Post by Teddy Bear on Nov 13, 2008 17:49:39 GMT
BBC rapped by its own watchdog over 'biased' Thatcher show
By Daily Mail Reporter
The BBC has been criticised by its own standards watchdog for breaching guidelines on impartiality and accuracy in a programme on Lady Thatcher.
The Corporation's editorial standards committee said the documentary - part of a social and political history of Wales fronted by newsman Huw Edwards - had failed to provide a balanced range of views.
It had also used footage of the Miners' Strike in England which, in the context of a programme about Wales, breached accuracy guidelines on the use of library material.
The documentary fronted by Huw Edwards was unbalanced in its treatment of Margaret Thatcher, right, according to the BBC's editorial standards committee
The comments follow a viewer's complaint that Wales: Power And The People portrayed the former Prime Minister and her Government in a biased manner through its selection of speakers and their comments.
The show was the last in a four-part series charting the movement towards self-government in the principality, originally broadcast on BBC2 Wales before last year's Welsh Assembly elections.
The angry viewer also complained that film of striking miners in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, had given a false impression 'that Mrs Thatcher caused riots in Wales'.
Today the ESC gave the BBC its stiffest reprimand so far on the issue.
Originally the Corporation had defended Edwards's presentation as an independent and objective interpretation.
But the Corporation's editorial complaints unit later partially upheld some of the complaints.
The complaints unit noted: 'A number of contributors expressed themselves in terms which were explicitly or implicitly critical of the Thatcher Government, while only one (Lord Peter Walker) could be regarded as speaking favourably about Mrs Thatcher or her approach to Wales.'
It said programme makers should have ensured greater balance and towards the end of the programme the Conservatives were seen in an 'unnecessarily negative light'.
The editorial standards committee today agreed with the complaints unit that there had been a breach of impartiality.
Referring to the fact that Edwards had canvassed voters on the Assembly elections, the committee also agreed that 'it is not the role of BBC presenters to encourage audiences to exercise their right to vote on particular occasions'.
It said the statements about Mrs Thatcher, though not inaccurate, were highly contentious - particularly noting a commentary line which said: 'In effect the (Miners' Strike) turned most of Wales against Margaret Thatcher for good.'
On the 1984 Orgreave footage, the committee found that the commentary during this section did not explicitly refer to the UK as a whole and the audience might have assumed the footage related to Welsh events.
By Daily Mail Reporter
The BBC has been criticised by its own standards watchdog for breaching guidelines on impartiality and accuracy in a programme on Lady Thatcher.
The Corporation's editorial standards committee said the documentary - part of a social and political history of Wales fronted by newsman Huw Edwards - had failed to provide a balanced range of views.
It had also used footage of the Miners' Strike in England which, in the context of a programme about Wales, breached accuracy guidelines on the use of library material.
The documentary fronted by Huw Edwards was unbalanced in its treatment of Margaret Thatcher, right, according to the BBC's editorial standards committee
The comments follow a viewer's complaint that Wales: Power And The People portrayed the former Prime Minister and her Government in a biased manner through its selection of speakers and their comments.
The show was the last in a four-part series charting the movement towards self-government in the principality, originally broadcast on BBC2 Wales before last year's Welsh Assembly elections.
The angry viewer also complained that film of striking miners in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, had given a false impression 'that Mrs Thatcher caused riots in Wales'.
Today the ESC gave the BBC its stiffest reprimand so far on the issue.
Originally the Corporation had defended Edwards's presentation as an independent and objective interpretation.
But the Corporation's editorial complaints unit later partially upheld some of the complaints.
The complaints unit noted: 'A number of contributors expressed themselves in terms which were explicitly or implicitly critical of the Thatcher Government, while only one (Lord Peter Walker) could be regarded as speaking favourably about Mrs Thatcher or her approach to Wales.'
It said programme makers should have ensured greater balance and towards the end of the programme the Conservatives were seen in an 'unnecessarily negative light'.
The editorial standards committee today agreed with the complaints unit that there had been a breach of impartiality.
Referring to the fact that Edwards had canvassed voters on the Assembly elections, the committee also agreed that 'it is not the role of BBC presenters to encourage audiences to exercise their right to vote on particular occasions'.
It said the statements about Mrs Thatcher, though not inaccurate, were highly contentious - particularly noting a commentary line which said: 'In effect the (Miners' Strike) turned most of Wales against Margaret Thatcher for good.'
On the 1984 Orgreave footage, the committee found that the commentary during this section did not explicitly refer to the UK as a whole and the audience might have assumed the footage related to Welsh events.