Ofcom censures TV station for bias in council budget report

A satellite TV channel has been censured by media watchdog Ofcom over its biased coverage of a London council.

Channel S, a station aimed at the Bangladeshi community, was found to be in breach of broadcasting rules for a report in February on budget proposals for Tower Hamlets council.

The transmission in Urdu was found to have contravened the rule that broadcasters must exercise “due impartiality”. It was found to have been overly supportive of the policies of Tower Hamlet’s directly-elected mayor Lutfur Rahman.

Too much attention was given to the views of supporters of Mr Rahman, once a Labour party member but now independent, while the news item “did not reflect any alternative viewpoints”, Ofcom said.

There was no evidence the channel had sought responses from other groups such as the Labour and Conservative parties who together hold the majority of council seats, it added. The station’s report was criticised for its negative coverage of other political parties, which it implied had caused obstruction to the mayor in the past.

Channel S has violated rules on impartiality three times before. The station was unavailable for comment. During Ofcom’s investigation it said that the complaint originated from “a group of people raising anything and everything that could cause (us) inconvenience and make our life difficult in relation to the mayor and Tower Hamlets council”.

No fine was imposed but Ofcom said it will consider sanctions for future breaches. This could mean financial penalties or revocation of the broadcasting licence. Mr Rahman declined to comment.