The court of Ken examined Ken Livingstone's record as Mayor of London including issues surrounding the congestion charge,the oil agreement with Hugo Chavez and allegations of drinking.
Ofcom received 12 complaints most concerning the fact that it was impartial and contained unsubstantiated allegations.None of the complaints eminated from the office of the former Mayor.
Channel 4 stated
that viewers were made aware of Martin Bright’s professional position at the start of the programme when he was captioned as the “Political Editor, New Statesman”, and it was also made clear that Martin Bright had once been a supporter of the former Mayor, but was now disappointed by his record. Channel 4 said that the programme did not offer Martin Bright’s personal or authored view of Ken Livingstone’s performance as Mayor but presented the findings of a six month investigation by the programme team. It was Martin Bright’s role to report them. Channel 4 said that, as the programme was clearly promoted as a Dispatches investigation and not an authored or personal view programme, it was not necessary or appropriate to alert viewers otherwise from the outset.
The ruling said that
Investigative journalism plays an essential role in public service broadcasting and is clearly in the public interest. Ofcom considers it of paramount importance that broadcasters, such as Channel 4, continue to explore controversial subject matter. It is inevitable such programmes which tackle highly sensitive subjects will have a high profile. Such controversial programmes may inevitably lead on occasions to complaints.
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