This page includes apologies, significant corrections, statements and responses. It does not include routine corrections to news stories, minor on-air apologies and schedule changes.
Corrections and clarifications are published in the order that they were issued.
Newsnight/大象传媒 News Channel
8 November 2024
During an interview on Newsnight with an Israeli fan about disorder after a football match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax in Amsterdam, we used stills and footage from the night to accompany the conversation. This included footage shot near the Amsterdam Central Station appearing to show a large group chasing and attacking an individual.
However, the author of the clip said separately on social media she had filmed Maccabi supporters attacking a Dutch man and so its inclusion during this segment, and some previous use when reporting reaction to the disorder on the 大象传媒 News Channel, could have given the impression that this was illustrating attacks on Israeli fans.
We acknowledge that we should have been clearer about the context, and that the use of the footage here was intended to illustrate the general disorder, and are happy to correct the record.
23/12/2024
The Billion Dollar Scam
Various output, April 2023
In April 2023, the 大象传媒 published and broadcast an online 大象传媒 News article titled 鈥淥n the hunt for the business behind a billion-dollar scam鈥�, a radio broadcast titled 鈥淭he billion-dollar scam鈥�, a programme titled 鈥淭he Billion Dollar Scam鈥�, and a related item on Newsnight. Amongst other matters, these publications reported that David Kezerashvili, a former Defence Minister of Georgia in the United National Movement (鈥淯NM鈥�) government, was convicted in Georgia for embezzlement of state funds.
The 大象传媒 wishes to reiterate that Mr Kezerashvili has always challenged his conviction in absentia in Georgia as being politically motivated. We are also happy to make clear that in 2016, the Westminster Magistrates鈥� Court rejected a request by the Georgian government that Mr Kezerashvili be extradited to Georgia, on the basis that the English court found that it was 鈥淸o]n balance... more likely than not that the desire to prosecute former UNM politicians is a purpose鈥� behind the requests for Mr Kezerashvili鈥檚 extradition.
06/12/2024
Panorama: The Chris Kaba Shooting
大象传媒 One/iPlayer/news online, 4 November 2024
This edition of Panorama investigated what happened on the night Chris Kaba was fatally shot. During the programme the reporter spoke to the man who led the investigation for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) but who left the police watchdog before a file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The IOPC released a statement after the trial which saw the acquittal of the police officer accused of murdering Chris Kaba. This statement should have been included in the Panorama material and we鈥檙e happy to make this clear now. It has been added to the programme on iPlayer and to the accompanying online article:
鈥淭he decisions to criminally investigate Sergeant Blake, and then refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) followed careful consideration of a significant amount of evidence gathered during our independent investigation and by applying the relevant legal tests which govern our work鈥�.
06/12/2024
Start The Week
大象传媒 Radio 4, 14 October 2024
In the discussion about the use of artificial intelligence and the effects of bias in algorithms, a contributor said that no one under the age of 40 has been able to receive a liver transplant under an algorithmic system designed to help find the recipient who would benefit the most. Over the past three UK financial years, 133 people aged 17 to 39 received transplants that were allocated to them through this system, using what is called a transplant benefit score.
04/12/2024
Good Morning Scotland
大象传媒 Radio Scotland, 28 October 2024
In an interview about charity Age Scotland鈥檚 concern that more older people will be taken to hospital with hypothermia this year following cuts to the winter fuel payment, the programme spoke with a guest as an expert in the care of older people.
Our editorial guidelines state that 鈥淲e should not automatically assume that contributors from other organisations (such as academics, journalists, researchers and representatives of charities and think-tanks) are unbiased. Appropriate information about their affiliations, funding and particular viewpoints should be made available to the audience, when relevant to the context.鈥�
While the contributions from the guest were appropriate for the item, in hindsight, with the interview moving into areas of political decision-making, the programme should have found a way to convey to listeners more information on the guest鈥檚 party political standpoint. We have reminded our teams of the importance of this in preparing and conducting interviews.
