By Stuart Macdonald
BBC Scotland has been rapped by broadcasting watchdogs after it screened an SNP party political broadcast in which a farmer appeared without his knowledge.
John Shedden said he agreed to take part in a “government public information film” but was left furious after the footage promoted the Nationalists.
Mr Shedden, of East Garleton Farm near Haddington, East Lothian, complained as he claimed he was duped into appearing in the SNP broadcast aired by BBC Scotland on October 12 last year.
Regulator Ofcom has now upheld a “fairness and privacy” complaint about the film, which some interpreted as support for the SNP’s call for a second independence referendum.
Filming took place at the farm on September 23 last year, and it was nearly three weeks before Mr Shedden discovered what he had taken part in. The video was eventually removed from BBC iPlayer, and is no longer on the SNP’s official YouTube channel.
One clip cuts from a scene talking of “believers” in independence to Mr Shedden sitting having coffee in bales of hay.
At the time, the 55-year-old said: “I am furious. I am not a supporter of the SNP.’”
The company that produced it, Greenroom Films, apologised for including Mr Shedden without his knowledge.
In a written ruling, Ofcom said: “The broadcaster did not dispute Mr Shedden had not been informed about the nature and purpose of the programme and that it had not obtained his informed consent. We therefore went on to consider whether, by footage of Mr Shedden being included in the broadcast without his consent, he was portrayed in a manner that resulted in unfairness to him.
“Mr Shedden and his farm were shown in a Party Political Broadcast for the SNP. We considered that, consequently, viewers may have reasonably understood Mr Shedden was a supporter of the SNP, or at least, that he was prepared to be associated with the party. Mr Shedden said he did not support the SNP, and he would not have contributed to the programme had it been made clear to him from the outset the footage would be used in the party’s political broadcast.
“We considered the inclusion of the footage of Mr Shedden in a Party Political Broadcast, for a party which he did not support, without his informed consent, resulted in material facts (ie his political views) being presented in the broadcast in a manner that resulted in unfairness to him.”
Greenroom said he should not have been included in the film. The company accepted responsibility for the blunder and said the BBC and the SNP had acted in “good faith”.
After lodging his complaint, Mr Shedden, who was given a fee of £550 for the film, said: “My complaint was this was to be non-political. We had a letter saying it was definitely non-party political and it was just a snapshot of life in Scotland. It was a public information film. I don’t want to get into politics, but I am not an SNP supporter.”
A re-edited version of the film with Mr Shedden removed was used in further broadcasts. The SNP said there were unaware of the issue until after the broadcast and said it had been caused by an “error” by the film production company.
The BBC told Ofcom “the content of party political and party election broadcasts is primarily the responsibility of the parties themselves, subject to compliance with the relevant editorial standards”.
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