BBC complaints

I hope you've all taken heed of this cry for help with media monitoring. To this end I have just sent this complaint off to the BBC about today's Today programme:

"In David Cameron's full interview on the Today Programme he was not asked once about a hung parliament and was allowed to talk relatively unhindered about his policies.

Whenever Nick Clegg is on for the Liberal Democrats, the interview is dominated by obsessive questions about hung parliaments to the detriment of anything else. In not asking the same to David Cameron, the BBC are showing double standards as this question applies equally to all parties.

Can I take it then when Nick Clegg is next on , you won't ask him about hung parliaments and take up valuable time in which you could be helping to inform the public about what the parties stand for? Or does the BBC's mission to inform only extend to the cosy establishment parties?"

Hmm, possibly too ranty. Not as bad as my first attempt which was a complaint about a lack of a LibDem on Question Time in November which was dominated by the Iraq inquiry. I have had a holding reply but not a response. I have now complained about the lack of response!

I have learnt to my cost that typing directly into the BBC's tiny box on their complaint form is not a good idea. Cue much embarrassment when they send the complaint back to you by email and it doesn't make as much sense as you thought it did - never mind spelling! (See below). I suggest you type it into your favourite text editor first and then cut&paste it. Also this means you can easily send a copy to LibDem MediaWatch.

My overlong Question Time complaint is presented for your delectation (corrected for some spelling and sense!):

"I tuned in to watch a Question Time dominated by the Iraq
inquiry and was disconcerted to see no Liberal Democrat representative. As
I'm sure you know, the Liberal Democrats were the only one of the three main
parties to vote and argue against the Iraq war from the start and have a
distinct position on this issue.

Also I noticed that the SNP representative made a point about all three
parties failing on the Calman report which just isn't true of the Liberal
Democrats.

There wasn't a Liberal Democrat on last week and from David Dimbleby's comments at
the end it sounded like there won't be for the next two weeks. Is this
right?

I don't see how this can be anything other than the BBC supressing legimate
opinion and hiding away the views of one party and also allowing its
opponents to tell lies unchecked about it.

Should it not at least have been incumbent on the chair to point out that
the Liberal Democrats weren't taken in by Blair in the Iraq war debate whilst
the establishment member's of the panel were all agreeing on how the house
agreed on war?

Question Time often makes space for celebrities or journalists (often
establishment politicians masquerading as independent journalists). Is this
realy more important than reflecting the range of party political opinion
and not presenting a skewed reality of the public?"