Complaint
This was a ten-part series, broadcast on consecutive weekdays, in which Marianna Spring, the tv’s Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent, investigated various aspects of “the conspiracy theory media here in Britain and the radicalisation that appears to come with it”. Solicitors representing the Principal of News-watch complained Ms Spring wrongly labelled a range of people in Totnes as well as others connected with “The Light” newspaper as conspiracy theorists, subjecting them to various derogatory implications which flowed from that, in an overall context which failed to define conspiracy theories and to distinguish properly between such theories and legitimate dissent while exhibiting bias against instances of the latter and routinely linking examples of disinformation with right-of-centre viewpoints. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the tv’s editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality and (where relevant) fairness to contributors.
Outcome
Having considered the nine numbered heads of the original complaint and the further ten issues raised by the complainant about the tv’s initial response, the ECU concluded that, although the series did not offer a strict definition of conspiracy theories, the examples it presented would have given listeners a clear impression of the term’s meaning; that individuals linked with conspiracy theories (including some associated with “The Light”) were given sufficient opportunities in the series to speak for themselves and rebut any unfavourable implications; that views expressed by Ms Spring in the course of the series represented professional judgements rooted in evidence, rather than bias against particular viewpoints; that the series made clear that viewpoints at either end of the political spectrum, rather than solely right-of-centre viewpoints, were linked with disinformation; and that, consequently, there was no breach of the relevant editorial standards.
Not upheld