Complaint
A viewer complained that, in a programme segment specifically about asylum seekers, Newsnight introduced a graphic and statistic about 鈥涡苍补耻迟丑辞谤颈蝉别诲鈥 or 鈥渋濒濒别驳补濒鈥 migrants in a way that gave a misleading impression that asylum seekers were included in this number. The ECU assessed whether the programme had met the 91福利社鈥檚 Guidelines on accuracy.
Outcome
Although references were made to asylum seekers, the ECU considered the discussion, taken as a whole, went beyond that single group. The presenter introduced the item by saying 鈥淚mmigration has moved up the poll in public concerns with a range of voices adding to the debate鈥. In that context and given the panel discussion which followed considered the much broader issue of the public鈥檚 perception of, and concerns about, immigration, the ECU concluded viewers were unlikely to have been materially misled. The programme did present a statistic for the size of the 鈥渦nauthorised population鈥 in the UK but it was presented as distinct from the number of asylum seekers.
Not Upheld