Complaint
Goldsprings of Comber Loyal Orange Lodge complained that these items had conveyed the inaccurate impression that a children’s sports camp in the locality had been cancelled as a result of a statement that had been published by the Lodge expressing concern about a “proposed or perceived move of the GAA [Gaelic Athletic Association]…into the local community”; that the Lodge had not been given an opportunity to set out its position; and that a comparison that had been drawn between the event’s cancellation and the Holy Cross Ardoyne dispute of 2001 in Talkback exhibited bias. The Lodge did not consider that the changes to the headline and text of the online article made in response to its complaint and the statement posted by BBC Northern Ireland on the Corrections and Clarifications page of bbc.co.uk was sufficient to address its concerns. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy, fairness and impartiality.
Outcome
The cancellation of the camp had been announced by its organisers before the Lodge published its statement about the GAA and local residents’ concerns. The ECU accepted that the publication of this statement could not therefore have caused the event’s cancellation. The ECU also accepted that the suggestion of a causal relationship could be inferred from (though was not explicit in) the original headline of the online news report which read “Children's camp cancelled as Orange lodge opposes GAA involvement” but was more clearly apparent in comments made by both presenters on the broadcast programmes on the following day. The changes to the headline and text of the article served to remove the misleading impression, but in the ECU’s judgement the Corrections and Clarifications posting, which acknowledged a lack of clarity, should also have acknowledged a failure (albeit inadvertent) to achieve due accuracy, and the complaint was upheld in that respect.
In relation to fairness, the ECU saw evidence that repeated efforts had been made by BBC editorial teams to contact representatives of the Orange Order, but they were told no-one was available for comment. Representatives from the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) were invited to take part in both broadcasts and spoke supportively of the Lodge’s actions, making many of the points raised in the Lodge’s complaint to the BBC. Accordingly, the ECU found no breach of the BBC’s standards of fairness.
In relation to the Talkback reference to the Holy Cross Ardoyne dispute the ECU considered that the presenter’s comments were not to be understood as drawing a parallel between events at that time and the cancelled event in Comber, but as expressing the uncontentious sentiment that no-one would wish any deterioration in community relations, including as these might affect children and young people. Accordingly, the ECU found no breach of the BBC’s standards of impartiality.
Partly upheld
Further action
The finding was reported to the management of BBC Northern Ireland and discussed with the editorial teams concerned. The Corrections and Clarifications posting was emended to reflect the finding.