20/11/2024
大象传媒 News
Various output, 9 November 2024
We reported comments from a 大象传媒 interview with Bryan Lanza, described as a senior advisor to President-Elect Trump, that the incoming Trump administration will focus on achieving peace in Ukraine rather than winning back territory. In fact Mr Lanza stopped working as an adviser for the Trump campaign after the election and was speaking in a personal capacity. We are happy to make this clear.
12/11/2024
Today/Yesterday in Parliament
Radio 4 & Radio 4 Extra, 24/25 October 2024
During a report on a House of Lords debate about how the government is tackling climate change we incorrectly said the Conservative former cabinet minister, Lord Lilley, was involved in an oil and gas company based in central Asia. Lord Lilley does not have any current interest in an energy company. We apologise for the error.
07/11/2024
Newsnight
大象传媒 Two, 18 September 2024
While making a variety of points about Israel鈥檚 new strategy against Hezbollah, a contributor wrongly stated that the International Court of Justice said what had happened in Gaza is 鈥減lausible genocide鈥�. To be clear the ICJ actually decided that the Palestinians had a right to be protected from genocide.
30/10/2024
Good Morning Scotland
大象传媒 Radio Scotland, 23 October 2024
In a Good Morning Scotland interview with the Deputy First Minister, during a wide-ranging interview, we used an inaccurate figure to illustrate the hourly rate at which a full-time worker in Scotland would pay more tax in Scotland than a person earning the same salary in other parts of the UK.
We apologise for the error.
28/10/2024
大象传媒 News at Six
大象传媒 One, 21 October 2024
During coverage of a police officer being cleared of murdering Chris Kaba in South London, we said that anti-racism protestors had compared his death to that of George Floyd in the US and mistakenly described the latter as 鈥渟hot dead鈥�. George Floyd actually died during an arrest in 2020 after a police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was later convicted of murder. We apologise for the error.
23/10/2024
Points West
大象传媒 One, 10 September 2024
In two episodes at 6.30pm and 10.40pm we said that the Victoria Centre in Lydney, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire offered meals for pensioners that were means tested. We are happy to make it clear they are not. Meals are provided free of charge and open to anyone in the community on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. If anyone is able to make a donation in return for a meal the centre says money is always gratefully accepted.
10/10/2024
Today
Radio 4, 30 September 2024
In an interview with the First Minister of Wales about the closure of the last blast furnace at the Port Talbot steelworks we mistakenly asked whether there were would be 5000 people employed at the plant in the future. This related to UK wide staffing at Tata steel plants, not 5000 at Port Talbot alone. We apologise for the mix-up.
01/10/2024
大象传媒 News Channel
3 July 2024
We mistakenly said that Donald Trump had been 鈥渃onvicted of paying hush money to a porn actress as he campaigned in 2016鈥�. This was after we had correctly said the case was about 鈥渇alsifying business records鈥�. We鈥檙e sorry for any confusion.
01/10/2024
Car insurance quotes higher in ethnically diverse areas
National and local bulletins, 大象传媒 Breakfast, One/Six O鈥檆lock news, 大象传媒 News Channel, 大象传媒 News website, 26 February 2024
大象传媒 News carried a story about car insurance which described a correlation between higher premiums in ethnically diverse areas, taking into account crime and road accident levels based on data from a government measure called the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). However, we did not explain clearly and fully enough that we had not established why premiums were higher (causation rather than correlation) or the limitations of the data we used and cited. In particular, we did not make clear that the broad IMD measures do not capture a number of types of crime and car accidents likely to be closely related to insurance risk, or the age of the IMD data, and that insurance firms also have data on claims that they do not reveal that might explain differences in premiums between areas with different levels of ethnic diversity. Separately, the original version on the website included a subheading, 鈥榯he ethnicity penalty,鈥� which should have appeared in quotation marks to denote that these were the words of Citizens Advice - and our coverage did not fully explain the precise nature of the Citizens Advice research cited in the article.
