BBC news website

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Mike P
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Re: BBC news website

Post by Mike P »

Just had an email apologising for not being able to deal with my complaint within the guidelines and asking if I want to escalate it via Ofcom........
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ralphrmartin
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Re: BBC news website

Post by ralphrmartin »

Do it. The BBC need to get their facts straight before publishing, otherwise they are no better than any fake news site.
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ragamala
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Re: BBC news website

Post by ragamala »

My advice would be don't do it, not to waste your time, but neither Ralph (I assume) nor I have seen your original complaint letter to the BBC. This would have to be pretty watertight in terms of the objection that the article fell foul of editorial guidelines. Unlike some other complaints avenues, eg the Advertising Standards Authority, you need to get a final rejection from the BBC before you can go to the Ofcom. They are unlikely to consider new material, just look at your original complaint.

I suspect they will side with the BBC - articles do not have to be 100% factually correct, and how incorrect they may be is a bit iffy, because it is judged against target audience and impact. Further, Ofcom has no power to do more in the case of BBC web pages (as opposed to broadcast television) than issue recommendations. Frankly the chance of getting Ofcom to consider seriously an item on such (in the scale of things) a topic of minor importance is - I would judge - slender.

The problem is that the writer of the article will claim that she trusted her primary source of information.
I suspect the origin of her article was this -
https://blog.nature.org/science/2016/05 ... d-climate/
which cites this report in Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/nplants2015142

And to be fair, the Kew research leader's comments do tend to support the "cacti fall victim to plant hunters" argument. Whether all this is news or opinion is, of course, debatable.

In comparison with this major issue the question of Alluaudia not being a cactus is fairly trivial (as is the whole reference to that source of info).

It is a pity there is no reference to contact details for Sylvia Smith, when maybe a more direct line of complaint might have some chance of getting an article to redress the balance.
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Mike P
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Re: BBC news website

Post by Mike P »

Amongst other things I pointed out that cochineal beetles attacking an invasive and non indigenous species is Spain has nothing whatsoever to do with the destruction and / or theft of plants from their habitat. In hindsight I should have suggested that you could view their possible (but unlikely) demise as a positive ecological benefit and not part of a worldwide threat to cacti.
I will give the increasingly sloppy BBC a little longer to reply.
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