ITV Slamed for Misleading IRA Chopper 'Footage'

It may have taken its time, and there may only have been 26 complaints - despite web and Twitter 'uproar' but ITV has been taken to task officially over using footage from the ArmA II game to illustrate an IRA helicopter attack in Northern Ireland for a documentary.

The incident occurred in September last year. As we reported then, "Last night's Exposure programme on ITV1 included a short film of Provisional IRA troops gunning down a British helicopter to illustrate Gadaffi's influence within the group. The clip was described as "IRA film 1988" - but on closer inspection it is in fact footage lifted from someone's gameplay experience on ArmA II."

Following 26 complaints, according to the BBC, "Ofcom has ruled that ITV misled viewers by airing footage claimed to have been shot by the IRA, which was actually material taken from a video game."

For its part, "ITV apologised after the issue came to light, saying it was "an unfortunate case of human error"." It explained that, "While trying to source "a better version" of the footage, the programme director viewed footage from the internet which "he mistakenly believed... to be a fuller version".

Ofcom was slightly less complacent in its response, calling the lazy and misleading use a, "significant breach of audience trust".

Sources:
BBC
OfCom