Given we did not prominently warn about the difficulty of establishing direct causation, the limitations of the data used and the failure to present the Citizens Advice research in its full context, we鈥檝e decided the story didn鈥檛 meet our editorial standards and have removed the online article.
10/09/2024
Dopesick
大象传媒 iPlayer, 28 April 2024
The 大象传媒 iPlayer page for Dopesick described the series as a true story. Whilst the story is inspired by actual events, certain characters, characterizations, incidents, locations and dialogue were imagined or invented for purposes of dramatization. The programme description has now been amended.
04/09/2024
大象传媒 News at Ten
大象传媒 One, 7 August 2024
In the programme headlines and the introduction to the report, the presenter said that a broken saddle had impacted Team GB鈥檚 gold medal hopes in the Men鈥檚 Team Pursuit final at the Olympic Games. In fact Ethan Hayter had explained in a post-race interview that the incident was due to fatigue. We apologise for this error, which was corrected in subsequent reports.
29/08/2024
Newsbeat
大象传媒 Radio 1, 12 August 2024
The programme鈥檚 opening segment focused on complaints from people who had attended Bludfest, a festival founded by the musician Yungblud.
During the segment we spoke to some of those people in more detail about their complaints about accessibility for disabled people at the site, alongside clips of Yungblud from a Newsbeat interview which we made clear had taken before the festival and where he explained the purpose of starting the event and their efforts to make it safe and connect people. Listeners were also told that the programme had contacted Yungblud鈥檚 team and the festival promoter AEG Presents for comment but hadn鈥檛 heard anything back yet.
However, we acknowledge that although Yungblud鈥檚 team were contacted for comment about complaints from festival goers, these specific points about disability access were not put to them prior to the broadcast. We included some of their response on air at the next opportunity in bulletins but are happy to make clear their full statement and apologise for not doing so previously:
"Accessibility was at the heart of our planning for Bludfest, as it is for all AEG events. We put in place a vast range of measures including a dedicated accessible entrance, level access throughout the site, additional facilities such as toilets and seating, access wristbands and an expanded platform among other initiatives. Accessibility is a major priority for us and for the fact some fans felt we didn鈥檛 meet their needs on the day, we would like to say sorry. We have taken on board all the feedback received and will make every endeavour to ensure appropriate changes are implemented in the future."
28/08/2024
Front Row
大象传媒 Radio 4, 23 July 2024
In a live discussion about sponsorship of the arts, Noreen Masud, representing the campaign group Fossil Free Books, referred to 鈥渢he genocide in Gaza鈥�, saying it was 鈥渁n opinion backed by the International Court of Justice鈥�. However, the president of the ICJ at the time of its ruling has said the court did not decide whether or not there was a plausible claim of genocide, but that Palestinians in Gaza had 鈥減lausible rights to protection from genocide鈥�, rights which were at real risk of irreparable damage.
25/07/2024
大象传媒 Sounds news playlist
1 May 2024
An item about protests on the campus at the University of California mistakenly reported that violence had broken out between rival pro-Palestinian groups. It actually involved pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups. We apologise for the mistake.
08/07/2024
大象传媒 News at Six
22 May 2024
In an item about Ireland, Norway and Spain saying they would formally recognise a Palestinian state, we incorrectly said that before this announcement 鈥渙nly nine European countries recognise a Palestinian state鈥� and showed them on a map in the studio. The intention was to talk about countries that are members of the European Union, not all 17 European countries that had recognised the state of Palestine at that point. We apologise for this error.
02/07/2024
The Panorama Interviews with Nick Robinson: Nigel Farage, Reform UK
大象传媒 One, 21 June 2024
When asked about the latest polling data on Reform UK, the party鈥檚 leader Nigel Farage suggested the MRP survey conducted by Savanta could be out of date because the fieldwork started before he declared he would stand in the election on 3 June. To be clear the fieldwork for this particular survey took place after that time between 7 and 18 June.
