Ofcom Launches Investigation into David Lammy's LBC Show over Politician-Presented News Rules
Ofcom, the UK's broadcasting regulator, has launched an investigation into a Good Friday episode of David Lammy's Sunday morning show on LBC radio.
The regulator will examine if Lammy, who is also a Labour MP and shadow foreign secretary, violated rules against politicians acting as news presenters.
The episode in question aired on the day Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, resigned following historical sexual offence charges.
Ofcom received 51 complaints about the episode, but the reason for the investigation has not been confirmed.
Both Lammy and LBC's parent company, Global, have been contacted for comment.
Sir Jeffrey, a politician, is under investigation by Ofcom for allegedly breaking broadcasting codes during a news segment hosted by Labour frontbencher, Lammy, on LBC radio.
The incident occurred when news about Sir Jeffrey broke during Lammy's show, leading him to report on it as a news story.
Some have argued that presenters of current affairs debates are not news readers, and therefore their programming does not violate the code.
However, the timing of the news and Lammy's reporting on it could be issues Ofcom examines.
GB News host Darren Grimes drew attention to the situation, suggesting that Ofcom should sanction LBC for the incident.
Lammy earns over £1,000 per episode, and there has been ongoing debate about party political figures hosting news programs in the media industry.
Last month, Ofcom ruled that programs on GB News hosted by Conservative MPs Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Esther McVey, and Philip Davies violated its guidelines.
Other politicians with TV/radio shows include Ruth Davidson (Times Radio), Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting (LBC), and Lee Anderson (GB News).
Ofcom also warned Talk TV about comments made by presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer during an interview with Dr Mustafa Barghouti, advising the network to exercise caution due to potential offensive content.
Ofcom found Hartley-Brewer's comments towards Barghouti were finely balanced and could be offensive to viewers.
The text explains that TalkTV decided not to formally investigate comments made by presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer due to contextual factors such as the brevity of her remarks and the provocative nature of the program.
However, many complainants perceived her comments towards Dr Barghouti as offensive based on his religion and ethnicity, regardless of the presenter's intent.