Complaint
A listener complained that an item on the return of the Notting Hill Carnival was inaccurate in saying it started in the 1960s to celebrate the lives of those who left the Caribbean to rebuild Britain after two world wars.聽 The Carnival had begun at an earlier date (though unofficially), it was not a celebration of particular lives, and those who had left the Caribbean had done so in the hope of betterment, not to rebuild Britain.聽 The ECU considered the complaint in relation to the 大象传媒鈥檚 editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
There are many accounts of the origins of the Carnival, but it seems to be broadly accepted that it began with the indoor event at St Pancras in 1959, the first outdoor festival in the form we now know it having taken place in 1966. 聽In the circumstances the ECU did not consider that dating it to the 1960s was materially misleading. 聽On the second point, the ECU noted instances (including the original 1959 event) where the explicit intention of the event was to celebrate local West Indian communities and their music and culture, and considered these sufficient to justify the reference to celebrating the lives of those who had left the Caribbean.聽 The ECU also noted that the Government at the time of the Windrush had couched its appeal for immigration in terms of a shortage of labour for post-war reconstruction and the availability of employment on that account.聽 It therefore considered the item accurate as to the broad purpose of immigration from the Caribbean, whether or not that purpose corresponded to the motives of individual immigrants.
Not Upheld