1. Top Gear
The issues and complications
 Balance
 Impartiality
 Accuracy
 Objectivity
 Opinion
 Bias
 Representation

2. Top Gear
Impartiality
• When the program is shown reviewing cars of a similar price and specifications to give
valid consumer advice to the audience and viewers, the program does have to be careful
when weighing and displaying the negative and positive factual points of the cars they
are comparing.
Traditionally some comparisons made in the program are fair and use both personal opinion
and consumer opinion to arrive at a successful suggested answer. However the program is
known to not arrive at conclusions at all and deviate completely form the comparison. Not
favoring a side and not offering a good, affordable piece of consumer advice.

3. Top Gear
Accuracy
• As TopGear is designed to be a factual review program, you would expect it to feature
simple facts, figures and personal opinions given by both presenters and critics.
However, Top Gear now becoming gradually more of a worldwide entertainment program
has begun to slip some of its accurate factors in the pursuit of gaining a larger audience
through the comedy and entertainment side of the program as oppose to the more factual
responsibility which documentary's like this should abide.
The program itself has been known for its numerous stumbles with OfCom and regulators
warning them of their occasional inaccuracy over certain subjects, for example, the
program has had recent stumbles and even law suits for being said to have ‘rigged’ a
reviewed electric car and giving inaccurate claims about the cars specifications.
Top Gear has been known to occasionally stumble with accuracy when it comes to actually
trialing and reviewing cars on the road, receiving negative reviews from average motorists
and viewers claiming that the road tests they perform are often unfair, and many of which
don’t even feature cars which most people can afford, rendering a majority of the show
pointless as a car review program for the target audience.
After numerous law suits and complications with broadcasting regulators and media the
program has been attempting to ensure that it features more accurate factual content to
balance with its opposing weight of entertainment.
With regard to earlier series' of the program before it became viral worldwide, the program
did feature far more accurate reviews and comments, featuring only factual content and
fair, simple reviews.

4. Top Gear
Bias
• Opposite to impartiality is Bias, when a program is aiming to give an opinion based on a
comparison they will aim to give fair conclusion, however, Bias is when a program
chooses to favor one side therefore giving them the ability to manipulate the negative
and positive aspects of the comparison they are making.
Top Gear in particular has been notorious in its accusations form the media and regulators
of its occasional use of Bias between reviewing subjects, often favoring one item over the
other.
An example of this Bias in Top Gear could be given when a presenter gives a personal
opinion, (which at this point is fair and legal to regulators), but once the presenter moves to
more personal opinions regarding his views on the subject, Top Gear risks presenting Bias
decisions on a single person who might have/support the subject himself.

5. Top Gear
Objectivity
• Objectivity occurs when a documentary does not make any personal opinions or arrive at
any conclusion, instead it relies entirely on fact and opinions based on viewers.
Top Gear however pretty much uses entirely personal opinion, presents have been
criticized over the media for basing opinions on their own experience only and not applying
the opinions of others to their conclusions.
An example of good Objectivity would be in Al Gore’s documentary ‘An Inconvenient truth’
Which featured only imagery content and allowed us to make our own opinions on the basis
of the conclusion.

6. Top Gear
Opinion
• Opinion is when a presenter bases a judgment or opinion on a personal belief of a
subject.
In this case Top Gear has been criticized for their Presenters making too many opinions
based on their presenters beliefs of a subject, while a car review programme should include
multiple opinions from different sources to give an accurate all-round set of results, Top
Gear manages to avoid many cases of unfair opinion by balancing their opinions with some
factual content and secondary data across episodes.

7. Top Gear
Representation
• Representation is when a subject is portrayed or shown in one way or another. Top Gear
has been notorious in demonstrating and deviating from standard road tests which you’d
expect form a car review program.
As the ratings of Top Gear have begun to skyrocket a far larger audience has formed
across a different range of ages, initially aimed at <20 year olds and motorists, Top Gear
has grown to attract all ages, including a far younger generation. With the program
progressively becoming more of an entertainment show with
cars, stunts, challenges, missions and a crazy array of imaginative tasks involving testing
the durability of a variety of cars.
Representation is also shown to be criticized in Top Gear when mis-representing a
subject, occasionally showing audiences an unfair test or false opinion.