Ofcom clears broadcasters after complaints, but tells them to consider explicit warnings before airing 'challenging' footageRead the full Ofcom ruling on TV news coverge of Woolwich killing (P22)Ofcom has told broadcasters including ITV and the BBC to learn lessons after they aired graphic coverage of soldier Lee Rigby's murder, including warning about the "looping" of explicit mobile phone footage of one of the attackers.The media regulator has officially cleared nine news and current affairs broadcasters – including ITV News, BBC News and Sky News - after investigating almost 700 complaints about coverage of the Woolwich attack in May.Ofcom said that in this case the explicit material was "justified by the context" due to the "significance of the right to freedom of expression in this case because news programming has a duty to inform the public".However, Ofcom also used the 30-page ruling published on Monday to warn broadcasters after becoming concerned about a "few aspects of some news coverage" of the incident during its investigation.The media regulator highlighted concerns over regional news bulletin ITV London Tonight showing a graphic mobile phone sequence of one of the murderers with a machete and blood on his hands four times on a "loop", without audio and without being preceded by a specific warning."We were concerned about the repetition of the same material four times without audio, particularly as this was the first time this material was shown on UK... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]