Trust finds it 'more likely than not' that certain footage in Panorama programme on Primark was not authentic

The BBC Trust's Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) has found that a Panorama programme 'Primark: On the Rack', broadcast in June 2008, breached the BBC Editorial Guidelines on accuracy and fairness. The ESC considered an appeal from Primark about certain footage in the programme and has concluded it was 'more likely than not' that this footage was not genuine. The ESC has directed the BBC to make an on-air apology.

The programme, which investigated Primark's claims that it can deliver 'cheap, fast fashion' without breaking ethical guidelines, included footage obtained in a Bangalore workshop of three boys carrying out an activity described in the programme as 'testing the stitching' on Primark garments.

The ESC examined a substantial body of evidence including rushes tapes from the programme, emails to the UK programme team from the freelance journalist who obtained the Bangalore footage, and witness evidence. The ESC has concluded that, although it was not able to say beyond reasonable doubt, it was more likely than not that the Bangalore footage was not genuine.

The ESC particularly noted a number of points which, when taken together, were considered to be persuasive:

• The fact that the activity being carried out by the boys in the Bangalore footage did not appear to the ESC to be genuine;
• The ESC felt that the activity being carried out in the Bangalore workshop using large needles, on the delicate and intricate stitching of the Primark sequinned tops, would have been inappropriate for the activity described by the programme;
• The distance between one location where the journalist had already filmed women working on the same Primark sequinned tops, and Bangalore, made it improbable that he had found the same tops in these two locations on successive days;
• The fact that no other Primark tops other than the three being worked on by the boys can be seen in the Bangalore footage;
• The contrast between the way in which other footage of children working on Primark garments had been filmed elsewhere and how they appeared in the Bangalore footage (for example, the tight camera focus on the three boys with less focus on their surrounding environment); and;
• Inconsistencies in some evidence including emails from the journalist in the field to the UK production team.

BBC Trustee and Chair of the ESC Alison Hastings said:

"The BBC's investigative journalism is rightly held in very high regard, and for more than fifty years Panorama has made a very significant contribution to that. But great investigative journalism must be based on the highest standards of accuracy, and this programme on Primark failed to meet those standards. While it's important to recognise that the programme did find evidence elsewhere that Primark was contravening its own ethical guidelines, there were still serious failings in the making of the programme. The Trust would like to apologise on behalf of the BBC to Primark and to the audience at home for this rare lapse in quality."

Given the serious nature of the breach, the ESC has imposed sanctions on the BBC Executive. An apology will be broadcast on BBC One at the beginning or end of a forthcoming Panorama programme; an apology will also run on the Panorama website; and the programme is not to be sold or repeated. The BBC Executive will contact third parties to whom the BBC may have sold or supplied the programme to, such as educational bodies. In addition the ESC has requested that the BBC Executive considers its position in connection with the Royal Television Society Award which was given to the programme in 2009.

The ESC also found that the BBC Executive's Editorial Complaints Unit's (ECU) decision not to take Primark's expert report (submitted by Primark after the ECU's provisional decision had been supplied) into account in finalising its decision, and the fact that the ECU appeared to have placed the burden on Primark to prove its case in this complex complaint, meant that the BBC Editorial Guideline on accountability had also been breached.

The Trust has asked the BBC Executive to report back on the lessons learned from this appeal by 7 July 2011. The Trust has requested that specific issues are addressed as part of this, including the need for making and maintaining records and notes; effective training of journalists in the field; and effective measures to ensure that the BBC can stand by the work of non-BBC journalists acting on its behalf, as well as its own journalists.

The Trust's finding in full can be found here:

Notes to Editors

• 1. The BBC Trust acts as the final arbiter in the BBC's three-stage complaints process.  More information can be found on the Trust's Editorial complaints and appeals page.