• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Friday, May 16, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

The BBC was just found guilty of breaking accuracy rules. Again.

Steve Topple by Steve Topple
10 April 2018
in Analysis, UK
Reading Time: 5 mins read
167 5
A A
0
Home UK Analysis
319
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Communications regulator Ofcom has just found the BBC guilty of breaching its accuracy rules. But the case, involving a Conservative peer, is not the first time this has happened. So the regulator has also slammed the BBC for allowing it to happen again.

‘Inaccurate and not impartial’

On 10 August 2017, BBC Radio 4‘s Today programme broadcast an interview with Lord Lawson, hosted by Justin Webb. The discussion was about climate change, in response to an earlier interview with Al Gore over his film An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. Lawson is known to be a man-made climate change denier.

At the time, the interview with Lawson caused uproar, not least because some claims he made about climate change were demonstrably untrue. Two official complaints were made [pdf, p12] to Ofcom because the complainants were not satisfied with the BBC‘s response. So Ofcom investigated, and found the BBC had breached rule 5.1 of its code, that “news, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality”. It was critical in its judgement on the BBC.

The BBC has form

The BBC had previously investigated itself over another appearance by Lawson on the Today programme in 2014. Listeners made similar complaints then about his views and the programme’s failure to challenge them. Complainants said the programme was “misleading” and gave “undue weight” to Lawson compared to the scientist he was debating. The BBC admitted that:

Opinion and evidence should not be treated as if they were on the same footing.

But it defended having Lawson on, saying:

That does not mean scientific research should not be properly scrutinised through scientific debate. Nor does it mean that sceptical views should be excluded from BBC programmes. Inviting Lord Lawson (who chairs a climate policy campaign group) to appear on the Today programme was entirely consistent with that position

This first incident was, according to Ofcom [pdf, p21] , a “key factor” in its decision to investigate the BBC over the 10 August 2017 programme.

“Greater concerns”

The regulator said [pdf, p21] it had concerns about Lawson’s views on climate change science aired on 10 August. As PressGazette reported:

Lord Lawson… claimed ‘all the experts say there hasn’t been’ an increase in extreme weather events.

He also said that according to official figures ‘during this past ten years… average world temperature has slightly declined’.

Ofcom denounced Lawson’s views and the BBC‘s handling of them. It said:

  • His views on climate change science were not “correct” nor “sufficiently challenged” by Webb [pdf, p21].
  • The programme “lacked clarity” on the fact that Lawson’s views were “minority” ones [pdf, p22].
  • That listeners were “not given the full facts” about Lawson’s climate change stance [pdf, p22].

Repeated failures

But Ofcom’s [pdf, p21] “most significant concern” was that the BBC had been in this position before, yet allowed Lawson’s views to go unchallenged again. It said the BBC could have [pdf, p22] “reasonably anticipated” that Lawson would have made the same, inaccurate arguments about climate change again. Therefore, the BBC should have been prepared to challenge his views. But it didn’t, and Ofcom said [pdf, p22]:

The BBC’s failure to do this led to significant inaccuracies being broadcast in the interview… Critically, these inaccuracies were allowed to stand without challenge or clarification during that broadcast.

Ofcom also investigated whether the Today programme has breached rule 5.2. This rule states that “significant mistakes in news should normally be acknowledged and corrected on air quickly” and “appropriately scheduled”. It found that, in this case, the BBC had not breached the rules. You can read its judgement on this here [pdf, p22-23] and the BBC‘s correction here.

Biased or not fit for purpose?

Essentially, the BBC presented a climate change sceptic’s views without properly questioning them; even though these views are contrary to most scientific evidence. What makes matters worse is that the broadcaster did the same thing before, with the same person, yet failed to learn from this. So the BBC appears to be either allowing “minority” right-wing views onto its platform without sufficient challenge, or its editorial processes are not fit for purpose.

Make up your own mind which it is.

Get Involved!

–  Join The Canary, so we can keep holding the powerful to account.

Featured image via Edward Betts – Wikimedia

Share128Tweet80
Previous Post

The government abandons a ‘hostile’ and ‘poisonous’ education policy in a ‘major u-turn’

Next Post

People are pouring scorn on Nick Robinson’s claim that the BBC is impartial

Next Post
Nick Robinson

People are pouring scorn on Nick Robinson's claim that the BBC is impartial

Three centrists fighting. One is saying "You're to the right of me". Another is saying "You're to the left of me!". The third is saying "I'm to the middle of all of you!"

New centrist parties argue over which is the most central

BBC Bias

The BBC has been accused of bias, this time over the local elections

Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker has just put the Conservative government to shame on Twitter

Rupert Murdoch EU commission

People's reactions to Murdoch being raided are absolutely priceless

Disabled people set to take to parliament en masse to oppose DWP cuts
Analysis

Disabled people set to take to parliament en masse to oppose DWP cuts

by The Canary
16 May 2025
Southern Water are threatening a journalist with defamation for asking difficult questions
Analysis

Southern Water are threatening a journalist with defamation for doing their job

by HG
16 May 2025
FIFA face human rights questions over upcoming world cups in Saudi Arabia and the US
Analysis

FIFA face human rights questions over upcoming world cups in Saudi Arabia and the US

by Maryam Jameela
16 May 2025
Plaid Cymru Commons leader just hit a nerve with this biting question to Keir Starmer
Analysis

Plaid Cymru Commons leader just hit a nerve with this biting question to Keir Starmer

by James Wright
16 May 2025
DWP failures have led to hundreds of deaths - but these are just the tip of the iceberg
Analysis

DWP failures have now led to hundreds of deaths – but these are still the tip of the iceberg

by Steve Topple
16 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

Disabled people set to take to parliament en masse to oppose DWP cuts
Analysis
The Canary

Disabled people set to take to parliament en masse to oppose DWP cuts

Southern Water are threatening a journalist with defamation for asking difficult questions
Analysis
HG

Southern Water are threatening a journalist with defamation for doing their job

FIFA face human rights questions over upcoming world cups in Saudi Arabia and the US
Analysis
Maryam Jameela

FIFA face human rights questions over upcoming world cups in Saudi Arabia and the US

Plaid Cymru Commons leader just hit a nerve with this biting question to Keir Starmer
Analysis
James Wright

Plaid Cymru Commons leader just hit a nerve with this biting question to Keir Starmer

ADVERTISEMENT
Business
Nathan Spears

Smart Delivery Positions Mr Nang as a Leader in Australia’s Cream Charger Market

Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Social Media Activism: How Grassroots Movements Are Gaining Power Online

Travel
Nathan Spears

Best Destinations In Spain For A Couples Holiday