Press regulator IPSO told DCMS Committee chairman Julian Knight the Editors’ Code of Practice does not contain a “requirement for balance or fairness” as it rejected a complaint he made against The Times.
Knight complained about the write-up of an interview with Kunwar Bansil, a physiotherapist whose role at Yorkshire County Cricket Club was terminated after racism allegations engulfed the club.
Bansil said Knight, who led a DCMS Committee inquiry into racism in cricket, was “dismissive” on a brief Zoom call with him, telling The Times: “It seemed to me he was unwilling to listen or have a conversation and became, I thought, aggressive and dismissive and concluded the meeting by leaving the call abruptly before I had a fair chance to say what I wanted to say.” This characterisation was corroborated to the Times by Bansil’s lawyer who was also on the call.
Knight strongly denied this characterisation of events, with a quote from his spokesperson included in the article, and said the article was “inaccurate and misleading” as he claimed it breached Clause 1 (accuracy) of the Editors’ Code.
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He also claimed the article was “unfair and unbalanced” to which IPSO’s complaints committee, in dismissing the complaint, said “the Editors’ Code does not include a requirement for balance or fairness, provided the Code is not otherwise breached”.
It said Bansil was entitled to share his view on what had happened and that his characterisation of the call was presented as his subjective opinion and not a factual account, with Knight’s denial published.
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The DCMS Committee scrutinises the work of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and related public bodies such as the BBC, and looks at issues such as disinformation and the sustainability of the UK news sector.
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