24/06/2024
Mornings
大象传媒 Radio Scotland, 13 May 2024
We acknowledge that, during the phone-in part of the programme, we did not correctly attribute a statement to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Additionally, contrary to the claims of a phone-in contributor, we recognise that the interpretation by the OHCHR is not what the ICJ concluded in its interim judgment of 26 January 2024, according to the explanation subsequently given by the former President of the Court, Joan Donoghue, on the 大象传媒 News Channel鈥檚 Hard Talk programme on 25 April 2024.
We apologise for these errors.
19/06/2024
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
9 June 2024
An interview with Nigel Farage gave too much visual prominence to the constituency in which he is standing for election, in a way which is not in line with our editorial guidelines.
We have made edits and visual adjustments to the iPlayer edition of the programme, including removing verbal references to the constituency.
The interview did not discuss constituency issues and we have made no edits to Mr Farage鈥檚 words.
The programme is aiming to interview the leaders of all the larger parties during the campaign.
10/06/2024
大象传媒 London
23 May 2024
In a report on 大象传媒 London we wrongly described an incident outside a London cinema as a vigil. We should have been clear it was a protest and we apologise for this. The correct description has been used in our online report. We clarified this on the following night鈥檚 programme.
31/05/24
大象传媒 News Channel
28 May 2024
We heard live from Nigel Farage, honorary President of Reform UK, speaking at one of its election events. When coming away from the speech, our presenter said Mr Farage was using 鈥榗ustomary inflammatory language鈥�. This did not meet the 大象传媒鈥檚 editorial standards for impartiality. The presenter later apologised on air to viewers and Mr Farage who publicly accepted the apology.
28/05/2024
News at Ten
大象传媒 One, 5 April 2024
In a report about changes to national insurance, we showed tax band figures on a graph headed 鈥榝rozen tax thresholds鈥�. We should have made clear that Scotland鈥檚 thresholds are different, and we are sorry for the oversight. We have published a full breakdown of Scottish income tax changes.
28/05/24
Radio News Bulletins
19 April 2024
In some brief news items we said that the former Chief Executive of the Scottish National Party Peter Murrell had been charged with the embezzlement of 鈥減ublic funds鈥�. We should have said 鈥淪NP funds鈥�.
23/05/24
Ros Atkins on...
大象传媒 News online/大象传媒 News Channel, 17 May 2024
In a video about the protests in Georgia we included a map which showed Crimea incorrectly. We have amended this section of the video to correct the error.
20/05/2024
News at Six
大象传媒 One, 16 April 2024
In a sequence about the UK鈥檚 proposed smoking ban we included a reference to the sugar tax accompanied by footage of bottles of Perfectly Clear water on the production line. To be clear, the product shown is flavoured water which doesn鈥檛 contain any sugar. We apologise for using these pictures in error and have deleted the footage.
26/04/2024
大象传媒 Scotland
Radio and online, 2 & 3 April 2024
In 大象传媒 Scotland鈥檚 coverage of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, reference was made in some of our output to the Act making it a criminal offence in Scotland to make 鈥渄erogatory comments鈥� based on the protected characteristics of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex. This was inaccurate and we should have referred to the Act creating a new crime where it is an offence if someone communicates material or behaves in a threatening or abusive manner with the intention of 鈥渟tirring up hatred鈥� based on these protected characteristics. We apologise for any confusion caused and have reminded our teams of the importance of accuracy in our output.
