IT was a great privilege to chair The Herald Referendum Debate at Oran Mor, the magnificent arts venue in Glasgow's West End, on Thursday night.

Fiona Hyslop and Patrick Harvie, for the Yes side, and Alistair Carmichael and Johann Lamont, putting the No case, proved to be passionate and thought-provoking advocates for their respective campaigns. Our 300-strong audience, too, played its part, providing searching questions and clever tweets, which were reported live on heraldscotland.com. In the end we could have talked for four hours, rather than our allotted 60 minutes, and we could easily have filled a much bigger venue, even if we couldn't have found a more delightful one.

Perhaps it was that beautiful Alasdair Gray ceiling that inspired folk, but for me the most interesting exchanges came when we took questions on culture and the arts.

The discussion quickly turned to the future of the BBC in an independent Scotland. More of that later. First, the fury over the BBC. It was unleashed by Mr Carmichael, the Secretary of State for Scotland, when he described the corporation as the greatest broadcaster in the world. Instantly there came loud, angry groans from the large, enthusiastically pro-Yes element in the audience.

BBC "bias" is a constant complaint among Yes campaigners. In June, hundreds staged a demonstration outside BBC Scotland's Pacific Quay base claiming its coverage favoured the No campaign. Newsnet Scotland, a popular pro-independence website, has been scathing about BBC Scotland, presenting in forensic detail a "dirty dozen" examples of allegedly biased reporting. The website claims that widespread "news manipulation" has "destroyed the BBC's reputation as fair and impartial". Judging by the reaction during our debate, there were a fair few Newsnet readers in the audience.

They are not alone, however, in their condemnation of the Beeb. Pro-UK voices are equally mistrustful. The Daily Telegraph's Scottish editor, Alan Cochrane, who, it's fair to say, remains to be convinced by the SNP's case, gave the BBC both barrels in a column this week. BBC Scotland, he claimed, credulously reported SNP claims without subjecting them to proper scrutiny.

Privately, Better Together staffers have also been dismayed by BBC Scotland's output. They complained informally about the live leaders' debate from Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow last week after counting 10 Yes-slanted questions from the audience to just three from apparent No supporters.

I suspect the fact both sides are accusing it of bias is deeply gratifying for the BBC, which, when challenged, wearily maintains that its reporting is "fair and impartial in line with the editorial guidelines". The whole business reveals a funny truth about impartiality: everyone wants you to be impartial as long as you're on their side.

The BBC seems to be such an all-round disappointment it's a wonder anyone wants to keep it, whatever happens in the referendum. Yet they do. Mr Carmichael's praise fell on deaf ears but, as Ms Hyslop explained, the SNP hopes its proposed Scottish Broadcasting Service will form a joint venture with the BBC so the rest of the UK's telly will be beamed into an independent Scotland at no extra cost. The BBC's former director general John Birt has described the idea as "make believe" but the corporation's strict neutrality means it has made no comment either way - so it's unclear quite what would follow a Yes vote. Patrick Harvie, the co-convener of the Scottish Greens, had a fresh take: a cross-border BBC in the event of independence. Changing the corporation's founding Charter and Agreement to recognise its role in two countries would strengthen the BBC's commitment to Scotland while maintaining a shared news-gathering operation and programming, he argued.

"That sounds like win-win to me, and we could all settle down to watch Dr Who, Strictly, or the kind of high-quality Scottish current affairs coverage the country has a right to expect," said Mr Harvie. It's an idea that might also work with further devolution, of course. But whatever happens, I predict cries of "bias!" if Scotland's Judy Murray fails to win Strictly.