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Newsnight propagandises interview with working single mum

Some of the ideas being considered are controversial, including restricting housing benefits for young people who could be living at home and encouraging people to have fewer children
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So the correct thing to do was to put these "controversial" ideas forward as though they were the opinions of the interviewer (with the authority of apparently "reasonable" opinion)? And this was not "intentional bias"? :confused::facepalm:
 
My complaint about my complaint being brushed off is now slowly working its way through the BBC process - got another (longer) standard reply this morning, a mere eight days on from when I contacted them:

Dear xxx

Your Reference xxx

Thank you for taking time to contact us again. We are sorry that you were not satisfied with our earlier response to your complaint and appreciate that you felt strongly enough to contact us again about the matter.

In these circumstances we do not undertake to reply within 10 days although we will of course respond further to you as soon as we can. The time taken depends on the nature of the issue, how many other complaints we have to investigate and it can also be affected by practical issues, such as whether a production team is available or away on location.

For these reasons we ask you not to contact us further in the meantime and apologise if you experience any delay. This is an automatic email sent from an account which is not monitored so you cannot reply to this address. However if it does prove necessary to contact us, for example if you experience continued delay, please use our webform and quote any case number we provided.

You can read more information about the complaints process and how we act on complaints at www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

The complaints procedure is available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/asset...rk/protocols/2011/e3_editorial_complaints.pdf

We appreciate your patience in awaiting a response.

Kind regards

BBC Complaints
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

NB This is sent from an outgoing account only which is not monitored. You cannot reply to this email address but if necessary please contact us via our webform quoting any case number we provided.
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I imagine there are many more such machine emails being churned out to angry punters across the land at the moment.

One wonders whether, had this assiduous attention to procedures been applied to Newsnight's journalistic process, all of this hubbub might have been avoided for the Beeb.
 
At least you're getting a reply. I've yet to receive even an acknowledgement. Typical ministerial cunt, too self-important to interact with the plebs.
 
Bit more info here:

Working with Tower Hamlets council to source interviewees, Stratton apparently rejected a string of possible candidates on the basis that:

“You must have got people living on benefits as a lifestyle choice!”

Should the question “Do you think you should have had your daughter?” (edited out the final piece for broadcast) not provide sufficient clues as to Stratton’s views, she shouted across a crowded open-plan office:

“… people should think about whether they can afford to have kids before they have them!”

The Eye’s piece concludes:

When a brave council official ventured to suggest to Stratton that she sounded like an Edwardian eugenicist arguing that the poor shouldn’t breed, she informed him that he was “a cock”.
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Email update from Shanene:

"I am genuinely sorry that you were made to feel uncomfortable...and I apologise."
Peter Rippon, Newsnight Editor

It's been the craziest few weeks of my life. I thought bringing up a little girl while working full time was hard enough -- add to that journalists turning up on my doorstep, interviews, thousands of tweets and even strangers recognising me at work.

After all that, the BBC has publicly apologised. Peter Rippon, Newsnight Editor issued a statement which was on the front page of the Newsnight website for 24 hours:

"I do accept that we didn't make clear that you are a working mother and that someone watching the exchange could have got the impression you are unemployed...we should not have allowed that impression to be created so I apologise."

This is a step in the right direction, but I want to see an apology on air -- hundreds of thousands of people watched me being humiliated on Newsnight but very few will have seen Peter Rippon's statement on the website. I think my apology deserves to be as public as my humiliation so I'll be taking my complaint to Ofcom with the support of over 25,000 of you behind me. I'll be updating the petition with my progress.

I am so grateful to everyone who signed my petition and I want to share with you some of the things I've achieved with your support so far:

I was personally called by Peter Rippon, Newsnight editor
I told my side of the story on Comment is Free -- it was of the top 10 most viewed stories
The New Statesman featured my campaign, and the BBC told them they were sorry
My local paper, the East End Advertiser, ran an article
My campaign was supported by MPs, celebrities, journalists and authors
Thousands of people tweeted their support
Newsnight has said that my experience has taught them lessons about working with interviewees. I think the success of this campaign shows that they won't get away with misrepresenting people in the future.

You can still support my campaign by submitting a complaint via the BBC website which will let the BBC know that their behaviour was unacceptable and that I'm waiting for an on air apology.

I am so grateful to everyone who has signed my petition -- nothing I've achieved would have been possible on my own and your support has meant the world to me.

Thank you,

Shanene Thorpe
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And now another bullshit reply from the Beeb, helpfully enclosing Rippon's non-apology statement, but not addressing any of my points:

Dear XXX

Reference XXX

Thank you for your further contact regarding 'Newsnight' broadcast on BBC Two on 23rd May 2012.

