Complaint
An item in this programme considered the impact of a racial attack on a Sikh woman in Birmingham. A listener complained the fact the perpetrator thought the victim was Muslim was underplayed by the programme and argued it was wrong to focus on the impact of the Sikh community at the expense of the Muslim population. The ECU assessed these concerns against the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Editorial Guidelines on impartiality.
Outcome
Whilst a case could be made for interviewing a representative of the Muslim community, the ECU considered it was not necessary to do so in order for the sequence to be duly impartial. The item, as introduced by the presenter, had a precise remit. It asked what the fact that a young woman had been violently attacked in her own home on grounds of race meant for social cohesion. The Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Midlands Correspondent, who was interviewed alongside the chair of Trustees at Sikh Women’s Aid, went on to give further details of what happened, including the fact that the attacker had insisted the victim was Muslim, even though she told him she was a Sikh. The context was therefore clear, as was the reason for interviewing the Chair of Trustees, who as someone who had offered the victim support, could therefore explain the impact it had had on her personally.
Not Upheld