The BBC pixelated footage of Jamie Bryson with a purported UVF leader, even though the prominent loyalist activist spoke about the same event on the broadcaster’s most popular radio show.
BBC NI’s Spotlight, broadcast on Monday, centred on the criminal activities of the UVF in south east Antrim.
But the programme also looked at the organisation in east Belfast and the role of what was reported as that faction’s former leader, Stephen Matthews.
A voiceover described how a BBC team decided to attend a commemoration event for a deceased UVF member to check whether any of the leaders of the “notorious faction” were present.
“There was the leader, Stephen Matthews,” the reporter stated over footage showing Mr Matthews with Mr Bryson, his face entirely obscured.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We will sometimes blur background images and details for straightforward editorial reasons.”
An image of the pair at the band parade along the Woodstock Road last June in memory of Robert ‘Squeak’ Seymour appeared the following day in a Sunday newspaper.
Mr Bryson confirmed his appearance at the event on The Nolan Show.
He acknowledged being “inconsistent, and I’m honest about that” when question about his attendance at the parade while at the same criticising Sinn Fein politicians remembering IRA members.
When challenged his approach could be viewed by many as hypocrisy, he said: “Well it may well be.”
Spotlight said Stephen Matthews was East Belfast UVF head up until last year, with the commemoration one of his last public appearances as leader before being “stood down” last year.
“I don’t believe Stephen Matthews was guilty of bringing the organisation into disrepute and I don’t think he was a drug dealer, but the problem was that it happened on his watch and the buck has to stop somewhere,” one source told the BBC.
A statement issued through a spokesperson said that Mr Matthews had never been the leader of the East Belfast UVF, and so could not have been removed from his role.
