That the BBC has probably not been as vulnerable since the 1980s is also true – not least because the enemies of impartiality are more powerful, and the BBC's competitors (maimed after a year's exposure of their own behaviour in the Leveson inquiry) are keen to wreck it.
These range from accusing a judge of being incapable of impartiality because of his Mexican heritage, to picking a fight with a Gold Star family, to questioning the heroism of POW-turned-Senator John McCain, to fat shaming a former beauty pageant contestant.
"I am more committed than ever before to restoring voters' faith in our democratic process because even the perception of impartiality or an unfair advantage undermines our ability to win," Perez said.
Livingstone told the Guardian that LBC informed him in early April he could not present the two-hour Saturday morning show during the EU referendum campaign because of Ofcom impartiality rules.
A man who likes a drink, mates with Beefy, thinks we're better off out of Europe even though he can't bloody say so because of BBC impartiality rules.
This result can be generalized, since it would apply to moral criticisms of impartiality that arise because of concerns about racial or class bias.
Butterfield, a former judge, said Scalia should recuse himself from the pending University of Texas affirmative action case because he has "removed any presumption of impartiality".
It has resulted in Arizona judges disqualifying themselves from dealing with the case because of a conflict of interest and/or lack of impartiality.
"[T]hat's one of the biggest problems we've got in how folks report about Washington right now, because I think journalists rightly value the appearance of impartiality and objectivity," Obama observed.
The perception of impartiality is harder to maintain, however, because inappropriate interactions between the requesters and providers of evidence and influencing may be alleged.
