BBC Programme - "Unvaccinated" - Peddling Misinformation

The request was refused by British Broadcasting Corporation.

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

There were many concerning aspects of your patronising and biased programme. The following jump out and remain to be answered.

1. In your advance publicity material for this programme, transmitted on 20 July 2022, you made a claim that 8% of the UK adult population is unvaccinated. The BBC claimed that there are "4 million unvaccinated adults" and that "this is based on government figures and Office for National Statistics estimates." In fact, these ONS estimates are contradicted by data from the UKHSA which estimates 20% of adults are unvaccinated. The BBC chose to its own survey of a sample of 2570 adults carried out explicitly for the programme. Of these 664 were unvaccinated, which is 26%. Based on that survey, there is a high probability that the proportion of unvaccinated is at least 23%

FOIR Question 1: What was the basis for the programme choosing to ignore UKHSA and BBC survey results and instead setting out a proposition that those who remain unvaccinated are a small minority?

2. Neither participants nor viewers informed that both Professor Adam Finn and Professor Asma Khalil had significant links with Pfizer. Specifically, the Pfizer Vaccine Centre of Excellence is "led by" Prof Finn and Professor Khalil is the "Principal Investigator of the Pfizer COVID vaccination in pregnancy trial" (both descriptions taken from their respective official web sites)

FOIR Question 2: What did the BBC know of these links and why did the programme conceal them links, instead leaving the deliberate impression that they were independent scientists?

Yours faithfully,

CHP Gillow

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear CHP Gillow,

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, as detailed in your email below. Your request was received on 09 August 2022. We will deal with your request as promptly as possible, and at the latest within 20 working days. If you have any queries about your request, please contact us at the address below.

The reference number for your request is RFI20220901.

Kind regards,

Information Rights

BBC Freedom of Information
BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP

www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [email address]

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FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

2 Attachments

Dear CHP Gallow,

 

Please find attached our response to your request for information
reference RFI20220901.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Rights, BBC Legal

Wogan House

99 Great Portland Street

London

W1W 7NY

 

 

 

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of British Broadcasting Corporation's handling of my FOI request 'BBC Programme - "Unvaccinated" - Peddling Misinformation'.

I raised my FOIR about two aspects of your programme "Unvaccinated" that represented what you define as Misinformation and Disinformation.

Specifically, you broadcast on your web site information that appears to be Misinformation (i.e. "false, misleading or out of context material regardless of the motivation behind it") concerning the proportion of the population who are unvaccinated. This 'fact' lies at the heart of your proposition that this is a fringe/unusual position to take and it was entirely reasonable to ask that you provide the basis for the misinformation you published.

You also presented what you suggested were independent experts without any mention of their potentially relevant connections with the very commercial organisation selling the vaccine in question. This I believe, falls into your definition of Disinformation (i.e. "A deliberate attempt to mislead using material that the deceiver knows is untrue, designed to be widely shared. The purpose is often to persuade people to think a certain way, vote a certain way or to make money from advertising each time someone clicks on a story.") Those watching the programme were led to believe these individuals were independent while the actuality is different.

As a leading 'partner in the "Trusted News Initiative" you claim that "news organisations can rebuild trust and tackle the next disinformation challenges". You are setting yourselves up to decide what is Misinformation and/or Disinformation while being immune from questioning about the quality of the information you broadcast. As broadcasters you surely have a duty to demonstrate openness to scrutiny of the information you present as being factual. information Quis custodiet Ipsos custodes?

Your web site (https://www.bbc.co.uk/beyondfakenews/fak...) lists seven categories of misinformation spreaders (" joker, the politician, the conspiracy theorist, the insider, the scammer, a relative (including friends and family) and celebrities") without listing the media. How interesting that you consider the media beyond reproach. If you believe you are beyond reproach, consider it possible that TRUST in the media can only be promoted by showing yourselves open to exercising freedom of information. What do you have to hide? Is it not possible that the BBC occasionally errs and risks broadcasting Misinformation or Disinformation? How does hiding behind a get out clause in the Act promote Trust?

Please consider carefully the position you are taking in refusing my request for information and the corrosive impact your refusal has on trust and confidence. You may be confident that refusal will not be an end to this matter and I will certainly escalate my concerns.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...

Yours faithfully,

CHP Gillow

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear CHP Gallow,

Thank you for you for your email.

The BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested is not covered by the Act. If you disagree with our decision you can appeal to the Information Commissioner. Contact details are: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, tel: 0303 123 1113 or see http://www.ico.org.uk

Please note that should the Information Commissioner’s Office decide that the Act does cover this information, exemptions under the Act might then apply.

Kind regards,

Information Rights

BBC Freedom of Information
Wogan House
99 Great Portland Street
London
W1W 7NY

www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [email address]

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Dear FOI Enquiries,

You are hiding behind the exemption in Schedule 1, Part VI of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which lists a number of organisations granted special exemption, where the Act only applies to information "held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or literature".

Your use of this very loose interpretation of the exemption to support rejection is a blatant disregard of the public interest and undermines any residual trust in your output. Essentially, you are hiding behind this exemption to shield you from scrutiny of your errors, misinformation and disinformation.

At the same time, you are prepared to make frequent use of the Act to interrogate other public sector organisations in your journalistic research.

I will join others in seeking by various means to have this exemption deleted from the FOI Act, leaving the BBC open to the same level of scrutiny as other public bodies. Meanwhile, you should be ashamed of your use of this exemption to cover up your use of misinformation and disinformation.

Yours sincerely,

CHP Gillow