Complaint
A visitor to iPlayer drew attention a note about the programme Paris Police 1900 which originally read as follows:
Paris, 1899. The French Republic is in turmoil as rumours spread about the release from Devil's Island of Dreyfus, the notorious Jewish spy. Police Chief Louis Lepine is recalled to office from retirement. When a suitcase is recovered from the Seine, young and ambitious Police Inspector Antoine Jouin finds himself embroiled in his first murder case.
In response to complaints the phrase βthe notorious Jewish spyβ was replaced with βpreviously arrested for spyingβ, but the visitor complained that this was insufficient to remedy an error which should have been acknowledged and apologised for as well as corrected.Β The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔβs editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The original phrase in question had not been intended as a statement of fact, but as part of a description of the febrile atmosphere of Paris at the time.Β While accepting that some visitors to the page might have taken it in that sense, the ECU judged that it was plainly open to a more literal interpretation.Β In the light of the continuing sensitivity of aspects of the Dreyfus affair for the Jewish community and its resonance in contemporary French politics, the ECU concluded that the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔβs standards of due accuracy required the meaning of the sentence in question to be put beyond doubt, and that a correction unaccompanied by an acknowledgement or apology was not sufficient to do that.
Upheld
Further action
The finding was reported to the Board of ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Content.Β A note and a link to this finding will be added to the relevant iPlayer page.