On April 20, BBC chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman was reporting from Downing Street when the broadcaster overlaid his contribution with a Reform UK-style graphic.
In the cyan blue of Nigel Farage’s party, the graphic informed voters about Reform’s policy on immigration.
The graphic was called out online, with commentator Alex Andreou sharing a video of it and writing: “OMFG I had to go and check that this ACTUALLY happened.
“Since when does the BBC ever do chyrons with a political party’s branding, rather than their own?
“Not to mention this is during a pre-election campaign purdah.”
Journalist Mic Wright wrote a blog about the graphic, saying: “Reform’s logo was presented with the text of their proposals alone on the screen. In effect, it turned the segment into a miniature party political broadcast.”
He went on: “Now, it may be that all parties are going to get this kind of branding when their policies are discussed in BBC News reports, but that would be a big mistake.
“This way of using logos and presenting policy will turn any programme into a de facto advert.
“The way Zeffman’s report was structured also contributed to that sense, because it did not include any criticism of the Reform policy or counterpoints from other voices.”
Now, the BBC has revealed that it received 980 complaints from people who “felt it was biased to use Reform UK branding during a segment outside 10 Downing Street”.
However, the corporation’s executive complaints unit (ECU) has said that the BBC will continue to use such graphics moving forward.
In a ruling on the complaints, which was published previously, the ECU said: “Chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman was reporting live from Downing Street on the main political stories of the day. This was dominated by the upcoming statement from Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the vetting of Peter Mandelson and his appointment as UK ambassador to the US.
“Henry was also asked to explain the significance of an announcement by Reform UK on asylum. As he was in Downing Street it was decided to use an on-screen banner to underline what the key points of the proposal were to differentiate this part of the live broadcast from his first answer which was on a different topic.
“This sequence preceded an interview with Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf in that hour so it helped inform the audience about the issue. During that interview Mr Yusuf was challenged over how the policy would work and some of the criticism that had already been levelled at the policy.
“It’s not new for BBC News to use the logos of different parties to illustrate their position on certain issues. It’s something we do occasionally to help audience understanding and this will continue in the future.”