22/04/2024
Today
Radio 4, 15 April 2024
In a question to the Foreign Secretary David Cameron our presenter asked about Israel attacking and murdering tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians. Shortly after the programme, Nick Robinson posted on X saying he could have been clearer that he was not expressing his own view or that of the 大象传媒鈥檚 when he used the word "murders":
鈥淭here鈥檚 been some controversy about words I used when I was interviewing the Foreign Secretary @David_Cameron on @bbcr4today about Israel this morning. My final question was about the perceived 鈥渕orality鈥� of the government鈥檚 position - in particular the 鈥渞isk鈥� that their position could 鈥渁ppear鈥� to look like active support for Israel when it is under attack but nothing other than words 鈥渨hen Israel attacks or murders tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians鈥�. I should have been clearer that I was not expressing my own view let alone that of the 大象传媒 when I used the words 鈥渕urders鈥�. In this 15 minute long interview I asked the Foreign Secretary why ministers had supported Israel militarily; why they didn鈥檛 go further & support Israel in confronting Iran; why they weren鈥檛 tougher in confronting Israel over Gaza and ended with that question about the perceived 鈥渕orality鈥� and the 鈥渞isk鈥� of how the government鈥檚 position 鈥渁ppears鈥�. It was a lengthy and detailed exploration of the policy choices made by the government.鈥�
17/04/2024
大象传媒 News NI鈥檚 X Account
22 February 2024
On 22 February 2024, a 大象传媒 News NI post on X stated that a married couple who ran a garden centre in Hillsborough had been accused of possessing criminal property in the amount of 拢267,000. The post included a picture of Cameron Landscapes & Garden Centre. This statement was factually inaccurate, as the garden centre pictured, which is not based in Hillsborough, is not run by the married couple in question. As confirmed in the article hyperlinked within the post, the accused were Catherine and Norman Lambe, with the former having been further accused of false accounting and abusing her position within Cameron Landscapes Ltd.
27/03/2024
大象传媒 News online
16 March 2024
In an article about the Liberal Democrats鈥� spring conference we wrongly described the political party Reform UK as far-right when referring to polling. This sentence was subsequently removed from the article as it fell short of our usual editorial standards. While the original wording was based on news agency copy, we take full responsibility and apologise for the error.
18/03/2024
Newsnight, 大象传媒 Two
27 February 2024
In an item about donations to political parties we said that the union Unite was being investigated for fraud, bribery and money laundering. We should have said that it is in fact an individual who worked for Unite who is being investigated on these allegations and we鈥檙e happy to make this clear.
28/02/2024
29/02/2024 amended for clarity
Today, 大象传媒 Radio 4
13 February 2024
In an interview about the Rochdale by-election, we wrongly suggested the vote had been called by the expulsion of previous Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk from Labour. It was in fact the death of the incumbent MP Labour Tony Lloyd in January this year which precipitated the by-election. Mr Danczuk is running as a candidate for Reform UK in this by-election (he was previously suspended from Labour, which announced he would be endorsed as a candidate in the 2017 election. He then left the Labour Party) . A full list of candidates can be found on the 大象传媒 website.
15/02/2024
News at One and Newsnight
12 & 13 February 2024
In an item about Labour and the Rochdale by-election, we reported that Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald had been suspended by Labour for an alleged antisemitic remark. This was incorrect. He was suspended for what the Labour Party called deeply offensive comments relating to the Israel-Gaza war. Mr McDonald denies this. We apologise for the error and made the correction and apology on air in the next day鈥檚 programme. On Newsnight a contributor also incorrectly listed Mr McDonald as an MP who had been suspended by Labour for antisemitic remarks.
14/02/2024
大象传媒 News online 鈥� various articles
9 January 2024 - 9 February 2024
In a number of articles for the 大象传媒 News website we reported that the number of people killed during the 7 October attacks by Hamas is about 1,300.
This was the result of an error when interpreting data from Israel鈥檚 National Public Diplomacy Unit which provides the official count for victims and hostages.
In January the unit provided an update referring to 鈥渕ore than 1,200 victims murdered in the October 7 massacre鈥� and also to 鈥�139 people who were injured and evacuated for medical treatment鈥� who later died in hospitals.
However the number of people who died later is not an additional figure and the official death toll remains about 1,200 and not 1,300 as we have stated in these articles.
We have amended the articles which carried this inaccurate figure and added a correction note advising readers of this change.
We would like to apologise for this error.
