Following the decision by the PMCPA that the BBC’s interview with Dr Bourla included misleading statements about Covid vaccines and children, we need your help to ensure that the BBC removes the interview from their website. If you have not read about our case against Pfizer please visit the Broken Custodians substack.
Please can you as a matter of urgency complain to the BBC. In order to help you with this, we have drafted a template below which takes you through the process and gives a suggestion of what to write. (Or find it on our website)
Complaining to the BBC must be done on their website :
https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint
There are quite a few steps that you need to follow.
- What is your complaint about? Choose General BBC
- Are you contacting us about a previous complaint? Choose no
- Select the best category to describe your complaint Choose Factual Error
- What is the subject of your complaint? Enter “Pfzier interview ruled misleading by regulator”
- Please enter your complaint
substantiation, and
- Two instances of breach of Clause 26.2 requiring information to be factual and presented in a balanced way and that it must not raise unfounded hopes of successful treatment or be misleading with respect to the safety of the product.
The Appeal Board considered that Dr Bourla’s strong opinion statements, including ‘So, there was no doubt in my mind that the benefits completely,completely, were in favour of doing it [vaccinating children against Covid-19]’ and ‘I believe it’s a very good idea’ might imply “to the ultimate audience, including members of the public, that there was no need to be concerned about potential side-effects of vaccination in healthy children aged 5-11 which was not so.”
Specifically, the Appeal Board “considered that this implication was misleading and incapable of substantiation”.
The full report is available on the PMCPA’s website.
Given the seriousness of these findings by the industry’s own regulator it is imperative that the BBC remove this misleading interview and subsequent commentary from the BBC website. If this interview is referred to again by the BBC the public must be made aware that some of Dr Bourla’s statements have been found to be misleading.
The BBC’s editorial policy says that “the BBC is committed to achieving due accuracy in all its output. This commitment is fundamental to our reputation and the trust of audiences.” Given the concerns around misinformation, it is vital that the BBC remove an interview which has been deemed by the regulators as misleading if they are to retain the trust of their audiences.
I note also that the BBC has not yet covered this significant development either on its website or in any broadcast programme, notwithstanding that it has been brought to the attention of many at the BBC including Marianna Spring, your disinformation correspondent. I find this surprising and disappointing in view of the BBC’s commitments to “hold power to account with consistency and due impartiality“ and to “not knowingly and materially mislead its audiences“, and of course your broad commitment to countering misinformation and disinformation. Please can you explain why this significant development has not yet been reported on by the BBC?
- Do you require a response? Choose yes
- Enter your details.