Just to 'bump up' an exchange on an earlier comments thread...
...and to update you on a story we covered in March 2014...
Anonymous, 19 July 2015 at 13:17
Speaking of Naughtie, was there ever any public statement from the BBC about him and his mate with the DNA business?
Craig, 19 July 2015 at 14:37
That's a very good question. We last heard about that on 9th March last year.
From what I can see, the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit finally published its ruling on 15th April 2014, and this was then published on the (barely-read) Corrections and Clarifications page website:
The odd thing about its public summary is that it doesn't mention James Naughtie by name, despite upholding the complaint [against him].
The key bit is what action was then taken:"Further action:The Editor of Today discussed the findings with the team and emphasised the need for careful scrutiny of the claims of commercial companies and the avoidance of undue on-air promotion."So, there you have it. All that happened was that the Today editor discussed it with the Today team.
The long slog by UCL to get anywhere is outlined in all its gory detail here:
It makes for interesting reading, especially as UCL tried to have the matter taken further, up to the BBC Trust - but got nowhere with that. They don't seem at all happy with the BBC's further responses either.
