Complaint
A listener complained about the way the presenter of this edition of the programme had misleadingly described the author JK Rowling as holding a 鈥渧ery unpopular opinion鈥 on gender identity. The complainant also argued it was offensive and harmful to discuss JK Rowling in the same context as Eric Gill, Adolf Hitler and R Kelly. The ECU considered the accuracy, impartiality and potential offensiveness of the remarks.
Outcome
Tom Sutcliffe was interviewing the philosopher Professor Erich Hatala Matthes about his new book, 鈥淒rawing the Line鈥, which explores whether it is possible to separate art from the artist, within the context of what is known as cancel culture.聽 Professor Matthes used JK Rowling as a case study because of the criticism she has attracted for her views on gender identity.聽 As part of this discussion, Mr Sutcliffe asked the following question:
And do you think there鈥檚 a major philosophical distinction between artists who have committed crimes, have been found guilty of crimes, and artists who simply have unpopular opinions?聽 You bring up the case of JK Rowling who clearly has a very unpopular opinion regarding gender identity and has, as a consequence of that, faced severe and serious criticism.聽 Are those the same things?
In the ECU鈥檚 view it was legitimate to discuss JK Rowling, because she featured in the interviewee鈥檚 book (a fact reflected in Mr Sutcliffe鈥檚 question).聽 As to comparing her case with others, the ECU noted that Mr Sutcliffe did so in the context of distinguishing between expressing opinions (as JK Rowling had done) and committing criminal acts, and considered that this was neither harmful nor offensive.聽
The EU agreed, however, that Mr Sutcliffe鈥檚 reference to a 鈥渧ery unpopular opinion鈥 was potentially misleading because, while it had clearly proved objectionable to some, there was no conclusive evidence that the objectors represented a majority.
Before the complaint reached the ECU, however, Mr Sutcliffe had appeared on Radio 4鈥檚 Feedback and acknowledged that he should have acknowledged that many people shared the view expressed by JK Rowling, and that he should have reflected that view.聽 In the ECU鈥檚 judgement this was sufficient to resolve the issues of accuracy and impartiality raised by the complaint.
Resolved