Professor Stephen Cushion examines how impartiality and political accountability is important for news outlets to consider while covering the Senedd election.
In a matter of weeks political parties will begin campaigning ahead of the 2026 Senedd election. And the electoral contest looks set to be one of the most intensely fought for in the short history of Welsh devolution.
The latest polls in Wales suggest Plaid Cymru look most likely to form a government – or lead a coalition – with Reform UK not far behind. While Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Greens have been trailing the other main parties in the polls, the Senedd’s new proportional system of voting means they could still win vital seats that help one of the parties form a government. This means up to six political parties could realistically wield influence over the future of Wales.
In such a crowded political landscape – where events and issues in Wales can often be overshadowed by what is happening in Westminster – all six parties will be desperately competing for voters’ attention. While each party have their own platforms and strategies to communicate directly with voters, they will also be battling it out with each other to gain media coverage, especially across the major broadcasters’ news outlets. Given their reach, broadcasters have long been regulated to ensure the most influential media outlets cover politics and public affairs in a fair and balanced way.
Syniadau uchelgeisiol, awdurdodol a mentrus.
Ymunwch â ni i gyfrannu at wneud Cymru gwell.
Why impartiality matters for the Senedd elections
As part of a new AHRC funded project at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University, we have been examining the impartiality of political news. Broadcasters today broadly allocate airtime to political parties based on a variety of factors, including: the number of seats a party won at the last election, total vote share, the latest performance at the devolved, regional and local elections, as well as the latest trends in survey data and their newsworthiness.
Broadcasters will need editorial conviction and bravery to defend their fact-checking in the face of party-political pressure questioning their impartiality.
Looking ahead to the 2026 Senedd election, if UK polls show Reform still leading the polls, but behind Plaid Cymru in Wales, there could be a divergence in how broadcasters in Wales allocate airtime to parties during the campaign compared to UK network news. Given more people in Wales rely on UK-wide news than news produced in Wales, this could prove a significant influence in what news and analysis people are exposed to before they cast their vote next May 2026.
How broadcasters interpret due impartiality could also impact on how much parties and politicians will be held to account. If they regularly cover all six parties within single news reports it could result in more breadth than depth, limiting the scrutiny paid to their claims and policies. Our research has found that Reform and the Liberal Democrats have featured on UK TV news regularly throughout 2025, but often only briefly and in response to other parties rather than leading debates. The challenge for broadcasters will be to reflect all the parties, but in ways that hold them to account for their policy pledges. For instance, the Greens may often appear briefly advocating environmental positions but perhaps without rebuttals about the costs and credibility of their pledges. Likewise, Reform’s high profile leader Nigel Farage will receive prominent attention, but will he be held accountable for campaigning on policy positions, such as controlling immigration, which are beyond the powers of the Senedd? How much coverage parties receive will also influence the degree to which broadcasters fact-check their policies and claims.
Audiences want political parties held to account
In Countering Misinformation in Political Reporting: Enhancing Journalistic Legitimacy, co-written by myself and Maria Kyriakidou, we extensively examined fact-checking and the level of journalistic scrutiny paid to political parties, and carried out surveys, focus groups and news diaries about the broadcast coverage of politics and public affairs. Taken together, we found audiences favoured journalists regularly calling out misleading and false political claims.
We showed focus group participants examples from TV news featuring dubious party-political claims and how different broadcasters reported them. They overwhelmingly supported more journalistic interrogation. Moreover, many respondents questioned why broadcasters allowed many claims to go unchecked. Part of this related to the he-said-she-said approach to reporting we uncovered in our analysis, where broadcasters balanced political perspectives, but did not subject them to any independent analysis. Politicians were, in effect, left to argue between themselves without a referee calling out foul play.
For broadcasters to properly hold parties to account, they will need to relentlessly challenge and rebut false, misleading or even vague soundbites and campaign pledges.
When we asked whether broadcasters should enhance fact-checking in our survey, a large majority of respondents agreed. Unlike in the US, where fact-checking has become politicised, we found strong support for the practice across ideological and party-political lines. Since much of the public continue to invest their trust in UK broadcasters, most appeared confident they will make impartial judgements about calling out politicians.
Needless to say, broadcasters in Wales will be limited by the resources and the skills available to fact-check claims at speed during the 2026 Senedd elections. But it is not just a question of resources. Broadcasters will need editorial conviction and bravery to defend their fact-checking in the face of party-political pressure questioning their impartiality. It would be helpful if professional fact-checkers, such as BBC Verify and Full Fact, covered the campaign, and broadcasters could draw on their expertise in coverage.
Gofod i drafod, dadlau, ac ymchwilio.
Cefnogwch brif felin drafod annibynnol Cymru.
For broadcasters to properly counter any misinformation during the campaign, they will need to go beyond boldly calling out dubious claims once or twice over the course of the campaign. After all, this will bypass many voters. For broadcasters to properly hold parties to account, they will need to relentlessly challenge and rebut false, misleading or even vague soundbites and campaign pledges. This will not only help voters assess the credibility of competing party claims, it may also discourage politicians from making dubious political promises.
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