Complaint
A listener complained聽a statistic used by the 大象传媒鈥檚 Health Editor, to demonstrate the risk to pregnant women of not taking a Covid vaccine, was misleading as it lacked context. 聽聽Although the complainant did not question the accuracy of the statistic itself, the ECU assessed the complaint under the published 大象传媒 Guidelines on Accuracy as these make clear that the 大象传媒 must聽鈥渨eigh, interpret and where appropriate challenge statistics鈥听飞颈迟丑听鈥渋mportant caveats and limitations鈥听别虫辫濒补颈苍别诲.
Outcome
In the report Hugh Pym explained that聽鈥淔igures from NHS England show that between July and September 118 people started the treatment, of which 20 were pregnant. 19 of these were reported as unvaccinated鈥. 聽The聽complainant argued this lacked context, as readers were not told the percentage of pregnant women who have been vaccinated. 聽The ECU assessed this in the light of the available evidence on vaccination rates among pregnant women at the time of the broadcast and found precise figures do not appear to have been available. 聽But estimates which were in the public domain appear to show a significantly smaller proportion of pregnant women were vaccinated compared to the general population (one placing it at 15% for the UK), which would tally with the wider concern reflected in the piece at the relatively low rate of vaccine take-up among pregnant women.聽 Statistically, the fewer the number of pregnant women vaccinated, the less the significance that can be attached to the preponderance of unvaccinated pregnant women falling seriously ill after catching Covid. 聽In the ECU鈥檚 view it did not undermine the essential validity of the story, as a disproportionate number of pregnant women had fallen ill from Covid and a higher take-up rate of the vaccine among pregnant women would likely have decreased the numbers requiring treatment in intensive care 鈥 and the report gave the actual figures from NHS England, in contrast to much of the coverage elsewhere. 聽But given the obligation in the guidelines to offer聽鈥渋mportant caveats鈥聽and explain the limitations of any statistics used, the ECU agreed a qualifier should have been added to explain the low take up rate among pregnant women and how it limited the conclusions that can be drawn from the statistics.
Upheld
Further action
The finding was reported to the Board of 大象传媒 News and discussed with聽Hugh Pym.