Breaking news....
The BBC's Executive Complaints Unit has partially upheld a complaint against Sir Lenny Henry, ruling that Sir Lenny was "inaccurate" twice during his personal documentary for BBC One:
Lenny Henry: The Commonwealth Kid, BBC One, 2 April 2018
Complaint
The programme contained a number of references to Jamaica and its citizens, and their historic relationships with the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. A viewer complained that these gave an inaccurate and misleading impression of why the author’s parents had been able to emigrate to Britain, and of Jamaica’s status at the time. The complainant also objected to the use of the phrase “Commonwealth Kid” as being based on the same false premise.
Outcome
The programme was a personal account reflecting the author’s own perception of his background and identity while growing up. As such it was reasonable for him to describe himself as a Commonwealth kid. It was inaccurate however to claim that membership of the Commonwealth had enabled his parents to come to Britain, as that was not a relevant factor. It was also inaccurate to suggest or imply at various points that Jamaica was part of the Commonwealth in the 1950s, when in fact Jamaica only joined the organisation in 1962.Partly upheld
Further action
The programme will be amended before any future repeats.
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Of course, it's not often that the BBC upholds a complaint. The latest fortnightly report on Complaints to the BBC records 19 ECU rulings - all of them 'Not upheld'!
Incidentally, the two most complained-about programmes were Question Time on 17/01/2019 for being "biased against Diane Abbot" (whose name the BBC complaints report spells incorrectly!) - "470 (after invitations to complain were posted on social media)" - and Today on 26/01/2019 (161 complaints) over John Humphrys's interview with Ireland’s Minister for European Affairs, Helen McEntee, for "being biased in favour of Brexit".
