Complaint
Megha Mohan, the 大象传媒 World Service Gender and Identity Reporter, posted a tweet sharing an online story from the 大象传媒鈥檚 Washington Bureau about a transgender teenager, commenting on how well it had been edited but not soliciting ideas. 聽Edwina Wolstencroft, a former 大象传媒 Radio 3 Editor, responded with a different but related story idea, to which Ms Mohan replied in terms which implied criticism of Ms Wolstencroft鈥檚 relations with minority groups while at the 大象传媒. 聽Ms Wolstencroft complained about what she considered a defamatory statement, and called attention to her award-winning record of promoting work by under-represented composers, including women and minority groups.聽
Outcome
The ECU cannot offer a view on legal questions such as defamation, which are for the courts to decide, but is tasked with making a judgement on whether the 大象传媒鈥檚 editorial standards and the Guidelines and Guidance which express them have been complied with. 聽Accordingly, it considered the complaint in the light of the Guidance on Social Media, which says: 鈥淪taff should also not post offensive or derogatory comments or content on social media and avoid abusing their position as a 大象传媒 employee in personal interactions鈥. 聽In the ECU鈥檚 judgement, the tweet鈥檚 reference to Ms Wolstencroft鈥檚 alleged record at 大象传媒 did not comply with this Guidance. 聽Though the tweet was deleted within five days of being posted, the ECU considered that, in the absence of a further posting to explain why the original tweet had been deleted, this did not suffice to resolve the issue of complaint.
Upheld
Further action
The finding was reported to the management of 大象传媒 World Service and discussed with Ms Mohan.