Newsnight Green Party snub shows the abysmal state of BBC general election coverage

In a unbiased country, the focus of the media in a general election would be the policy platform of each party. For BBC Newsnight, however, the focus always seems to be on the right-wing – while snubbing the Green Party:

• The Deputy Leader of The Green Party has never been on Newsnight.

• Not even once, despite him presiding over a surge in Green Councillors to 800+.

• How many Councillors do “Reform” have, and why is Farage constantly on our screens? pic.twitter.com/p8WQ3siivM

— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) June 1, 2024

In this election, the focus is so off centre that American right-wingers may actually be getting more airtime than the British left:

Another huge share of the audience for #Newsnight’s Trump special last night

See you tonight 1030pm 👋 https://t.co/Nj7BloY7X5

— Victoria Derbyshire (@vicderbyshire) May 31, 2024

Green Party rising

Before the cancellation, Green Party deputy Zack Polanski tweeted the following:

Sorry stand down everyone!

Been cancelled by @BBCNewsnight

(For the third time – never actually been on!) https://t.co/xuBAoL6vg7

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) May 30, 2024

According to the man himself:

I’m Zack Polanski – I’m Deputy Leader of the Green Party and a Green Party London Assembly member, working at City Hall alongside Siân Berry and Caroline Russell.

I’ve chaired London’s Environment Committee since May 2021 and I’m the Green Party spokesperson for Democracy & Citizen Engagement.

I’m Jewish and gay – I was born in Salford near Manchester, studied in Wales and the US, and now live in Hackney.

I’ve worked in prisons, schools, universities and nightclubs so I very much understand the lives of people working in the gig economy.

In this election, he’s been showing why the Labour Party isn’t really a challenge to Tory ideology; they’re more like relay partners who are ready to take the baton and run with it:

It doesn't have to be this way.

We shouldn't just tolerate migration coming to our country – we should celebrate it.

To go out on national TV and insist repeatedly it needs to come down is a tired old politics.@TheGreenParty celebrate our diversity.https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) June 2, 2024

Don't vote Labour.

For real hope and real change:https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp https://t.co/hYfkRfPMuF

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) June 1, 2024

Just the Labour Party here relaunching the campaign for Graham Stringer.

Curiously no mention that he's a trustee of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, an organisation which promotes climate change denialism.

Care literally about the future of our existence?

Vote Green. https://t.co/w1R2ls7vdy

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) June 1, 2024

The media are turning a blind eye to the things the Green Party and Polanski are pointing out, so it’s little surprise they’re ignoring him too:

The media are giving Labour a free pass. We cannot have a ridiculous Labour majority and reward what Labour are doing, they need some pressure from the left while in office https://t.co/XpQhQthvJe

— Jase 🏳️‍🌈 🇵🇸 (@Jase243) June 1, 2024

It’s unclear why Newsnight bumped Polanski, but they did find time to cover an American election candidate – namely Donald Trump:

Newsnight special on the Trump verdict

With Kirsty Wark and guests

Live @BBCTwo @BBCiPlayer @BBCNews 1030pm

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 30, 2024

“He appeared defeated”

Presenter on @TheNewsAgents @lewis_goodall reacts to the verdict in Donald Trump’s New York hush-money trial#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/SyuUhkVU0f

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 30, 2024

“He is in dangerous political territory now”

Nada Tawfik, BBC North America Correspondent, reports from New York following the verdict in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/UAF8rIgDu6

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 30, 2024

“This is a truly tragic day in the United States”

Republican strategist Rina Shah discusses the guilty verdict in Donald Trump’s New York hush-money trail#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/MnLuVUKzgZ

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 30, 2024

Trump’s felony charge is an important event, but the general election campaign is only six week long. Given that, how does the British Broadcasting Channel justify taking time away from our election to focus on an American candidate? Has Britain really sunk so low that we’re not even the focus of our own elections?

Meanwhile, Nigel Farage has been getting significant coverage, despite the fact that he refused to run as an MP:

"We have a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values… We see them on the streets of London every Saturday" – @Nigel_Farage

"Are we talking about Muslims here?" – @TrevorPTweets

"We are" – @Nigel_Faragehttps://t.co/fhIHlpTGAF pic.twitter.com/rpR74phpFG

— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 26, 2024

Polanski also isn’t running to be an MP, but he is an elected official, and he does have a clearly defined position within a growing opposition party. Why give time to Farage but not Polanski? Why tell us “Nigel Farage’s return to the fray matters” while simultaneously doing everything to keep the Green Party out of the conversation?

The difference

Of course, anyone with knowledge of the two parties can see the difference between Reform and the Green Party. Reform is made up of wealthy people like Nigel Farage and Richard Tice, whereas the Greens are saying these people need to pay their fair share of taxes:

Adrian Ramsay, co-Leader of the Green Party, says "we're the only party being honest in this election" in advocating tax rises on the very richest to fund public services.#BBCLauraK

— Andrew Fisher (@FisherAndrew79) June 2, 2024

The difference has never been clearer, yet many will have no idea given the sad state of our media.

Featured image via Bristol Green Party – Flickr (image cropped with BBC Newsnight logo added)