Complaint
A viewer complained that the presenter, Fiona Bruce, made a claim that she was not £20,000 better off than before the pandemic which was untrue and, because made in a context where it appeared to dismiss a point about inequality made by a member of the panel, biased. Additionally, the subtitles at that point in the programme differed from what Ms Bruce was saying in a way which seemed intended to alter her meaning.  The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s editorial standards of impartiality and accuracy.
Outcome
A member of the panel had said “Who here’s 20,000 pounds cash richer than before Covid? I’ll tell you who probably is - every single person on this panel. Okay?â€. After two other members had demurred, Ms Bruce said “Hang on, don’t include us in all this, I don’t know if you’ve seen the way ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ works, but they’re not exactly raising salaries by that muchâ€.  Ms Bruce’s earnings from her work for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Studios (the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s commercial arm) are not publicly available and her broader financial circumstances are of course private. However, her earnings through her public service work for the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ for the financial years from 2019 – 2024 were as follows:
2019-2020: £450,000-£454,999
2020/2021: £405,000-£409,999
2021/2022: £410,000-£414,999
2022/2023: £395,000-£399,999
2023/2024: £405,000-£409,000
So, although the ECU was not in a position to calculate Ms Bruce’s overall earnings, what she said was clearly consistent with the published figures, and the ECU therefore had no grounds for finding her statement inaccurate; and, as it bore on the applicability of the panel-member’s statement to the other participants in the programme rather than on his point about inequality, the ECU saw no grounds for considering it biased. As to the subtitles, which read “they’re not exactly raising salaries right now!â€, the ECU considered the discrepancy explicable by the pace and enunciation of the passage in question, and did not consider it altered her meaning in a way which could be considered misleading or biased.
Not upheld