Complaint
The programme included an item on access to abortion during the Covid pandemic, consisting of a pre-recorded report followed by a live studio discussion. A viewer complained that the issues were considered only from the point of view of women seeking abortion, and that the item overall had a pro-abortion bias. The ECU investigated the complaint in relation to the ±«Óãtv’s standards of due impartiality.
Outcome
The report was about how Covid-19 was affecting practical access to abortion for women in certain countries where its availability was already limited, not the ethics of abortion, and it raised no issue of impartiality. In the discussion which followed, however, the two guests expressed broadly similar views, and appeared to be speaking from a position in which support for the principle of abortion was implicit. The ECU agreed that this fell short of due impartiality, but noted that ±«Óãtv news had already acknowledged as much in correspondence with the complainant, and concluded that this was sufficient to resolve the issue of complaint.
Resolved