Complaint
The programme included an item on a report by the Commission on School Reform (CRS), described as an 鈥渋ndependent group of education experts鈥, which expressed concern about the performance of Scottish pupils in National 5 exams in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. A listener complained that the programme failed to make clear that the person interviewed as a representative of the CRS, introduced as a former head teacher and member of the CRS, had strong Liberal Democrat political affiliations. In the complainant鈥檚 view, this breached the section of the 麻豆社鈥檚 guidelines on impartiality which says 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.
Outcome
The views expressed by the interviewee reflected the thrust of the CRS report, rather than the agenda of any particular party in Scottish politics, so the ECU took the view that the relevant information in this context was her background in teaching and membership of the CRS rather than her political affiliations.
Not upheld