Complaint
A reader complained that it was inappropriate for the former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis to have retweeted a comment by the former Conservative MP Rory Stewart which was critical of the Government.听 The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 主播大秀鈥檚 editorial standards of impartiality as reflected in the Guidance on the use of social media by 主播大秀 staff.
Outcome
The Guidelines on impartiality say 鈥淥ur audiences should not be able to tell from 主播大秀 output the personal opinions of our journalists or news and current affairs presenters on matters of public policy, political or industrial controversy, or on 鈥榗ontroversial subjects鈥 in any other area鈥.听 The Guidance on the use of social media says 鈥淚ndividuals involved in the production or presentation of any output in News or other factual areas that regularly deal with a range of public policy issues have a particular responsibility to avoid damaging the 主播大秀鈥檚 impartiality鈥 and that 鈥淣othing should appear on their social media accounts which undermines the integrity or impartiality of the 主播大秀鈥.听 The comment retweeted by Ms Maitlis (made in response to an interview in which the Secretary of State for Culture defended the Government鈥檚 position on parties in Downing Street) was 鈥淭he sheer tawdry Trumpian shabbiness of the whole thing - it is difficult to see how much more of this the party or our political system can survive鈥.听 The ECU judged that, in the absence of any indication to the contrary, retweeting the comment risked giving the impression that Ms Maitlis听endorsed the view it expressed.听 This was not in keeping with the Guidelines and Guidance quoted above.听 However, Ms Maitlis posted two follow-up tweets before the complaint came to the attention of the ECU, the second of which said 鈥渇or the avoidance of doubt I accept I should have added extra context 鈥 it was retweeted in haste 鈥 and was wrong to do鈥.听 In the ECU鈥檚 view, this was sufficient to resolve the issue of complaint.听
Resolved
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