Complaint
The programme included a report by a BBC correspondent on an incident in which dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war had been killed. A listener complained that the correspondent had shown bias by attributing responsibility for the incident to Russian forces. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
The correspondent made clear that the incident was the subject of “competing narratives”, which he then summarised (on the Russian side, that it was the result of a Ukrainian missile strike and, on the Ukrainian side, that it was a deliberate mass killing by Russian forces). He concluded by saying the BBC was not in a position to confirm either account, while offering the view that “the balance of probability is that this was something engineered by Russia and its allies”.
The BBC’s Editorial Guidelines on impartiality say BBC presenters, reporters and correspondents should not express personal views on controversial matters, but “may provide professional judgements, rooted in evidence”. In the ECU’s view, the correspondent was making precisely such a judgement in this case, having set out the arguments of both sides, and the evidence insofar as it was known. Consequently the ECU found no breach of editorial standards.
Not upheld