Complaint
This bulletin included a report on a school shooting in Minneapolis which had been carried out by a trans woman. A viewer complained about the use of female pronouns, as the perpetrator was clearly a man, and male violence should not be reported as if it had been perpetrated by females. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The headline and the introduction to the report both referred to “a gunman” and the reporter used non-gendered language throughout, except when he said the perpetrator, Robin Westman, “legally changed her name from Robert in 2020”. The ECU therefore saw no realistic prospect that viewers would have formed the impression that the perpetrator was biologically female.
Not Upheld