Complaint
A viewer complained a Conservative MSP’s dispute with Police Scotland in connection with Scotland’s Hate Crime Act, while widely reported in online media, had been “completely missing from BBC Scotland news”. As the story seemed to him to expose the SNP to criticism, he regarded its neglect as a manifestation of pro-SNP bias by BBC Scotland. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
In principle decisions on how much coverage to give a news story rest with programme editors. Circumstances can arise when the absence of coverage gives rise to bias by omission but the ECU noted the story to which the complainant referred was the subject of a substantial online article and featured on both the The Nine (BBC Scotland) and Radio Scotland. The ECU therefore saw no grounds for concluding that the exercise of legitimate editorial discretion had resulted in bias on this occasion.
Not Upheld