The BBC's walking the reporting tightrope

The BBC have to report Standard & Poor's downgrade of the US economic outlook from stable to negative, increasing the likelihood that the rating could be cut within the next two years. The BBC also have to report that the problem lies with debt reduction although the lead in sentence muddies who is to blame:

'S&P is concerned that Democrats and Republicans will not be able to agree a plan to reduce the growing US deficit.'

I would have thought that identifying which party wants to cut the deficit and which is opposing such cuts would be good reporting but the BBC cannot bring themselves to lay blame on Barack Obama's Democratic party.

The BBC do not report what S&P had to say about other economies, I wonder why? Here's some extracts from elsewhere on the web:

'While thus far U.S. policymakers have been unable to agree on a fiscal consolidation strategy, the U.S.'s closest 'AAA' rated peers have already begun implementing theirs. The U.K., for example, suffered a recession almost twice as severe as that in the U.S. (U.K. GDP declined 4.9% in real terms in 2009, while the U.S.'s dropped 2.6%). In addition, the U.K.'s net general government indebtedness has risen in tandem with that of the U.S. since 2007.


In June 2010, the U.K. began to implement a fiscal consolidation plan that we believe credibly sets the country's general government deficit on a medium-term downward path, retreating below 5% of GDP by 2013.


We also expect that by 2013, France's austerity program, which it is already implementing, will reduce that country's deficit, which never rose to the levels of the U.S. or U.K. during the recent recession, to slightly below the U.K. deficit. Germany, which suffered a recession of similar magnitude to that in the U.K. (but has enjoyed a much stronger recovery), enacted a constitutional limit on fiscal deficits in 2009 and we believe its general government deficit was already at 3% of GDP last year and will likely decrease further. Meanwhile, Canada, the only sovereign of the peer group to suffer no major financial institution failures requiring direct government assistance during the crisis, enjoys by far the lowest net general government debt of the five peers (we estimate it at 34% of GDP this year), largely because of an unbroken string of balanced-or-better general government budgetary outturns from 1997 through 2008. Canada's general government deficit never exceeded 4% of GDP during the recent recession, and we believe it will likely return to less than 0.5% of GDP by 2013.

I wonder why the BBC see fit not to report that S&P have stated that

'In June 2010, the U.K. began to implement a fiscal consolidation plan that we believe credibly sets the country's general government deficit on a medium-term downward path, retreating below 5% of GDP by 2013.'

Could it be that the BBC would rather not report something than report something complimentary of the Conservative lead Coalition?

Maybe the BBC could put S&P's conclusions re the UK to Ed 'second choice' Balls or Ed 'secret first class traveller' Miliband; somehow I doubt that the BBC will.