I refer to the attached “notes” comments below, which involve TV reporting of the situation in the Ukraine.
Ofcom are, as stated, investigating 15 editions of the hourly RT News broadcast on 27th February 2022.
I watched a number of these editions of the hourly News programmes and saw no more lack of impartiality than I saw on the other TV channels, which I also watched.
In fact I took the view that RT in general go out of their way to ensure impartiality whereas that is not the case with most of the other TV channels.
I ask that all of the TV channels are investigated by Ofcom for their news programmes broadcast on 27th February 2022, as in my opinion they were numerous breaches of the Ofcom Broadcasting code, whereas RT News did not appear to.
In fact the other TV broadcasters continue to broadcast news programmes on the Ukraine which are pure propaganda for one point of view to the exclusion of any other point of view. This is clearly breaking the Ofcom Broadcasting code.
It would be exceptionally damaging to the credibility of Ofcom as a Broadcast regulator if your investigations were confined to just one broadcaster ( who so happen to have a different perspective to the government, in that they endeavour to portray a cross section of view on the Ukraine) and ignored investigating any breaches of the Broadcasting code by other TV channels, just because they support the government.
The fact that RT has been taken down prior to the investigation is only further evidence of the efforts to curtail a free media and freedom of expression on matters to do with the Ukraine.
It is very damaging to a free society not to have a free media, and my comments about lack of impartiality also apply to many UK broadcasting radio stations, so there is a problem in that area too.
The fact that the major newspapers in the UK are also showing lack of impartiality is of major concern too.
It makes it even more important that the broadcast media, especially the TV broadcast media, has impartiality in at least one of the TV news channels.
It is important to have choice in the TV News Channels and each of them has their own way of presenting news. Thus each have, to an extent, their own loyal viewers. There are also many people who prefer to watch all the TV News channels to get as wide as selection of news broadcasting as possible.
The current lack of RT News availability is already a major disadvantage to the viewing public who deserve, in a free society, to be able to views of different perspectives. At present, they are presented with just one set of propaganda by the current TV broadcasters, and no alternative is offered and it is perceived to be censored.
As it happens, RT seems to be very conscious of the need to have scrupulous impartiality to the extent that they go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve this. In contrast, many of the other broadcast TV channels pay scant or no regard to the need for impartiality.
This whole issue is very important. If RT is censored, then it would be most surprising if Russia did not ban a number of TV channels from broadcasting there. So all that would happen would be less people in the world having less access to TV News channels.
It is imperative that Ofcom demonstrates it is independent of government control and makes strenuous efforts to keep all the current TV broadcasters including RT and treats them all equally, with all of them investigated under the same criteria.
I have experience of RT for a number of years, having been asked to make political comment on a wide variety of subjects on a fairly regular basis. At no time I have been told/asked what to say or to be subject to any form of editorial control, except abiding by accepted broadcasting standards. I do offer a different perspective which is valued by many and have never had any complaints about what I have said.
In contrast I note that some of the other TV broadcasters make special efforts to only use political commentators who will support their way of thinking. Thus RT News makes a huge contribution to having a variety of different perspectives, something you rarely get with some of the other TV broadcasters.
I also add that no one at RT or indeed anywhere has asked me to contact Ofcom, and I do so because I have a great sense of the need for justice and a range of TV News broadcasting being available to the public.
I finally add that it seems that all experts consider that Russia will win in the Ukraine.
Therefore any encouragement of continued hostilities and stoking up the conflict and hostilities, will only result in more deaths and casualties, than there would have been if TV broadcasters had been more responsible. This means more civilians unnecessarily sacrificed and more buildings and infrastructure of the Ukraine destroyed or damaged because of the recklessness of faraway armchair politicians. The TV broadcasting standards in terms of deception and misinformation have fallen to the depths of the lies which were put across to justify the war in Iraq.
The encouragement for people to flee the country as refugees is also bordering on the irresponsible because it has been made quite clear that the only areas people need to temporarily vacate are those where there is direct conflict and they have been advised to leave.
Now the media is putting across that it is okay to send billions of pounds worth or arms to Ukraine so they can fight someone else’s proxy war. These actions should be allowed to be challenged intelligently. They were not with Iraq and we should have learned lessons from that. How can it be acceptable to send weapons to the Ukraine, but not to the anti-Taliban resistance in Afghanistan ? There is too much hypocrisy . Too many double standards. This is where the broadcast media should be playing a role. Questioning decisions and ensuring there is balance in arguments. That is not the case at the moment.
No one is allowed to say how much the British public will suffer as a result of the sanctions, how much our energy costs are going exorbitantly rise, how much the costs of living will be dramatically affected and nor crucially how our green agenda will be put back.
There has to be balance in broadcasting and all political decisions should be subject to serious questioning and risk/benefit analysis. There should be no censorship of alternative viewpoints under any guise.
Ofcom needs to show that it will firmly stand up and defend a broad based and free media.
I thank you for your attention to the above and look forward to hearing from you as a matter of urgency on this matter.
With kind regards,
Anthony Webber
Independent Political Commentator
Joint Founder, National Alliance for Freedom
https://nationalalliance.org.uk
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