Complaint
The programme included interviews with young people who had been the victims of sexual abuse while in local authority care.Μύ A listener complained that, by asking them leading questions, the presenter had improperly influenced them to provide answers which suited his pre-conceived agenda, with the effect of misleading the audience.Μύ The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The young people concerned had already been spoken to off-microphone by members of the programme team, in order to establish the key elements of their stories and the aspects of their experiences which the young people themselves wanted to get across. The presenter’s role in the recorded interviews was to tease out sensitively from the interviewees what he already knew they wanted to say, and there was no question of improperly influencing their answers.
Not Upheld