ITC To Investigate Allegations Of Faked Carlton Documentary

The Independent Television Commission (ITC) is currently running an investigation into claims that a documentary broadcast by Carlton Television about a Colombian drugs cartel contained faked footage and interviews.

Following an eighteen month investigation, Guardian journalists ‘exposed’ the programme, The Connection, as an alleged fake earlier this week. The ITC now has to determine to what extent, if at all, the programme was misleading and factually inaccurate. The Commission has a licence code which stipulates that there is a need for truth in factual programmes. A breach in this code could result in sanctions being evoked against the licence holder.

Action taken by the ITC can range from an initial fine of 3% of qualifying revenue (revenue the broadcaster receives from advertising), to a second fine of 5%, and finally a possible revocation of the licence. Clearly, none of these sanctions will be imposed until the programme is determined to have broken the code.

One of the main difficulties that the ITC will face is in ascertaining whether the programme’s producer, Marc de Beaufort, is actually telling the truth about the methods by which the documentary was constructed. The outcome of this investigation could well determine the severity of the Commission’s actions.

A spokesperson for the ITC said that there was no definite time-scale on the investigation.

Independent Television Commission: 0171 255 3000