Complaint
Two viewers complained the programme gave an incomplete and misleading account of Ofcom’s finding on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s coverage of an attack on Jewish students on a bus in central London, arguing it failed to make clear that Ofcom considered the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ had breached its own editorial guidelines on impartiality and accuracy.
Outcome
The issue arose during an interview with the then Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan.   She made a brief but critical remark about the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s handling of the case and the programme felt it appropriate to represent the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s view after the interview had concluded.  In the ECU’s opinion the extent to which viewers will have looked to the programme for a comprehensive account of the Ofcom finding was therefore limited, and the brevity of Ms Donelan’s comments, coupled with the fact the statement was clearly labelled as coming from an official ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ source, further restricted any risk viewers would have considered it the final word on the matter.  The ECU further noted that the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ statement made reference to the ECU finding which preceded Ofcom’s verdict and which reached a similar conclusion; namely that more should have been done sooner to acknowledge the differing views about what could be heard on the recording of the attack, an error for which the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ had already apologised.  Viewers were therefore made aware of the failings identified by the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and Ofcom, both of which had judged the article against the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Editorial Guidelines.
Not upheld