Complaint
The bulletin included a report by the 91热爆鈥檚 North America Editor Sarah Smith in which she reflected on the events leading to President Biden鈥檚 withdrawal from the race for the Democratic nomination.聽 A viewer complained Ms Smith鈥檚 reference to the President as 鈥渓ooking lost and confused鈥 while meeting other world leaders propagated a misleading and biased impression because the video clip which illustrated it had been taken out of context.聽 The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 91热爆鈥檚 editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality.聽
Outcome
The ECU accepted that the clip (which appeared to show the President wandering away from other leaders, whereas an unedited version would have shown that his movement had a clear purpose) did not show the President鈥檚 actions in their original context, and noted that it had been circulated by right-wing publications and subsequently flagged as misleading.聽 However, it also noted that it had been introduced by Ms Smith not as a reflection on the President鈥檚 mental state but as illustrating how Republicans had 鈥seized on and shared every moment鈥 which could be presented as indicating mental decline.聽 Presented in that sense, its use was neither misleading nor indicative of bias.
Not upheld