BROADCASTING watchdog Ofcom is still investigating a complaint about an alleged breach of impartiality rules by the BBC in an interview with former Scottish Tory leader, Baroness Ruth Davidson.
The complaint made by John Parker, a reader of The National, concerned an interview with Davidson on the flagship BBC Radio 4 programme the World at One (Wato) on February 24.
It concerned a 12-minute programme segment on the expected – but postponed – appearance by Alex Salmond before the committee investigating the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment allegations against him, of which he was subsequently cleared.
The segment also contained reports from the BBC’s Scotland editor Sarah Smith and political correspondent Nick Eardley.
Parker said after these contributions, Davidson was given five minutes to make allegations of institutional corruption with no serious challenge by presenter Sarah Montague.
During the interview, she said the Scottish Government’s handling of the issue raised questions about whether Scotland’s democratic institutions were corrupt.
Parker, who lives in Wales, said it was, “a very one-sided and tendentious presentation to be making with Holyrood elections just a few weeks away”, and complained to the BBC.
However, when this was rejected at every level of their complaints process, he raised it with Ofcom, which eventually started its own investigation on October 11, after several months of assessment.
A spokesperson told The National then: “We are investigating whether this programme broke our rules on due impartiality.”
The regulator said yesterday: “The investigation remains ongoing.”
Parker added: “I'm not sure what is a reasonable timescale for a complaint to be resolved.
“I'll keep on monitoring … thanks for keeping the subject alive.”
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