主播大秀

'The English ones are best'? Clearly you are not an asparagus connoisseur! I thought everybody knew that the best asparagus is from Lesotho? And that early harvesting is required before shoots break through to satisfy the Germans who like their asparagus to be white? Sounds too like the English haven't got their supply chains sorted either! But while you guys potter off to research this topic properly for a future programme you might be interested to see the decision issued by the PCC this afternoon in the case of 'Skintland' versus 'The Economist'? Note the finding that 'The Economist' is not found to be 'reliable' on anything not least asparagus:

Verdict on Robertson v 'The Economist' has just arrived from The Press Complaints Commission (a "self-regulatory body"):

Commission鈥檚 decision in the case of
Robertson v The Economist

The complainant considered the article, an editorial by the magazine on the economic consequences of Scottish secession, had breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors鈥� Code of Practice. The complainant said that the map of Scotland on the magazine鈥檚 front cover, accompanying the editorial, had contained numerous inaccuracies that had smeared Scotland.

The Commission had regard for the terms of Clause 1 (i) of the Code, which make clear that the press 鈥渕ust take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information鈥�, and the terms of Clause 1 (ii) which state that 鈥渁 significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected promptly and with due prominence鈥�.

The Commission was aware that the complainant鈥檚 concerns related to the map that had been published on the magazine鈥檚 front cover; as the complainant had acknowledged, this map was part of the magazine鈥檚 editorial on the issue of Scottish independence and its potential economic consequences; as such, when addressing the complaint the Commission had regard for this context.

The complainant considered the labelling of a town in the Scottish borders as 鈥榝ootinmouth鈥� had suggested to readers that there were cases of foot and mouth disease in the Scottish borders. In this instance, the label seemed to have been a satirised version of Eyemouth, the name of a town in southern Scotland; while the Commission acknowledged the complainant鈥檚 concern, it did not agree that readers in general would have understood this name as suggesting an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Scotland. There was no breach of the Code on this point.

The complainant said that the description of Edinburgh as 鈥榚dinborrow鈥� suggested that the magazine did not understand the difference between borrowing, and funds under management. Furthermore, he also felt that it had been inaccurate to suggest that the city was twinned with Athens. However it was the magazine鈥檚 view, as outlined in the editorial, that an independent Scotland could face higher borrowing costs and difficulty obtaining credit from international markets. The editorial had ended with the magazine鈥檚 warning that an independent Scotland could face sovereign debt problems similar to those experienced by Greece; in this context, the Commission was satisfied that readers would have understood the connection, and would not have been misled.

The Commission turned to consider the complainant鈥檚 concerns in relation to the portrayal of the climate and geography of Scotland in the map; in particular, the complainant emphasised that there had been no meteorological data provided to support the labelling of St Kilda Island as 鈥榮t colder鈥�, and that Arran was not ecologically barren. The Commission considered that readers would have generally understood the map as a satirical illustration of an aspect of the magazine鈥檚 argument, and not a literal representation of the geography of Scotland or the climatic conditions of its constituent territories. There was no breach of the Code.

The complainant said that the labelling of Fair Isle as 鈥榰nfair isle鈥� was inaccurate; and he emphasised that the Shetland Islands have not been leased to the Kingdom of Norway. Furthermore he considered that the label of 鈥榓berdown鈥� was inaccurate, as shown by the Chevron oil company advertisement next to the magazine editorial. While the Commission acknowledged the complainant鈥檚 concerns, it did not consider that these labels would have been understood by readers as reliable descriptions of the economies, or socio-economic conditions, of their respective locations. As such, it was satisfied that readers had not been misled and it did not establish a breach of the Code on this point

Our reference 鈥� 121731