"Big Brother cleared of neglect..."

This article on the Media Guradian website is about the prestigious media regulator , 'Ofcom' and its decision regarding the many complaints it recieved against 'Big Brother' over it's seventh series broadcasted on Channel 4 this summer.

Even though the media regulator received complaints from 272 viewers over the course of the series Ofcom decided to clear Channel 4 over complaints that Big Brother contestants' welfare was neglected and that the broadcaster had condoned inappropriate behaviour. Instead, they decided that Big Brother did stay within acceptable programming boundaries.
Complainants felt that some contestants such as Shahbaz Chaudhry or Pete Bennett, who suffers from Tourette's syndrome, should not have participated in the programme as the inclusion of these contenders suggested viewers were being invited to "laugh at others less fortunate than ourselves" and were concerned that Channel 4 was neglecting its duty of care towards contestants.
Ofcom however argued that it was not its responsibility to override "informed decisions" made by adults to participate in reality TV shows and that in the case of someone like Bennett "There is rightly no reason why someone with a disability cannot and should not exercise the same degree of informed choice as any other adult - including choosing to enter the Big Brother house."

My Comments...

Every year many people complain about Big Brother and it's content, therefore I feel that perhaps Ofcom should have paid more attention than they did to the complaints that they recieved. However, when such a popular show is being criticised by a mere few hundred peaople in comparison to the thousands that watch it seems like the easier option to ignore the complaints as the show is generally such a success.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/bigbrother/story/0,,1875232,00.html