Summary of complaint
We received complaints from people who felt our coverage of the march was biased against the protestors, and contained inaccuracies about the crowd size.
Our response
The march was thoroughly covered, across our news network, throughout the day. We reported, in detail, the reasons for why Tommy Robinson, whose legal name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, had organised the march and spoke with several protestors about their views. With regards to our reporting on the numbers of people in attendance, 150,000 is the figure estimated by the police which is an official source for estimating the size of crowds.
We also reported on the different speakers at the event, and included some of the speeches in our broadcasts. We feel our description of some individuals at the event as ‘far-right’ was fair, as this is where they sit on the political spectrum. However, we were careful to keep this description to the individuals in question, rather than the march as a whole.
Included in our coverage we reported on the police presence and behaviours of some of the protesters, as well as the Stand Up to Racism counter-protest which took place nearby. We had reporters and news crews on the ground, who were able to give a first-hand account at what took place during the march.
Overall, we consider our coverage of the march was fair and accurate across our news network, and we simply reported the events as they unfolded.
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