Complaint
The programme included a report by a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ correspondent on an incident in which dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war had been killed.Ìý A listener complained that the correspondent had shown bias by attributing responsibility for the incident to Russian forces.Ìý The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
The correspondent made clear that the incident was the subject of “competing narrativesâ€, which he then summarised (on the Russian side, that it was the result of a Ukrainian missile strike and, on the Ukrainian side, that it was a deliberate mass killing by Russian forces).Ìý He concluded by saying the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ was not in a position to confirm either account, while offering the view that “the balance of probability is that this was something engineered by Russia and its alliesâ€.Ìý
The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s Editorial Guidelines on impartiality say ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ presenters, reporters and correspondents should not express personal views on controversial matters, but “may provide professional judgements, rooted in evidenceâ€.Ìý In the ECU’s view, the correspondent was making precisely such a judgement in this case, having set out the arguments of both sides, and the evidence insofar as it was known.Ìý Consequently the ECU found no breach of editorial standards.
Not upheld