Complaint
A viewer complained that a report on the Conservatives' proposal for a Council Tax freeze in England made the incorrect claim that the Council Tax freeze introduced by the Scottish Executive in Scotland had led to cuts in services, which in turn had prompted protests in Aberdeen.
Outcome
The reporter's words were "There's already a council tax freeze in Scotland following a deal between councils and the SNP government - a freeze that's led to protests about cuts in cities like Aberdeen", and they were accompanied by pictures of protest demonstrations in Aberdeen. This would have given viewers the impression that the demonstrations were about cuts resulting from the freeze. However, press coverage at the time made no direct mention of the freeze and reported the demonstration as attributing the spending cuts which were being proposed to historic overspending and/or the funding formula for local government as it had been applied to Aberdeen. Although it is argued by some that the freeze has intensified Aberdeen's problems, it was not the focus of the demonstrations, and the report was misleading in that respect. The complaint has been upheld
Further action
Editors will stress again to correspondents and producers the importance of making sure of the exact context of pictures of specific events being used to make a general point.
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