Piers Morgan doesn't believe Meghan Markle was really suicidal as a result of her treatment within the Royal Household, and said so repeatedly on GMB back in March. 50,000 complaints, however, weighed little with the Content team at Ofcom. Mr Morgan's rant was okay because of other remarks in the programme by Susanna Reid and ITV Royal correspondent, Chris Ship.
".... Had it not been for the extensive challenge offered throughout the Programme by Ms Reid and Mr Ship, we would have been seriously concerned. However, given the significant challenge to Mr Morgan’s comments provided by other presenters and contributors in the Programme, we considered that, overall, adequate protection for viewers was provided and the potentially harmful and highly offensive material was sufficiently contextualised. "
Piers was also under investigation from Ofcom for potential racism, cf this sort of remark "Can I put to you just a scenario that may have happened, and I wonder whether you find this, you would automatically think this is offensive and racist ? If you have two parents, one’s White and one’s
Black, as in Meghan’s case, and she’s pregnant and going to have a baby, is it racist and offensive for a family member to say ‘Oh, what colour might the baby be?’ I mean, I would imagine in most families that might be a question they think and they might ask, but not, but not in a racist or derogatory manner. Now tell me, tell me if I’m wrong”.
Ofcom said those who complained on this front were also wrong: "While we acknowledged that Mr Morgan’s questions about the nature of racism had the potential to be highly offensive to some viewers, the conversations about race and racism in this Programme provided open debate on the issues raised by the Interview. We also considered that the Programme allowed for an important discussion to be had on the nature and impact of racism. ITV had clearly anticipated that racial issues would be discussed at length as part of the coverage of the Interview and had taken steps to ensure context could be provided during the discussions. Despite strong opinions expressed during the Programme, in Ofcom’s view any potential offence was justified by the context and the comments and discussions about race and racism were not in breach of Rule 2.3 of the Code. "
So highly offensive and potentially racist material is ok if you also have non racist co presenters to provide balance. Ofcom appear to think racism is acceptable as a different point of view. The CPS in its guidance on hate crime prosecutions does not take into account the words, actions or behaviour of those nearby. They speak of: “Any incident/crime which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility
ReplyDeleteor prejudice based on a person’s race or religion or perceived race or religion.” Luckily for Piers the burden of proof under the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006, too, seems high. This judgement seems to allow racial hatred on television provided it is balanced with a counter view. Racism can never be a reasonable point of view with merit as an argument. Worryingly, Ofcom is spineless, disreputable and increasingly right wing under its current stewardship. Freedom of expression should not allow racism or to cause harm to viewers who may have mental health issues.