[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Ukip goes Green in C4 election blunder[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif] Julia Day
Friday April 29, 2005
[/font] [font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Channel 4 has been forced to apologise to the Green party after mistakenly transmitting its election broadcast with subtitles from the UK Independence Party.[/font][font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Last night’s broadcast, promoting the party’s vision of a green future, was directed by Repo Man film-maker Alex Cox and set to a Franz Ferdinand soundtrack. [/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]But subtitles for a Ukip broadcast, which cursed the European Union, were screened simultaneously.[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]The Greens are furious that some viewers may now think they take Ukip’s negative stance on Europe, immigration and political correctness.[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]“It’s pretty awful, It totally lost the message,” said a Green party spokesman, adding that representations are being made to Channel 4 about the mistake.[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Channel 4 said overlaying the Ukip subtitles was a genuine mistake that was rectified during the broadcast, which began at 7.55pm in a prime slot after the network’s flagship news bulletin.[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]“It was a rare and honest mistake. The subtitles were stopped before the end of the programme and replaced with an apology. Only a small percentage of viewers would have been affected,” a spokesman added.[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]The Green spokesman said Channel 4 told his party that the erroneous subtitles – which ran for three of the broadcast’s five minutes – were added as a result of “human error” at BBC Broadcast, the company responsible for adding the subtitles. However, the Green election broadcast shown on other channels had the correct subtitles.[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]He added that Channel 4 said it would have to consult its lawyers as to whether the broadcast could be reshown because of the strict rules governing party election broadcasts to ensure fairness.[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Channel 4 was unable to say if any redress will be made to the Green party.[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]The Greens – in common with other small parties such as Ukip and the British National party – are only entitled to one election broadcast, unlike the three afforded to the main parties. The election broadcast represents a single – and therefore vital – opportunity to attract voters.[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Ukip is delighted with the mix-up, however. Its own election broadcast will be screened tonight and a spokesman for the party said he hoped the extra, albeit erroneous, exposure its policies received will help attract a few more votes.[/font]
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]“We’re not letting [the Greens] put their subtitles on our broadcast, though. Although we have a green octopus in our broadcast. It swims up the Thames and swallows the Houses of Parliament,” he added.[/font]