14/02/2024
大象传媒 News Channel
12 February 2024
In an interview with the Palestinian envoy Husam Zomlot he was introduced as 鈥淎mbassador of the State of Palestine to the UK鈥� both verbally and on screen. Instead he should have been introduced as "Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK" and this was corrected later on air.
13/02/2024
PM 鈥� news bulletin
大象传媒 Radio 4, 2 Dec 2023
In a brief piece about COP28 we talked about how a commitment by a large group of oil companies could cut the carbon emissions created when oil is refined into petrol by up to 15% per litre. The report went on to say 鈥渞eally we need to stop using the stuff completely鈥� but should have made clear that this isn鈥檛 a universal view.
09/02/2024
大象传媒 News online, The World at One (R4), various radio bulletins
2 February 2024
大象传媒 News reported incorrectly that Abdul Ezedi, suspected of attacking a woman and her two daughters with a corrosive substance, was not eligible for asylum under Home Office guidelines as a result of a sexual assault conviction. These guidelines do not apply to asylum cases. We apologise for this error. The story was removed from news online and the episode of The World at One on 大象传媒 Sounds.
08/02/2024
大象传媒 News online, various radio bulletins
31 January 2024
We reported that the British Beer and Pub Association had said 1 in 5 people had given up alcohol this January. A PR company working on behalf of the association subsequently confirmed that this figure is inaccurate and that they had conducted a survey of more than 2,000 people which suggested 1 in 10 people had given up alcohol. We amended the online article to make this clear.
08/02/2024
Today
Radio 4, 25 January 2024
In a broad discussion around algorithms and social media and whether they might be technology which was changing humans, we talked about how TikTok was an example of a brand distracting teenagers who scrolled from one post to another. We鈥檙e happy to make it clear that TikTok has announced measures to try to protect children including and says this led to three-quarters of UK teen TikTok users setting a daily screen time limit.
01/02/2024
Reporting Scotland
大象传媒 One Scotland, 31 December 2023
During our report on energy prices and cost of living, we said the Scottish Government was spending 拢104 billion supporting households with bills. We should have said it was the UK Government that was responsible for this expenditure. We apologise for this error.
30/01/2024
PM - Radio 4
23 December 2023
In an item about how Christmas festivities were being affected by the Israel/Gaza war we said that Bethlehem was 鈥渋n the West Bank in Israel鈥�. We should have said it was 鈥渋n the occupied West Bank鈥� and apologise for this error.
18/01/2024
大象传媒 News Channel
3 December 2023
In a report about COP28 we said that 1 in 4 deaths around the world are linked in some way to climate change. To be clear the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 1 in 4 deaths 鈥渃an be attributed to preventable environmental causes and climate change is exacerbating these risks.鈥�
10/01/2024
大象传媒 Cymru Fyw
30 Tachwedd 2023
Ar 30 Tachwedd mi gyhoeddodd 大象传媒 Cymru Fyw erthygl ynghylch Coed Isaf Nursing Home Limited a鈥檙 gofal a ddarparwyd ar gyfer un o鈥檜 cyn breswylwyr. Ers hynny mi rydym wedi tynnu yr erthygl ar-lein yn 么l gan nad oedd yn cwrdd gyda safonau golygyddol y 大象传媒 ar gywirdeb a didueddrwydd. Rydym yn ymddiheuro am y materion hyn.
30 November 2023
On 30 November 大象传媒 Cymru Fyw published an article regarding Coed Isaf Nursing Home Limited and the care it provided one of its former residents. We have since withdrawn the online article since it did not meet the 大象传媒鈥檚 editorial standards on accuracy and impartiality. We apologise for these matters.
09/01/2024
Radio News Bulletins
24 December 2023
In overnight output we ran a story about Hamas accusing the Israeli army of carrying out summary executions in the Gaza strip. This was a Hamas statement, but although the accusations were attributed and our story contained a response from the Israeli military saying they were unaware of the incident and that Hamas was a terrorist organisation that did not value truth, we had not made sufficient effort to seek corroborating evidence to justify reporting the Hamas claim. We apologise for this mistake.
05/01/2024