Is it any surprise to hear that Roy Greenslade didn't believe in journalistic neutrality?

He said exactly that seven years ago, adding that he would tell his journalism students

that claims towards neutrality and impartiality and objectivity are bogus.

Now, there are obviously lots of questions he faces about the extent to which he pushed that view in his own work and the damage that was caused as a result.

But there are also big questions for his bosses about why knowing where his political sympathies lay.

They allowed him the platform they did without looking closely at what he was writing and why.

We'll come back to the particular issue of Roy Greenslade later,

but after his week in the headlines, we wanted to look at impartiality on a bigger stage for

this edition of Red Lines. In the ongoing debate about the political and media landscape,

there are increasingly polarised views, of course, many people getting increasingly angry that

their opponents have the loudest voices and the most airtime. Many getting angry that the BBC, which they pay for, isn't representing their view properly or fairly as they see it, and many, as a result, finding comfort in social media echo chambers. Roger, are those who make the point right when they say effectively

any idea of journalistic impartiality is a delusion? No, I don't think they are. And I think the crucial

thing is that audiences want impartiality. And there was some research done last year by the

Royces Institute at Oxford that showed something

like 76% of people would like their news to be impartial. And it doesn't mean they don't want

opinion in some of the other content on the BBC or other broadcasters. But when Hugh Edwards

reads the network news on the BBC, they don't want Hugh Edwards to be giving personal views and

opinions, and they want the BBC to get as close to the truth as they possibly can. And I really

support that. So that's what we're discussing on this edition of Red Lines, the notion of

journalistic impartiality in a rapidly changing media landscape. And my guest today is

well qualified to share his thoughts on the subject.

Roger Mosey is a former head of BBC Television News,

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