Christine Rhone

 

BBC Complaints

PO Box 1922

Glasgow G2 3WT

Scotland

 

RE: ITEM ON AUROVILLE, “NEWSNIGHT”, 21 MAY 2008

27 May 2008, London

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

 

The item on Auroville shown on Newsnight on 21 May was a highly biased and prejudiced story, unworthy of the BBC. To see so many misrepresentations and distortions in one news clip degrades the credibility of all BBC reporting. My view of its integrity has permanently changed.

 

The main point of your item was that Auroville does nothing to combat child abuse. And that is - quite simply – untrue. Like most communities, urban or rural, in the civilized world, Auroville does combat child abuse of every kind.

 

The reporter, Rachel Wright, must be at a point in her career where she wants to move up from stories about ‘school trips in jeopardy', ‘reassuring poorer students', and the fact that ‘couples are usually made up of taller men and smaller women'. A good career boost would surely be to come up with a story something along the lines of the recent FLDS child abuse allegations in Texas , unearthing as many similarities as possible.

 

Intent on producing such a story, she carefully chose only interviewees and witnesses who would support her stance. She did not attempt to provide a balanced picture. The only interview of an Aurovilian, Carel Thieme, was tacked onto the end of the clip like a concessionary afterthought, done long-distance. The quality of the sound was poor, and there was no footage of him. Perhaps your reporter thought it best to leave Auroville before interviewing anyone who knows it in depth.

 

It is one thing for an ambitious reporter to try to advance her career by misrepresentation, but quite another for an authority like the BBC to broadcast a lie to millions of people.

 

Yours truly,

Christine Rhone

London