Complaint
In an interview with the Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick from his office, Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty commented on the prominence of a Union Flag and a portrait of the Queen in the background. 16 viewers complained to the ECU that this showed an offensive lack of respect towards the monarch and the national flag.聽 11 of them complained about subsequent social media activity by Ms Munchetty, in which she 鈥渓iked鈥 a number of Twitter comments about the incident expressing views to which they took exception.聽 The ECU considered the complaints in the light of the 大象传媒鈥檚 editorial standards in relation to offence to audiences and, for the social media activity, impartiality.
Outcome
Thanking Mr Jenrick at the end of the interview Mr Stayt, referring to the Union Flag visible behind him, said 鈥淚 think your flag is not up to standard size Government interview measurements, I think it鈥檚 just a little bit small鈥.聽 It was evident from the laughter audible in the studio that the remark was humorously intended, and from Mr Jenrick鈥檚 smile that it was taken in that spirit.聽 The brief exchange between the presenters after the interview, in which Ms Munchetty drew attention to the portrait of the Queen in Mr Jenrick鈥檚 office, continued in a jocular vein. 聽In the ECU鈥檚 view the target of the humour was the prevalence of patriotic symbols as a backdrop for ministerial interviews, not what those symbols represent, and any offence on the part of viewers arose from a misunderstanding of the presenters鈥 intentions. It therefore did not uphold these complaints.
In relation to subsequent social media activity by Ms Munchetty in her Twitter account, the ECU noted that she had 鈥渓iked鈥 a number of tweets which were disparaging of the Government鈥檚 use of patriotic symbols (one of which used strong language).聽 This risked giving the impression of endorsing one strand of opinion in a controversial area, and was in breach of the 大象传媒鈥檚 standards of impartiality as they apply to social media activity by 大象传媒 staff engaged in journalism and factual programming (as well as being potentially offensive).聽 However, Ms Munchetty had removed the 鈥渓ikes鈥 before complaints about the matter reached the ECU, and posted an apology on Twitter which made clear that the tweets in question did not represent her own views or those of the 大象传媒.聽 In the ECU鈥檚 view, this sufficed to resolve the issue of complaint.
Not upheld/resolved