Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“Later today the BBC will belatedly acknowledge on one of its own platforms for the first time that they should not have claimed that I had “stolen” the North Antrim Westminster seat.
“This was something TUV drew to the attention of BBC Northern Ireland immediately after the broadcast of the offending news bulletin back in July and we did receive a private acknowledgment that this should not have happened. Now, however, the BBC have conceded that they need to acknowledge that what they said was wrong on one of their own platforms. I do not accept the BBC’s feeble contention that because we passed the private acknowledgement of an error to the News Letter they could decide not to publish anything on their own corrections and clarifications page before now. The fact that they will publish a correction later today is a tacit admission on their part that they knew such an approach could not be defended had TUV escalated our complaint to OfCom.”
Note to editors
The text which will appear on the BBC’s Corrections and Clarifications page later today reads as follows:
News (10am), Radio Ulster, 5 July 2024
Complaint
In the course of correspondence about BBC Northern Ireland’s coverage of Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) during the general election campaign and subsequently, a representative of the party complained about a report in this bulletin which said “in the big shock of the night, the Paisley stronghold of North Antrim was stolen by the TUV leader Jim Allister”, on the basis that the word “stolen” was inappropriate and (in comparison with the neutral language used in the same report about seats gained by other parties) indicative of bias. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality.
Outcome
On the day after receiving the complaint Kevin Kelly, BBC Northern Ireland’s Head of News and Current Affairs replied:
We accept that the word used in this instance was wrong. It was/is factually incorrect and has a meaning wholly other than that which was intended. We did not mean to imply that there was anything inappropriate about Jim Allister MP’s election to Westminster, but were seeking to convey something of its significance in news and other terms.
In the absence of anything in this bulletin or other items of post-election coverage which suggested impropriety in connection with the TUV’s victory in North Antrim, the ECU agreed with Mr Kelly that the word in question should be understood as an attempt to reinforce the surprising nature of the result rather than an indication of bias. It also agreed, however, that its use had been inappropriate and, in this context, out of keeping with the BBC’s standards of accuracy. While the ECU would normally expect the BBC to make a public acknowledgement of a misstep of this kind, it noted that the contents of Mr Kelly’s letter had been published in the Belfast News Letter while the matter was still under consideration by the management of BBC Northern Ireland. In the particular circumstances the ECU considered that the promptness of Mr Kelly’s private acknowledgement taken together with the circulation it had been given as a result of publication in the Belfast News Letter sufficed to resolve the issue of accuracy.
Resolved