Complaint
An item in this bulletin included a quote from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). A listener complained that it was wrong to give a platform to a think tank which refused to give information about its funding or its backers’ aims.
Outcome
The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s guidelines on impartiality say “We should not automatically assume that contributors from other organisations (such as academics, journalists, researchers and representatives of charities and think-tanks) are unbiased.  Appropriate information about their affiliations, funding and particular viewpoints should be made available to the audience, when relevant to the contextâ€. The context on this occasion was a report on a speech by the Health Secretary setting out new measures aimed at tackling poor performance in the NHS, including the re-introduction of hospital rankings. In the ECU’s judgement, the item’s description of the IEA as a “free market think tank†fulfilled the requirement to provide appropriate information for listeners to form their own view of the IEA’s comment.
Not upheldÂ