BBC apologises to Basildon council over One Show Dale Farm piece

The BBC has apologised to Basildon council after an investigation found that The One Show broadcast a clip on the Dale Farm eviction that was biased towards the Travellers. The five-minute piece broadcast on 14 February was presented by a BBC reporter. It was followed by a discussion in the studio, hosted by presenters Matt Baker and Alex Jones, featuring an actor who was a guest on the BBC1 show that day. Basildon council lodged a series of complaints claiming the broadcast was inaccurate, misleading and biased in favour of the Travellers. The council took issue with an interview with a Traveller who said members of the community were being "thrown out on the road with nowhere to go", and that Travellers could not get planning permission to develop the site "because they were treated differently to other people". The council said it had in fact offered housing to homeless Traveller families, which had been turned down, and that nobody could get planning permission because it was a blanket rule not to allow development on designated green belt land where the camp had been set up. The BBC Trust found that The One Show had been unfair towards the council, implying that it had failed in its "statutory obligations" to house or relocate the Travellers. The show should have offered the council an opportunity to reply or explained the council's position. The BBC Trust also said that the "totality" of the ensuing studio discussion on Dale Farm had created an "overall impression that was unfair to the council". "It was the cumulative effect of the filmed item combined with the live studio discussion that together left the overall impression that the programme had failed to achieve due impartiality," said the BBC Trust. The BBC Trust will now offer an apology to Basildon council. However, it is not thought that The One Show will have to make an on-air apology. A BBC spokesman said: "We note the findings which we have taken very seriously. The One Show has reviewed and will continue to strengthen its editorial procedures to ensure accuracy, fairness and due impartiality on all the programme's output." • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook .