Post by Teddy Bear on Aug 16, 2007 16:28:14 GMT
BBC is forced into second apology to Tories
Adam Sherwin, Media Correspondent
The BBC has apologised to the Conservatives for the second time in two days after admitting to errors in its presentation of Tory plans for cutting £14 billion of red tape.
Helen Boaden, Director of News, said that news bulletins on Sunday had been wrong to use embarrassing footage of John Redwood from 14 years ago when covering the story.
The Conservative policy group on economic competitiveness, headed by the former Cabinet minister, was publishing conclusions on reducing bureaucracy.
But BBC programmes accompanied the news with footage of a 1993 public event where the then-Welsh Secretary notoriously could not remember the words to the National Anthem and instead mimed badly.
Conservative commentators said that the footage was gratuitous and sought to make a joke of serious issues. Iain Dale, a leading Tory blogger, accused the corporation of “revelling” in attacking the party.
There were also complaints that the BBC’s coverage focused too heavily on Labour’s rebuttal of the plans.
Writing on the BBC editors’ blog, Ms Boaden said: “In retrospect we weren’t right to use the footage again, which came from a long time ago.”
However she stood by the wording of the coverage and rejected accusations of bias. She wrote: “There can be a temptation sometimes to present stories as merely matters of party politics, but we believe that we gave good consideration to the substance of the proposals.”
Yesterday the BBC was forced to apologise to Brian Coleman, a Conservative member of the London Assembly, over an appearance by Konnie Huq, the Blue Peter presenter, at an event alongside Ken Livingstone, the London Mayor.
Ms Huq had been told by the BBC not to attend the potentially compromising event, which became a forum to criticise the London Conservatives’ “pro-car” policies, but did so anyway on her agent’s advice.
Mr Livingstone said that there had been some “jokey banter” about a £10,000 car bill which he claimed had been racked up by Mr Coleman. But he added: “There was no party political element to Konnie Huq’s involvement in the launch of the Hovis London Freewheel — it was merely to promote a fun, free event to encourage everyday cycling in London.”
The BBC said it had an absolute veto over the outside activities of contracted presenters. Jonathan Shalit, Ms Huq’s agent, apologised to the BBC. He said that he believed that the event would be non-political.
Adam Sherwin, Media Correspondent
The BBC has apologised to the Conservatives for the second time in two days after admitting to errors in its presentation of Tory plans for cutting £14 billion of red tape.
Helen Boaden, Director of News, said that news bulletins on Sunday had been wrong to use embarrassing footage of John Redwood from 14 years ago when covering the story.
The Conservative policy group on economic competitiveness, headed by the former Cabinet minister, was publishing conclusions on reducing bureaucracy.
But BBC programmes accompanied the news with footage of a 1993 public event where the then-Welsh Secretary notoriously could not remember the words to the National Anthem and instead mimed badly.
Conservative commentators said that the footage was gratuitous and sought to make a joke of serious issues. Iain Dale, a leading Tory blogger, accused the corporation of “revelling” in attacking the party.
There were also complaints that the BBC’s coverage focused too heavily on Labour’s rebuttal of the plans.
Writing on the BBC editors’ blog, Ms Boaden said: “In retrospect we weren’t right to use the footage again, which came from a long time ago.”
However she stood by the wording of the coverage and rejected accusations of bias. She wrote: “There can be a temptation sometimes to present stories as merely matters of party politics, but we believe that we gave good consideration to the substance of the proposals.”
Yesterday the BBC was forced to apologise to Brian Coleman, a Conservative member of the London Assembly, over an appearance by Konnie Huq, the Blue Peter presenter, at an event alongside Ken Livingstone, the London Mayor.
Ms Huq had been told by the BBC not to attend the potentially compromising event, which became a forum to criticise the London Conservatives’ “pro-car” policies, but did so anyway on her agent’s advice.
Mr Livingstone said that there had been some “jokey banter” about a £10,000 car bill which he claimed had been racked up by Mr Coleman. But he added: “There was no party political element to Konnie Huq’s involvement in the launch of the Hovis London Freewheel — it was merely to promote a fun, free event to encourage everyday cycling in London.”
The BBC said it had an absolute veto over the outside activities of contracted presenters. Jonathan Shalit, Ms Huq’s agent, apologised to the BBC. He said that he believed that the event would be non-political.