BBC defends news channels’ coverage of Huw Edwards allegations after complaints

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The BBC has described BBC News’ reporting of the allegations against presenter Huw Edwards as proportionate following complaints that the broadcaster covered the story too much.

The company said it was careful to sensitively report allegations that veteran broadcaster Edwards was paying a youngster for sexually explicit images, balancing the public interest with the privacy and well-being of all involved.

He responded to complaints that BBC News had covered the allegations against Edwards too much, the same day he set the scope for a review of how he deals with non-editorial complaints.

BBC responds to complaints BBC News covered too much of the Huw Edwards story on the same day it published terms of reference for an upcoming review of how it handles non-editorial complaints (Ian West/PA)

The youngster’s family initially complained to the BBC in May and the BBC said it tried to contact them twice before The Sun published an exclusive article detailing the allegations.

Acknowledging complaints that BBC News was giving too much weight to the story, the broadcaster said: BBC News reports on the BBC independently and impartially in the same way as we would any other organisation.

We have reviewed and investigated all aspects of the story, including other allegations against the presenter, the journalistic merit of the Suns’ decision to publish, privacy law in the age of social media and the reputational implications for the BBC.

Legal and privacy considerations, which we’ve explained in detail throughout our coverage, meant we couldn’t name Huw Edwards; it was only following the declaration of his family that we were able to do so.

We have transparently explained why this is the case and that it is a complex story with many unknown facts.

The broadcaster said it was important for BBC News to keep its audience informed of developments in the Huw Edwards story (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA)

He said it was important for BBC News to keep its audience informed of the developments, which included statements from the Metropolitan and South Wales Police saying they had found no evidence that a criminal offense had been committed by Edwards.

We believe our coverage of this story was proportionate, reflecting the importance of the issues raised. However, we realize not everyone will agree with the stories we cover and the importance we place on them, the BBC added.

The story continues

In a letter to BBC News, the youngster at the center of the controversy said through lawyers that nothing improper or illegal had happened with the then-unnamed presenter, and the Sun later said it had no intention of publishing any further allegations.

The BBC on Friday published the terms of reference for a review that will assess the effectiveness of the BBC’s current policies and processes on how it deals with non-editorial complaints.

He said he would collate specific learnings about the processes deployed in handling complaints against Edwards, and outline the findings of the review and management’s key corrective action plan to be implemented.

The review is led by BBC Group chief operating officer Leigh Tavaziva in July and completed in late autumn, he said.

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