Complaint
The programme included an interview with BBC Foreign Correspondent Sarah Rainsford about conflicting accounts by the Russian and Ukrainian governments of the shooting down of a Russian transport plane. During the interview, Ms Rainsford described Russia’s war against Ukraine as having been “started on a lie”. A listener complained that this displayed bias against Russia. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
While the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines require impartial reporting, they also allow for expert correspondents to “provide professional judgements, rooted in evidence”. In this case, Ms Rainsford had reminded listeners that Russia’s justification for invading Ukraine was based on an allegation that Russian-speakers in Ukraine had been victims of persecution by Nazis. Although this assertion has been made many times, including by President Putin, it is strongly disputed by independent observers and unsupported by evidence. The ECU considered Ms Rainsford’s comments to be a legitimate and evidence-based exercise of her professional judgement rather than an instance of bias.
Not upheld