Brass Eye caused a national outcry after it was broadcast on Thursday July 26 at 10.35pm. The programme was widely condemned by politicians and newspapers, as it generated a massive response from the public. The ITC received more than 3,000 complaints about the programme, which sought to send up the media's sensational and heavy-handed coverage of paedophilia.
The Commission found that Brass Eye was in breach of section 1.1 of the Programme Code, which deals with offence to public feeling and goes on to state that "programme services are free to deal appropriately with all elements of the human experience, but should avoid gratuitous offence by providing information and guidance to audiences, bearing in mind the expectations of those watching".
The ITC pointed out that sight of child actors appearing in this context upset many viewers. The Commission accepted that Channel 4 had taken all the necessary steps to ensure that child performers were properly cared for and supervised and that all the relevant approvals had been given for their participation.
The ITC said the programme was also in breach of section 1.3 of the Code, which requires that "there be clear and specific warnings... where there is the likelihood that some viewers may find the programme disturbing or offensive".
In a statement, the ITC concluded, "The combination of the scheduling, warning and opening scenes taken together resulted in an unnecessary degree of offence to many people who had not been adequately prepared for what was to follow. It has therefore directed Channel 4 to broadcast an apology in relation to the offence caused."
The ITC said it fully recognised that Channel 4 has a particular role in the provision of public service broadcasting and that its remit requires that it should have a "distinctive character" and that "innovation and experiment in the form of content of those programmes (should be) encouraged".
"The Commission believes wholeheartedly in these objectives and supports the channel's right to produce challenging, original and sometimes disturbing material. The Commission accepted that satire is an effective way of making statements about a range of issues, however difficult. Exploitative media treatment of subjects like paedophilia was such an issue. It was reasonable, therefore, for Channel 4 to commission the programme," the statement said.
The ITC concluded that while Channel 4's decision could not be considered negligent, it felt that the expectations of the likely audience for the programme were not sufficiently conditioned by the announcements, especially that which immediately preceded the programme, and left them vulnerable to exceptional and gratuitous offence.
The Channel 4 Presentation announcement into the advertising break before Brass Eye on July 26 stated, "Next on 4, Christopher Morris examines our attitudes towards paedophilia in a Brass Eye special." The warning into the programme ran, "Now on 4, a Brass Eye special which takes an uncompromising look at the subject of paedophilia. This programme contains scenes which some viewers might find disturbing."
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