Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy’s LBC programme is being investigated by Ofcom, the media watchdog has announced.
An episode of the Labour MP’s show, broadcast on March 29, is being looked at over whether it broke broadcasting rules on politicians acting as news presenters.
Ofcom’s rules on due impartiality state: “No politician may be used as a newsreader, interviewer or reporter in any news programmes unless, exceptionally, it is editorially justified.
Updates on our broadcasting standards cases:
— Ofcom (@Ofcom) April 8, 2024
We've launched an investigation into David Lammy on LBC, broadcast on 29 March.
We're investigating whether this programme broke our rules on politicians acting as news presenters. pic.twitter.com/AWBwWvrK1x
“In that case, the political allegiance of that person must be made clear to the audience.”
Last month, episodes of GB News programmes presented by Tory MPs were found to have broken broadcasting rules by them acting as newsreaders.
Ofcom’s probe involved shows that were presented by former House of Commons leader Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, as well as Minister Without Portfolio Esther McVey and backbencher Philip Davies, and the channel was warned about potential sanctions if there are further breaches.
Married couple Ms McVey and Mr Davies are no longer part of the GB News line-up.
We've warned TalkTV after potentially highly offensive comments were made by presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer.
— Ofcom (@Ofcom) April 8, 2024
Strong guidance has been issued, but following a careful assessment we have decided not to formally investigate.
Read more ⬇️https://t.co/DRgDS4ynXa pic.twitter.com/cqgyLc1Ny1
Also on Monday, Ofcom warned TalkTV following Julia Hartley-Brewer’s heated exchange about the Hamas-Israel war with Palestinian politician Dr Mustafa Barghouti on her show but declined to launch an investigation.
Ofcom said Ms Hartley-Brewer’s remarks “had the potential to be highly offensive to viewers” but due to their “brevity” and “audience expectations of this presenter and programme, which often features provocative viewpoints” did not reach the threshold for a probe.
“While TalkTV’s position is that Ms Hartley-Brewer’s comments were not motivated by Dr Barghouti’s religion or ethnicity, we recognise that many complainants understood them to be so. Given this, the comments had the potential to be highly offensive to viewers, irrespective of the intent of the presenter,” it added.
“We are therefore issuing strong guidance to TalkTV on the need to take greater care to ensure that potentially highly offensive comments are justified by the context in order to comply with the Broadcasting Code. We expect the broadcaster to take this guidance into account in future programming.”
The episode received more than 17,000 complaints.
