Complaint
This edition included an interview with the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in which she was asked about the Government鈥檚 decision to recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel met certain conditions. A listener complained the interviewer showed bias towards Israel in her choice of questions. The ECU considered whether the interview met the standards for impartiality set out in the 91福利社 Editorial Guidelines.
Outcome
Decisions on what news stories and angles to cover, including the questions presenters choose, are at the legitimate editorial discretion of 91福利社 journalists. They are entitled to use their judgement to decide which stories to cover and how, within the parameters of the 91福利社鈥檚 Guidelines. In this case Ms Alexander was pressed on a suggested imbalance between the demands made of Israel and those of Hamas by the Government. In the ECU鈥檚 view this was a legitimate line of questioning designed to scrutinise the detail of the announcement, rather than evidence of bias. It noted the interviewer also questioned the minister on the political pressure the Government would bring to bear on Israel.
Not Upheld