Blow for Salmond as Ofcom launches new probes into RT
● Regulator says tweets read out on ex-fm’s show were not from audience
“Audience tweets” read out on Alex Salmond’s programme on Russia Today “were not from audience members”, broadcast regulator Ofcom has said.
The revelation came as Ofcom opened investigations into seven allegations that programming on the Russian state-funded channel broke impartiality rules.
RT could be stripped of its licence to operate in the UK if it is found to have broken broadcasting standards requiring “due impartiality” in news and current affairs programming.
Calls have been made for RT to be banned in the wake of the chemical attack in Salisbury, which has been blamed on the Russian state, while Mr Salmond is resisting pressure to stop making his programme for the station, saying he won’t be “bullied off air”.
None of the new investigations relate to the Alex Salmond Show. However, Ofcom is already investigating whether it breached accuracy rules over tweets that were read out during the debut broadcast on 16 November. One message appeared to be from a Twitter account linked to the show’s production team, while two others could not be traced.
A footnote in the Ofcom announcement stated: “We already had one open investigation relating to ‘audience tweets’ in the Alex Salmond Show, which we have provi- sionally found were not from audience members”.
In a statement, the regulator said: “Until recently, [RT licence-holder] TV Novosti’s overall compliance record has not been materially out of line with other broadcasters.
“However, since the events in Salisbury, we have observed a significant increase in the number of programmes on the RT service that warrant investigation as potential breaches of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.”
RT said its “editorial approach has not changed since the events in Salisbury”, adding it was “highly surpris- ing” that Ofcom had commented on Mr Salmond’s show during an investigation.
A spokesman for Mr Salmond’s production company said “it has never been Slainte Media’s contention that the tweets, emails or messages from the first show were from viewers or audience members of that first show given, by definition, the very first edition of a pre-recorded show”.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: “Mr Salmond’s continuing willingness to be used as a Russian stooge is an embarrassment for himself, his party and his country.”