Apologies for a long post, I sent the following complaint to the BBC on 20th June, mainly regarding the failure of the BBC article on the Hillsborough shirt to be identified as a United shirt, but also a consistent, "pro United" bias from the BBC. Their reply was received today.
My complaint, (20/6):
"As an institution the BBC consistently reports on Manchester United in a favourable and biased way compared to all other football clubs. For instance the second leading news headline on the football supporter wearing the number 97 and the words "not enough" an offensive reference to the Hillsborough disaster, the BBC failed to point out the supporter was actually wearing a "Manchester United top", references were made to the incident occurring at the match between Manchester City and United, but the vital fact it was a United shirt was deliberately omitted. Readers of the news article were left in the dark who's shirt the offensive fan was wearing.
Both Simon Stone in his article on Manchester City’s Chairman's address and Dan Roan in his coverage of the City treble winning parade lead with negative references about PL charges, although as yet they are unproven. The actual football achievement was secondary.
Several articles are written about Manchester United looking to sign Kane, Rice and others this summer although they are more likely to be at other clubs.
The football sports gossip section on transfers consistently leads with fantasy 'fan boy' stories about Manchester United, while other clubs such as Manchester City are written about in a consistently negative way, invariably focusing on who's leaving the club rather than new arrivals.
Perhaps the consistent biased coverage in favour of Manchester United has a subconscious element, but more likely there is a large number of Manchester United fans in the BBC that find it very difficult to report news in a fair and independent manner."
The BBC reply (27/6):
"Thank you for contacting us about the BBC Sport website.
With regards to the article titled 'Man pleads guilty over 'abhorrent' Hillsborough shirt at FA Cup final', this has since been edited and the following statement is included in our reporting: 'A man has admitted wearing a Manchester United football shirt at Wembley Stadium which made an offensive reference to the Hillsborough disaster.' A Manchester United spokesman is also referenced in the body of the article.
Whilst we appreciate you may continue to have concerns about our reporting on stories relating to Manchester United, we can assure you our coverage isn't indicative of bias. The BBC never takes a position on any story we cover.
Nevertheless, we do value your feedback about this. All complaints are sent to senior management and we’ve included your points in our overnight report.
These reports are among the most widely read sources of feedback in the company and ensures that your concerns have been seen by the right people quickly. This helps inform their decisions about current and future content."
Frankly it's disgraceful the facts were omitted in the first place. This was the second most widely read BBC news article of that day. Correcting a later version was not going to inform the ignorant masses who read it, and maybe wrongly believed it was a City fan wearing the offensive shirt.
We all know how biased the BBC are in their coverage, let's keep calling them out!