Rupert Murdoch’s talkTV has apologized to Mind after claiming on air that the mental health charity funded asylum seekers’ legal fees.
Host Mike Graham claimed on his show, The Independent Republic of Mike Graham, last month that the charity claimed to fund mental health support while paying immigrants’ legal fees.
Mind complained about the claims, which he said were “just wrong”, noting that the new channel never reached out for comment.
In an on-air apology, broadcast shortly after 12:30pm on Friday, talkTV admitted to wrongdoing during the show in which it said it “questioned why various organisations, including Mind, were providing funds to a charity called Migrants Organize.”
He added: “Mind has pointed out to us that the funds it gave to Migrants Organize were given for specific work to support mental health and not for legal fees for illegal immigrants. He says he is transparent about the work he does and details of the projects he funds are on his website.
“We did not offer Mind the opportunity to respond at the time and we are happy to do so now. We are sorry for any confusion caused by the discussion on the show.”
It comes after The Guardian recently reported that in its first two months the right-wing channel, headed by Piers Morgan, has been struggling to attract an audience, despite tens of millions of pounds of investment. Such is the concern that Murdoch himself is understood to have taken an active interest.
After the original comments aired on June 10, Mind said he had received messages from “negativity” about their mental health support for refugees and asylum seekers.
He added: “We do, and we’re very proud of it. We are here for everyone. And that includes refugees and asylum seekers in England and Wales, who have often experienced unimaginable trauma.”
After Friday’s apology, Mind said he only found out about the claims after being directly approached by followers because they were not approached for a right of reply from the channel.
“What TalkTV got wrong was not that we work with refugees, but how we do it. Our job is to support mental health. We shout about this from the rooftops,” he said in a statement.
Highlighting the power of the media to influence opinions about mental health, he said it was important for Mind to challenge false claims.
“That’s why we decided to approach talkTV direct and ask for a correction. As a charity our reputation matters, the importance of the work we do to support mental health matters even more. The media [have] immense power. Very often the media [are] a force for good,” he added.
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“At Mind we know better than anyone that, having seen how the media, across the political spectrum, [have] helped change our national conversation about mental health. But when the media [get] things are wrong, as we all do, as a charity it is important that we challenge this too. So we did. Today, we are grateful to talkTV for making the difficult decision to apologize on air.”
Talktv did not immediately respond to The Guardian’s request for comment.
An Ofcom spokesman said the apology was not the result of an investigation by the communications regulator.
