Complaint
A listener complained that, in a review of the papers, the presenter had referred to “gay and lesbian people”, whereas the subject of the article under review had referred to “the LGBTQ” community. This was both an inaccurate account of the report in question and a manifestation of bias against BTQ identities.
Outcome
The subject of the article was Sir Rod Stewart and his decision to turn down a lucrative offer to perform in Saudi Arabia. Although he had indeed referred to “the LGBTQ community”, he had also referred to the treatment of women, the press, the Saudi government’s critics and human rights abuses in general. In the context of a brief item within a review of the papers, the ECU saw no grounds for regarding the presenter’s reference to gay and lesbian people as a manifestation of bias, rather than of the normal practice of abridging the story, and judged that, taken together with his other quotations from and paraphrases of what Sir Rod had said, the item gave a duly accurate impression of the article.
Not Upheld