BBC Scotland faces a fine of up to £250,000 as the broadcast regulator confirmed it had was investigating an SNP party political broadcast on which a farmer appeared without his knowledge.
Ofcom has confirmed that they are progressing the complaint as a "fairness and privacy" issue about the film which some have interpreted as support for the SNP's call for a second independence referendum.
John Shedden, of East Garleton Farm near Haddington, East Lothian took action saying he was "furious" after seeing the broadcast on BBC Scotland on October 12.
He says he was told in writing that the film would not be used for party political purposes and that it was meant to be a public information film about life in Scotland.
The filming took place at the farm on September 23, last year and it was nearly three weeks before Mr Shedden realised what he had taken part in.
The video was eventually removed from BBC iPlayer, and is no longer on the SNP’s official YouTube channel.
There are three clips of his farm in the two-and-a-half minute short film, including one in which he is seen sitting on bales of hay for a coffee break. It is understood the film was also shown at the SNP Conference.
It starts with a shot of a tractor on the farm and features a voice-over by a child saying: "Here come the heroes, the everyday miracle workers, whose feet keep on walking, making a difference week after week.
"Here are the builders, the fixers and growers and the ones who inspire, take risks and create. Here comes the future, full of hope, and ambition, always rushing to start living."
At one point there is a shot of a man looking over a balcony with a Yes sticker on the window as the child narrator states: “And here’s the believers for whom the question isn't if, but when." The film switches to footage of Mr Shedden.
The promo ends with a laughing First Minister Nicola Sturgeon high-fiving a child as the pair sit on a bench.
Although the company that produced it, Edinburgh-based Greenroom Films, admitted it was responsible for including Mr Shedden in the footage and apologised, it has emerged that it is BBC Scotland that could face sanctions over its transmission with a maximum financial penalty of £250,000.
Greenroom has said that while others had signed a release form to take part in the film, Mr Shedden had not and should not have been in the broadcast.
Ofcom has said that where a breach of its Broadcaster Code has resulted in the complainant's legitimate interests "being seriously damaged" they may direct the broadcast of a summary of their adjudication and "in the most serious cases" may consider imposing a statutory sanction such as a financial penalty.
Mr Shedden, who was given a fee of £550 for being filmed said: "My complaint was that this was to be non-political. We had a letter saying that it was definitely non-party political and it was just a snapshot of life in Scotland. It was a public information film. "I don't want to get into politics, but I am not an SNP supporter.
"It was a friend who phoned me up and said they see I am an SNP supporter, and I was a bit shocked.
"And when I saw it was a party political broadcast I wasn't very happy. A party political broadcast is not non-party political. "I don't know whether there was protocol not followed or whether there was a complete misunderstanding.
"Then it went on iPlayer for a while after that so I wasn't very happy about that."
BBC Scotland said it acknowledged the Ofcom investigation "and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage".
SNP declined to comment, saying it was an issue between Ofcom and the BBC.
Source: An Independent Scotland YouTube
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel