Complaint
The bulletins in question included versions of a report originating from an interview by BBC Scotland with Phil Day, at the time Chief Executive of Scotgold Resources, Scotland’s only commercial gold producer. A member of the audience complained that the reports contained “fake news” that a new vein of gold had been discovered in Scotgold’s mine in Perthshire. The ECU considered the complaints in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
In the interview Mr Day told the BBC the company had carried out some testing and believed it was likely there was a second vein containing gold running parallel to the vein it was already mining, which could extend the working life of the mine and potentially increase profits. This view was accurately reflected in much of the BBC News coverage, including the principal report filed by BBC Scotland’s Business Correspondent. However, there were some brief news reports on Radio 4 (in bulletins during Today), Radio 2 and Reporting Scotland on the morning of 30 January which reported Scotgold as having said it had “found another vein of gold at its Cononish mine” (or very similar wording). In the ECU’s judgement, that was more definitive than the hope or expectation expressed by Mr Day and would have left the audience with a misleading impression. The complaint was upheld in relation to those reports.
Partly upheld
Further action
The finding was reported to the management of BBC News and BBC Scotland, and discussed with the programme-makers concerned.