was also the only place where smaller parties, such as the Heritage Party and Gwlad, received consistent, if low-level coverage.”

Social media

The researchers also examined 71 social media items, which featured a total of 155 party references.
Social media election posts allocated party coverage more evenly than online news. Plaid Cymru appeared most frequently (16) followed closely by the Liberal Democrats (15) with Labour, the Greens and Reform each receiving 14 substantial references and the Conservatives slightly behind (13).

The evenness of coverage suggests broadcasters were conscious of ensuring that all six parties received broadly equivalent coverage on social media. In brief references to parties, Labour appeared most frequently (22) followed by Plaid Cymru (15), Reform (12), the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats (tied at 7 each) and Greens (5).

The report states: “It is important to recognise, however, that the majority of social media posts consisted of clips taken from televised leaders’ debates where party leaders were given the opportunity to discuss and contest their positions on particular policy issues.

“In many cases, these clips place competing viewpoints side-by-side as illustrated in the example below in which party leaders debate the Welsh Government’s Nation of Sanctuary policy. As such, the relative balance observed across social media coverage may partly reflect the repurposing of existing broadcast material into shorter, platform-friendly clips that foreground contrasting political perspectives within the same post. While broadcasters are not formally bound by the same due impartiality requirements online as they are on television and radio, the findings suggest that many continue to reproduce similar editorial approaches across their digital platforms.”

Reflect

Prof Cushion said: “Once the election is over, broadcasters may want to reflect on the decision to equally cover all six major parties during the campaign. While this represents a well-intentioned editorial commitment to impartial journalism, broadcasters arguably could have focussed on the parties most likely to form or lead a government. That way they could have paid closer attention to the claims and counter claims of the two main parties – Labour and Reform – most likely to influence what policies will shape Wales over the coming years.

“Plaid Cymru, for example, appears most likely to be the governing party, but without a majority of seats. In other words, they will need other parties’ support to pass legislation. Could broadcasters have focussed more attention on the party’s red lines, its priorities, and which parties they are more likely to work with? With this closer journalistic scrutiny, voters could have gone into the ballot box with a more informed sense of what a Plaid Cymru-led government will realistically deliver alone or with the support of one or more parties.”