Complaint
A listener to this “oldies” show complained of errors in relation to two of the tracks it included: a Tommy Steele record was incorrectly said to have charted, while a track announced as being from a Beatles album was in fact a cover version by Tony Sheridan. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The ECU noted that the relevant BBC Editorial Guidelines called for “due” accuracy, which must be assessed in the light of the nature of the output concerned, the nature of any errors and the extent of their possible impact on the audience. Though the listener had correctly pointed out errors in this instance, the ECU considered their potential impact in this context to be very limited, and not such that it would be proportionate to find a breach of the BBC’s editorial standards. It was nevertheless regrettable that the errors had occurred, and the ECU passed on to the listener the presenter’s and producer’s assurances of greater vigilance in future.
Not upheld