BBC removes satirical cartoons of politicians from social media after backlash

Sep 14, 2023 at 12:31 AM
BBC removes satirical cartoons of politicians from social media after backlash

BBC Scotland has eliminated satirical cartoons of politicians from social media following a backlash on-line.

In one of many now-deleted clips selling Radio Scotland’s Noising Up present, Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater was depicted as “Limo Lorna”.

Speaking in a Canadian accent, the caricature mentioned she was the “minister for green skills, circular economy, biodiversity, short-haul flights and maple syrup”.

The character added: “Join me for my new streaming series, Lorna Slater’s Great Green Limousine Journeys, where I’ll be changing my climate from Holyrood to stretched limo on a 3,000-mile taxpayer-funded journey around Scotland.”

Scottish minister Ms Slater, the MSP for Lothian, has beforehand been criticised for her heavy use of vehicles and for chartering a non-public boat for a go to to the Isle of Rum earlier this yr at a value of £1,200.

The animation sparked outrage after being shared on-line.

Scotland’s tradition minister Christina McKelvie branded it “dreadful”, whereas equalities minister Emma Roddick labelled it “unnecessarily nasty”.

Green MSP Mark Ruskell added: “What’s funny about needing a car to do your job?”

Cartoons of different political leaders had been additionally eliminated amid criticism.

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The Noising Up present is described as a “riotous mix of sketches, gags, spoofs, quickies and take-offs”.

BBC Scotland defended the position of political satire however accepted that the posts had not labored “as intended”.

Although the clips have been pulled from social media, the sketch present will nonetheless be broadcast in full on Radio Scotland and is accessible through BBC Sounds.

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A BBC Scotland spokesperson mentioned: “Noising Up is a satire-led programme on Radio Scotland, and radio sketch satire has been missing for over a decade in Scotland.

“We imagine satire has a task to play inside public discourse and it’s important that it has its place inside Scotland’s political and cultural panorama.

“Animations of four of Scotland’s party leaders were created to support the programme with the intent of helping it reach a new and wider audience.

“It turned clear over the weekend that the animations weren’t working as meant and having mirrored on the response we’ve made the choice to take away them from social media whereas we evaluation their use and assess the programme’s social media presence.”

Noising Up, which returned this month for a second collection, first aired on Radio Scotland in September 2022.