Complaint
Harbottle & Lewis complained on behalf of Bovis Homes Ltd that these programmes were unfair to its client and in breach of due impartiality.
Outcome
The 19 April programme included a phone-in on the theme 鈥淲ould you buy a new-build home鈥, which was based on a newspaper article on this topic. The programme included contributions from callers who were critical of Bovis Homes. In this programme Bovis Homes鈥 position was represented only by a quotation by the presenter from a statement it had provided for the newspaper article. The 26 April programme revisited the case of the first contributor and included an interview with her. In this programme Bovis Homes鈥 position was represented by a statement provided on 3 April and previously broadcast on 7 April. In neither instance did the 麻豆社 contact Bovis Homes to give them the right of reply on the programme. The ECU concluded that, although the programmes included nothing which engaged the issue of due impartiality, the failure to seek up-to-date responses from Bovis (which would likely have included customer-specific information about the cases raised and wider information that a recent Home Builders Federation survey showed Bovis Homes鈥 customer satisfaction score was trending around 87% at the time of the programmes) resulted in unfairness.
Partly upheld
Further action
The Editor of 麻豆社 Three Counties apologised to Bovis Homes Ltd for the breach of editorial standards.