The BBC breached impartiality guidelines in a news report about the Scottish Government's handling of harassment complaints against Alex Salmond, the broadcasting watchdog has found.
Ofcom has upheld a complaint about an edition of World At One which was broadcast on Radio 4 on February 24 last year and featured an interview with former Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson.
The programme focused on the Holyrood inquiry which was probing why taxpayers' cash was spent on a flawed investigation into harassment claims against Salmond by two female civil servants.
A listener complained about a lack of due impartiality and the choice of Davidson as the only interviewee on the topic in the programme.
The programme was aired on the day Salmond was scheduled to appear in front of the inquiry.
But he announced he would no longer be appearing, due to his written evidence being withdrawn and then re-published in a redacted form earlier that week.
This prompted Davidson to say the dispute raised questions about whether Scotland's democratic institutions are corrupt. In the interview she said the Scottish Government was "running riot" over the parliamentary right to scrutiny.
Ofcom, the media regulator, conducted an investigation into the broadcast and have now concluded it breached their impartiality rules.
In a written ruling, it said: "The pre-recorded interview with Ruth Davidson included highly critical comments and raised significant allegations about the SNP, the Scottish Government, the Lord Advocate and Nicola Sturgeon.
"Ofcom considered that this unfolding story, and the allegations being made, were highly controversial and of national importance, both in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
"Given the gravity of Ruth Davidson's accusations regarding the Scottish Government, her strong and continued criticism and the fact that she was able to express her views at length, we did not consider that alternative perspectives were given due weight within the programme.
"For example, in our view the position of the Scottish Government on allegations that it was corrupt, undemocratic, 'running riot' in Holyrood and was 'denying the Parliament its right of scrutiny' was insufficiently represented in the programme.
"We acknowledged that this was a developing story and the BBC had 'responded accordingly' in terms of its planned coverage.
"However, the interview with Ruth Davidson was pre-recorded and the content of the interview was not affected by the developing news per se. As such, and in any event, it was incumbent on the broadcaster to present the programme with due impartiality."
The BBC explained its decision to interview Davidson was prompted by "significant developments in the story" resulting in Salmond not appearing before the committee as planned.
They cited other coverage on BBC Radio 4 the same day, namely the edition of World at One's "sister programme" PM, which it said included the SNP's position in detail.
The programme makers also said they had made repeated requests to interview a representative from the SNP but did not receive a response.
A BBC spokesperson said: "We note this ruling."
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