Ethics Newsline®

LONDON
The popular British reality TV show “Big Brother” is facing accusations that it covered up incidents of racist bullying.

The program, which has many versions in nations across the globe, involves a group of people who live in a house under constant video surveillance and vote members of their group out of the living arrangement weekly. Recent allegations that racist bullying was ignored by the show’s producer, Channel 4, have resulted in several on-air apologies and calls for the resignation of the head of the channel, reports the Times of London.

A regulatory agency called Ofcom found that Channel 4 was in violation of the broadcasting code and in a report issued last week cited several instances in which it says Channel 4 did not handle properly the house’s volatile situations, according to a report from the ITV network.

An Australian version of the “Big Brother” program is also in the center of an ethics controversy because producers of the show decided not to tell one of the contestants locked in isolation that her father had died, the BBC reports.

The Brisbane Courier-Mail adds that the contestant, Emma Cornell, knew that her father’s death was imminent and that her father had not wanted her to be informed.

But many, including Australian politicians, are outraged by the incident and say it is an example of reality programming sinking to a new low.

In a related story, the host of a popular British reality program called “Ethical Man” is continuing to chronicle his observations, most recently on a BBC blog. Justin Rowlatt spent a year on-camera, attempting to live an eco-friendly life. Last week, he reported on a trip he took to India, attempting to gauge attitudes there toward “ethical living.”

Rowlatt writes that even though India is a major polluter, the official position of its government is that fighting global warming is not the responsibility of developing nations.

Rowlatt notes that on a per-capita basis, India’s production of pollutants is relatively small, summing up the dilemma: “That is why — after a week in India — I found it easy to understand the Indian Government’s position. It is also why I found it hard to begrudge Indians — in particular the two families we filmed with - some of the luxuries like cars and holidays abroad we in the West have been enjoying for years.”

“We are told the world needs to reduce carbon emissions worldwide if we are to avoid catastrophic global warming. If India is going to increase its emissions that means someone somewhere will need to make some carbon cuts. The question is who.”