ITC Rules Against Claims Of Fake C4 Documentary

The Independent Television Commission (ITC) has concluded that a Channel 4 documentary which the Guardian alleged was faked did not breach programme guidelines. After a lengthy investigation into Undercover Britain: Guns On The Street the Commission found that there was “insufficient evidence” that viewers were misled.

The investigation began in March this year (see ITC Investigates Claims Of Fake C4 Documentary) after the Guardian wrote an article which claimed that important scenes in the documentary were faked or unsubstantiated. Purporting to show the ease with which illegal weapons could be obtained in Manchester, the newspaper claimed that two reporters posed as concerned locals to film their findings.

They were allegedly given false names and one of them had a conviction for an armed robbery, which was not disclosed during the programme. Scenes involving a fake intermediary were also alleged to have been stunted up. As a result of the programme’s broadcast a man shown reactivating a gun was later arrested and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

The ITC looked at the allegations in respect to its Programme Code requirements concerning “respect for the truth” and dramatic reconstructions; the decision was taken that although important lessons had been learned from the investigation, the main elements of the programme were truthful and no codes had been breached.

As a result of the investigation the reporters were found to have genuine local connections and there was no evidence to suggest that the producers or Channel 4 had previous knowledge that one of them had a criminal record. It was decided that this should have been checked and their intentions made clearer. Doubt still continues, however, as to the degree of collusion between the intermediary and the reporter which Channel 4 admitted was unsatisfactory. “With the benefit of hindsight, these diarists were clearly not appropriate for this project,” said Channel 4.

Independent Television Commission: 0171 306 7743 Channel 4: 0171 396 4444