Embarrassing World Service survey shows public concern over BBC's news 'bias'

Only 29 per cent gave a positive rating to publicly-funded news.

It was a lower figure than people in ten of the 14 countries involved in an international survey.

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Public news services in Russia, Venezuela and Egypt were among those rated more highly by viewers and listeners.

The result is especially embarrassing for the BBC as the research was carried out on behalf of its own World Service.

Earlier this year a survey for the regulator Ofcom showed that the number who think the BBC is impartial has fallen to 54 per cent from 77 per cent in 2002.

Commercial news organisations performed even less well, with lower ratings than in 11 other countries.

The report of the survey, by polling firms GlobeScan and Synovate, said: "While Britons believe strongly in media freedom, they are critical of the accuracy of news reporting by both publicly and privately-funded organisations."

The BBC was also criticised for its liberal leanings in an official report this year, which sparked claims that it was "institutionally biased".

BBC chiefs were attacked for not reflecting a broader range of views and not thinking out of its left -leaning "comfort zone".

Responding to the new report, a BBC spokesman said: "It is always interesting to hear people's views on the BBC.

"However, BBC News has an 80 per cent reach in the UK.

"We are also seen as the most trusted news provider, especially in times of crisis and for big breaking news stories. This clearly shows the value audiences place in us."

The survey polled almost 11,500 people across 14 countries, which also included Brazil, Germany, India, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, The United Arab Emirates and the USA.

About 1,000 of those polled were British.

The survey took place between October 1 and November 21 this year.

This summer the BBC was left reeling by a report into the corporation's impartiality.

It found that the corporation was out of touch with large swathes of the population and was guilty of "unconscious self-censorship" on issues it found unpalatable.

The 80-page analysis found that viewers were frustrated by the BBC's political correctness and said unless the corporation reflected people's real lives, the public would lose faith in it.

The report also attacked the way the corporation had pandered to politically motivated celebrities such as Bob Geldof and allowed schedules to be hijacked by special interest groups.