Arma 2 Video Blunder Lands TV Station in Hot Water

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Arma 2 Video Blunder Lands TV Station in Hot Water

U.K. broadcasting regulator Ofcom says television station ITV committed a "significant breach of audience trust" by presenting an Arma 2 fan video as real-life footage of a helicopter shootdown.

In September 2011, U.K. television station ITV aired a documentary entitled Gaddafi and the IRA, which purported to offer an in-depth look at the historical connections between former Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi and the Irish Republican Army. To demonstrate the impact of Gaddafi's support, the program included a video clip showing IRA fighters shooting down a British helicopter with a Libyan-supplied anti-aircraft gun. Compelling stuff - and also Arma 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113343-Documentary-Mistakes-ArmA-2-Clip-For-Real-Combat-Video] video.

It was funny stuff but no laughing matter in the eyes of Ofcom, which declared that the show violated rule 2.2 of the Broadcasting Code, stating that "factual programs or items or portrayals of factual matters must not materially mislead the audience."

ITV claimed that the program director saw the video clip online and "mistakenly believed [it] to be a fuller version" of video he'd seen in another program that had aired in 1989. He thus included it in the ITV documentary and although he intended to "source the original tape at some point," he never actually did, nor did he bother to verify that the footage he saw online was actually what he saw in the other program. Worse, when a member of ITV's "compliance team" questioned whether the video was legit, the director assured him that it was and that was apparently good enough for all involved.

The incident "was purely a case of human error," ITV said. "It was not ITV's intention to mislead viewers and the use of the wrong footage was in no way deliberate."

That's probably true, but it's still incredibly sloppy and irresponsible. Ofcom acknowledged that ITV apologized for the mistake, removed the program from its on-demand video service and put new policies into place to help ensure that it doesn't happen again, but added that it was still a gross violation of the rules.

"The viewers of this serious current affairs program were misled as to the nature of the material they were watching," it wrote [http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/enforcement/broadcast-bulletins/obb1971/obb198.pdf]. "In the circumstances, this represented a significant breach of audience trust, particular in the context of a public service broadcaster. As such, Ofcom considered the program to be materially misleading, in breach of Rule 2.2."

The report doesn't state what penalties, if any, ITV could face for the breach.

via: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/39788/]


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XMark

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Jan 25, 2010
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Yup, that way back in September, but I guess the legal response to the incident was a few months slower than the internet response :)

I'm sure the Arma developers are loving the publicity that this incident is getting them.
 

imnot

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Apr 23, 2010
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Pretty old, but I still find it hilarious, seriously how could they even do that!?
 

Andy Chalk

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I'm guessing that none of you Brainiacs actually bothered to read the report.
 

Blunderboy

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I was still young in 1988 but I'm sure that real life had better graphics than that.
The whole 'human error' excuse is such blatant bullshit that I'm surprised ofcom weren't even stronger with their punishment, which of course is not listed, but I would imagine it'll be a fine.
It's what they did with the premium rate phone in scandal.
Also, I enjoy that there seems to be a lot of pornography listed in the same report.

Andy Chalk said:
I'm guessing that none of you Brainiacs actually bothered to read the report.
This seems a tad aggressive to me.
 

XMark

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I'm wondering if computer graphics will ever get so good that anyone can make fake news footage that even the most skeptic watchers will believe. That'll be an interesting time.
 

Dogstile

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Blunderboy said:
Andy Chalk said:
I'm guessing that none of you Brainiacs actually bothered to read the report.
This seems a tad aggressive to me.
I'd be pissed off too if people were telling you that you were late without reading what was written. If he was honestly late and he said that i'd agree with you, but with context I understand why its worded as such.

Still, on topic now: This is actually hilarious. I still can't believe they looked at that and thought "that looks totally real". You can even see Arma's little imperfections glaring out in that video!
 

Starke

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Orange12345 said:
I am 90% sure I saw this article on the Escapist a couple of months ago
That was when this originally happened, this is the bureaucratic fallout from this actually kicking through.
 

Susan Arendt

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Jan 9, 2007
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TsunamiWombat said:
I find it amusing that "don't show fake shit and pretend it's real" is rule 2.2 and not rule -1-
Hmm. When you put it that way, it is a bit odd, innit?
 

Jamash

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Jun 25, 2008
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Susan Arendt said:
TsunamiWombat said:
I find it amusing that "don't show fake shit and pretend it's real" is rule 2.2 and not rule -1-
Hmm. When you put it that way, it is a bit odd, innit?
It's not really odd when you look at the code and it's sections.

Section One: Protecting the Under-Eighteens.

Section Two: Harm and Offence.
It's right that protecting children takes precedence over misleading adults.

You mislead an adult and they feel like a bit of a fool, but showing impressionable children unsuitable graphic violence of sexual material can have a big effect on their entire lives.

Some glimpses of a Hammer Horror film I saw when I was very young provided nightmare fuel and paranoia seeds for many years to come.
 

Neverhoodian

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Andy Chalk said:
I'm guessing that none of you Brainiacs actually bothered to read the report.
Uh oh, now you've done it. You've gone and made him mad.

(seriously though, remember to be professional)

Anywho, I know games have pretty impressive visuals nowadays, but it's fairly obvious (at least to me) that this wasn't real. The shape of the trees, the rapidly dissipating smoke, the lack of burnt vegetation at the impact site, etc.

Fact checking? What's that?
 

Jamash

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Jun 25, 2008
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Neverhoodian said:
Anywho, I know games have pretty impressive visuals nowadays, but it's fairly obvious (at least to me) that this wasn't real. The shape of the trees, the rapidly dissipating smoke, the lack of burnt vegetation at the impact site, etc.

Fact checking? What's that?
Not to mention, if the PIRA had indeed downed a British helicopter in Ireland, it would a well known international incident (and folk legend), more infamous than the Armagh Sniper Campaign and there would have been all sorts of outrage and enquires about how they managed to smuggle an Anti-Aircraft cannon all the way from Libya to Ireland (it's not quite as simple as posting a handgun in the mail).
 

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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TsunamiWombat said:
I find it amusing that "don't show fake shit and pretend it's real" is rule 2.2 and not rule -1-
Yeah, that seems pretty reasonable when you put it like that. Really, when it comes to news and current affairs shows, that should be about the only rule you need.
 

duchaked

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Dec 25, 2008
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"This video contains content from ITV.com, who has blocked it on copyright grounds."

LOL yeah sure