The BBC handled over 32,000 editorial complaints between January and March 2006.
These ranged from a small number of complaints about potentially serious breaches of editorial guidelines through to a much larger collection of views about programme content and scheduling.
The key themes which emerged are detailed below:
Offence:
Complaints were received on the subject of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons, with many people expressing the view that they should not be shown, and others expressing the opposing view.
Complaints about The BBC:
Some listeners have complained that Radio 4 has announced the end of the UK Theme, the medley of tunes from the British Isles which has been the network's opening music for more than 30 years. The BBC received complaints from some Radio 2 listeners who expressed preferences about the presenter for Drivetime.
The Commonwealth Games 2006:
Complaints were received about the coverage of the Games. The main objections were that certain sports or events were not sufficiently covered, that there was bias towards English competitors in commentary and that the usual schedules were disrupted.
Standards of Interviewing:
Others complained that the Today interview with David Cameron on 1 March was too aggressive.
Political Bias:
Some viewers and listeners felt that Middle East news coverage was biased: some felt that Israelis were favoured and others that the bias was in favour of Palestinians. Other members of the audience complained about the BBC’s reporting of the possibility and then the confirmation of a retrial of BNP members Nick Griffin and Mark Collett.
Other Bias:
The Masterchef Goes Large final, broadcast on 17 March, prompted some complaints that the result was unfair.
Bad Language:
A number of viewers complained about strong language used during two episodes of Three Men In A Boat (3 and 5 January).
Watershed:
Some EastEnders viewers felt that the current lesbian storyline between characters Sonia and Naomi was unsuitable for broadcast before the Watershed.
The BBC's responses to some recent issuesare available at www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
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