Monday, February 25, 2013

Channel Four News - My Complaint

Dear Sir/Ma'am. I wish to make a complaint about Channel 4 News.

On Thursday 21 February, Channel 4 News ran a special report into alleged sexual harassment by Lord Rennard of the Liberal Democrats. I have no issue with the report itself and agree it is a newsworthy item which should be reported. My complaint is regarding the timing of the piece.

Channel 4 News are presumably aware that (i) there is a parliamentary by-election to be held at Eastleigh on Thursday 28 February, (ii) that polls indicate a close fight between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative party, and (iii) political commentators agree on the importance of this by-election with likely consequences for either or both of the coalition parties, or even the government. It has been called the most significant by-election in 50 years.

Despite this, Channel 4 News decide to run this report at the time of maximum effect – exactly one week before polling – so that it can snowball and disable the Liberal Democrats in the lead up to polling day. One week earlier or one week later would have been different. But now, three days before the vote, the Liberal Democrats campaign in Eastleigh has been run off the tracks and Channel 4 News are the toast of every Conservative party gathering.

Surely this possibility had occurred to someone in the Channel 4 newsroom – or did they genuinely not know about Eastleigh?

The impression given is that Channel 4 News are deliberately seeking to influence the result of the Eastleigh by-election, and that the victims of the alleged abuse are being used for party political and election purposes. Such conduct is against all codes of professional ethics for televised media and removes any pretence of political impartiality by Channel 4 News.

Channel 4 News have built an enviable reputation for the quality of its news reports, so it is a shame that it should blatantly use a legitimate story in this way.

I would welcome your comments.

8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. No Keith, this won't do.

    In withholding the information, you could equally say that Channel 4 would be influencing the election in favour of the Lib Dems.

    Were I a voter in Eastleigh, I would want to know.

    Nice try though.

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    1. But I understand the report had been prepared some time ago, before Huhne resigned. It could have been run earlier so why wait until this specific date?

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    2. Thank you for your comment, by the way.

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  3. "Despite this, Channel 4 News decide to run this report at the time of maximum effect – exactly one week before polling – so that it can snowball and disable the Liberal Democrats in the lead up to polling day. One week earlier or one week later would have been different."

    You have no evidence at all that the timing of the broadcast was influenced by the by-election. I think you're quite wrong to accuse people of unethical behaviour on the basis of sheer speculation.

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    1. Thank you for your comment. If I get a reply, I'll publish it here in full.

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  4. I must confess to being slightly disappointed in reading that a member from a party that promotes openness in politics, wishes for a possible wrongdoing by his party to be suppressed until after a convenient election.

    Rather than trying to ‘manage the media’ I would, instead, have been questioning why my party had been, apparently, hiding such accusations for such a long period of time.

    Perhaps it has become the case that you (your party) has been sleeping with the wrong bedfellows for long enough to have caught some of their more undesirable habits?

    The Truth Is Out There…..

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    1. Thank you for your comment. I understand the report was completed in January, before Chris Huhne's resignation, and hence could have been run a few weeks earlier - so my complaint is not about supressing it, which would indeed have been wrong. It is about the impression given that the story was put on hold to be run at a more convenient moment for Conservative party interests.

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