Anti-monarchists slam BBC royal coverage

London - UK pressure group Republic has accused the BBC or abandoning journalistic ethics in favour of promoting the royal family during its coverage of the royal wedding, reports The Telegraph.

The pressure group is planning to submit a formal complaint to the BBC governing body as well as Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, about the BBC's lack of impartiality in its coverage of the event.

Graham Smith, Republic's campaign manager said: "The BBC has gone completely into promotional mode. The tone and content of its coverage has gone way beyond sycophancy to the point where its acting as a public relations channel for the Windsors."

Republic campaigns for the abolition of the monarchy.

Smith bemoaned the lack of impartiality from all broadcasters, saying: ""When we met Helen Boden, the BBC's director news, there was some positive engagement with our request for more balanced coverage, but no concrete commitment. We can now see the result of this. We will be taking it up with the BBC Trust and the director general.

"ITN, ITV and Sky ignored us, yet they too have an obligation to be objective and impartial. Opinion polls regularly find that one fifth of the population describe themselves as republican, yet that was not at all reflected in the coverage of the royal wedding."

The Telegraph also reports that a poll conducted a week before the wedding found that while 70% of people felt that the event would have a positive effect on how people view the monarchy, just over half said that they were either 'not very' or 'not at all' interested in the wedding itself.