We are sorry our previous response did not sufficiently address your concerns.

We feel it’s important to stress that we received a wide range of feedback about this issue; considerable correspondence to us has been generated by online lobby activity. Bearing in mind the pressure on resources, the previous response sent to you strived to address the majority of concerns raised and we apologise if not all of the specific points you mentioned were been answered in the manner you prefer.

We brought your complaint to the attention of the programme and as you may be aware, Newsnight’s editor has since responded to a complaint from Ms Thorpe. This response could be seen on Newsnight’s website and remains publicly available on the BBC’s Complaints website at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complaint/newsnight_23052012/

Mr Rippon explained his response to Ms Thorpe as follows:

"I responded to Ms Thorpe personally because, as I explained in a previous telephone conversation to her, I do think we have something to apologise for.

In my response to Ms Thorpe I explained the background to the interview, which looked at the Government's plans of making a further ten billion pounds of savings from its Welfare bill. Some of the ideas being considered are controversial, including restricting housing benefits for young people who could be living at home and encouraging people to have fewer children. It is these ideas we wanted to explore. We especially wanted to get reaction from people who could be affected. We approached Tower Hamlets press office to see if they could find case studies.

Ms Thorpe was put forward to us as someone who fitted the bill and with strong and articulate opinions on why the Government would be wrong to introduce such limitations. It now seems that she understood she would be interviewed about working as a young single parent. So when Newsnight's Political Editor asked her the questions she did, she was under the impression that Ms Thorpe was fully aware that the focus of the interview was on the possible controversial Government proposals and how they could affect her personally. We decided to use the interview because her situation was relevant to the kind of changes the Government is considering introducing.

Within this context the general line of questioning was, I think, reasonable but clearly there are lessons for us to learn. We should always discuss the nature of this kind of interview with the contributor before the camera starts to roll, whatever the time constraints. I am genuinely sorry that Ms Thorpe was made to feel uncomfortable as a result and have apologised to her personally. However, there was no question of intentional bias, just a misunderstanding.

That is not to diminish Ms Thorpe's concerns - it's just an explanation of what happened. Also, I do accept that we didn't make clear that Ms Thorpe is a working mother and that someone watching the exchange could have got the impression she is unemployed. It was left to her to point out that she felt her situation is different from that of unemployed people living with their parents and that she was asking for a contribution, "not a free handout". It would not be defamatory to imply someone is unemployed but we should not have allowed that impression to be created so I apologise.”

We hope that this explanation and our apology have allayed your concerns. But if you would like to take your complaint further, you can contact Stage 2 of the complaints process, the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit, within 20 working days, and they will carry out an independent investigation. You can write to them at the following address:

Editorial Complaints Unit

Room 5170

White City

201 Wood Lane

London W12 7TS

Alternatively you can e-mail the Unit at the address: ecu@bbc.co.uk

Should you choose to escalate your complaint we would ask that you include the reference number provided above in your correspondence.

Once again thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Kind Regards

Matthew Degnan

BBC Complaints

www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

NB This is sent from an outgoing account only which is not monitored. You cannot reply to this email address but if necessary please contact us via our webform quoting any case number we provided.
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Anyone actually get a proper reply yet?
 
DaveCinzano said:
And now another bullshit reply from the Beeb, helpfully enclosing Rippon's non-apology statement, but not addressing any of my points:



Anyone actually get a proper reply yet?
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I got the same one as that. It doesn't answer any of the questions I asked, and adds more to the list I want answered.
 
yes same here. Although without this bit
We feel it’s important to stress that we received a wide range of feedback about this issue; considerable correspondence to us has been generated by online lobby activity. Bearing in mind the pressure on resources, the previous response sent to you strived to address the majority of concerns raised and we apologise if not all of the specific points you mentioned were been answered in the manner you prefer.
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you can just hear them saying they're not proper complaints, it's just been whipped up on the internet
 
complaint now sent to the ECU - calling for an on air apology and acknowledgement that the interview was unreasonably biased.
 
I'm going to put a FOI asking what Allegra's subsidy from the public purse is and if she takes advantage of the BBC's tax avoidance scheme. I know the answer will be that they have no statutory obligation to disclose what the talent (their term) is paid - they always do. Nice to get it - and their utter contempt for norms - in writing though.
 
Latest response:

Dear Mr Cinzano

I'm writing to acknowledge your complaint to the ECU, and to say that we
have now received a complaint from Ms Thorpe herself. I hope to be able
to let you know the outcome of our investigation by 7 August, if not
sooner.

Yours sincerely

Fraser Steel
Head of Editorial Complaints
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