Ofcom has received at least 888 complaints about a Channel 4 Dispatches broadcast, The Truth About Traveller Crime, amid reports of a rise in hate speech towards the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) community.
The programme, which aired on 16 April, reported on crimes allegedly committed by Travellers living on a site in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, and analysed national statistics on recorded crimes near Traveller sites around the country.
Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT) said it had collected its own dossier of 7,308 complaints about the show, which it has passed to Ofcom. The charity’s director, Sarah Mann, described the show as “dehumanising, unbalanced and unfair”.
“It is not an entire community that commits a crime,” she said. “It is an individual. Yet, this show has put the whole of the Traveller community on trial by press.”
The charity says it has gathered hundreds of social media posts triggered by the show that direct racist comments towards the GRT community, including some referring to them as “scum of the earth” and “a scourge on our society”.
Another national charity, the Traveller Movement, says it has been pursuing legal action after previously requesting that an interview with its chair, Pauline Anderson, be removed from the programme, claiming she was unaware that crime was its main focus.
“I am absolutely appalled at the misuse of my interview in this sensationalist TV show,” Anderson said.
The Traveller Movement said the programme “relied on weak and unsubstantiated data to falsely imply a cause-and-effect relationship between Traveller site locations and crime rates” and “failed to consult with experts or organisations working with GRT communities to add balance”. The charity says its lawyers are drafting their own complaint to Ofcom.
Lady Janet Whitaker and the MP Kate Green – co-chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for GRT – have written to Ofcom and Channel 4’s director of programmes, Ian Katz, to question the accuracy and impartiality of the show, and to request evidence of the show’s research methodology.
Meanwhile, the GRT Police Association has asked for a national review into service provision by the police to GRT communities. Janette McCormick, the GRT national police lead, said: “There is no evidence that links higher crime levels to Traveller sites, nor do police chiefs have ‘no go’ sites. Stereotyping a whole race on individual cases drives prejudice.”
Chelsea McDonagh, an Irish Traveller living in London who is education policy and campaigns officer at the Traveller Movement, said she took a social media break after Dispatches “because we were exposed to an onslaught of abuse, people calling for gassing and sterilisation and all the rest. The impact on people’s mental health is going to be massive.”
Maureen Powell*, a 62-year-old Traveller, said: “People who we used to call neighbours and friends have asked us how we got the money to set up our business – is it that we’ve been robbing ATMs or breaking into people’s houses? It’s hard to answer. I want to be polite, but I’m angry. It’s upsetting.”
In response to criticism of the show, Channel 4 said in a statement: “We stand by the journalism in this programme, which examined an important issue that was addressed fairly, accurately, and with due impartiality in accordance with the Ofcom broadcasting code.
“The statistics were drawn from government and police sources and analysis of the association between crime levels and some Traveller sites was undertaken by highly professional people.
“The programme included contributions from Travellers and Traveller advocates as well as people who detailed their experiences of living near certain Traveller sites and who questioned the authorities’ approach to criminality.
“Other representative groups were approached but did not respond or declined to take part in the programme.”
* Name has been changed