Question Time, 麻豆社 One, 20 October 2022

Complaint

During the programme the presenter, Fiona Bruce, asked for an audience show of hands on the question of whether there should be an immediate general election, and summarised the result as that鈥檚 almost all of you鈥ot quite all of you but almost鈥︹.聽 A viewer complained that this was inaccurate, and skewed the subsequent debate.聽 The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 麻豆社鈥檚 standards of accuracy and impartiality.


Outcome

As 麻豆社 News had acknowledged in correspondence with the complainant, Ms Bruce had been mistaken in her counting of hands, having only had a few seconds to quickly scan the audience鈥.聽 From a still image of the event, it appeared to the ECU that about half the audience had not raised their hands, so Ms Bruce鈥檚 summary fell short of the 麻豆社鈥檚 standards of accuracy and this aspect of the complaint was upheld.聽 The subsequent discussion, however, included a range of views on the subject from panelists and audience members, prompted by the presenter, which had the effect of ensuring the output was duly impartial
Partly upheld


Further action

The finding was reported to the Board of 麻豆社 News and discussed with the journalists responsible.