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Rupert Murdoch doesn't think Barack Obama racist, says spokesman

Rupert Murdoch has been forced to deny he believes Barack Obama is a racist, after appearing to back the controversial Fox News presenter Glenn Beck's comments about the US president.

The chairman and chief executive of News Corporation said in an interview earlier this week that Obama had made "a very racist comment" and that Beck's views were "right".

"He does not at all, for a minute, think the president is a racist," a News Corp spokesman told the US website Politico.

In the interview with Sky News Australia, Murdoch was asked about the views expressed by contributors to Fox News, including Beck's view that Obama was a racist.

"He [Obama] did make a very racist comment about blacks and whites and so on, which he said in his campaign he would be completely above," Murdoch said.

"That was something which perhaps should not have been said about the president but if you actually look at what he [Beck] was talking about, he was right."

Beck caused uproar in July when he described Obama had "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture".

His remarks were made during a discussion of Obama's reaction to the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr, an African-American Harvard academic.

Murdoch also said in the interview he thought the Obama presidency was going "badly", citing the defection of independent voters in recent elections in Virginia and New Jersey.

Cadbury Dairy Milk ad cleared of racism

The advertising regulator has cleared Cadbury of racism and perpetuating colonial stereotypes of African people in its latest TV advertising campaign.

Cadbury's campaign featured Ghanaian musician Tinny and aimed to promote the chocolate brand's tie-up with the Fairtrade organisation for cocoa from the African nation for its Dairy Milk range.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 29 complaints that the TV campaign was demeaning to African people and perpetuated racial stereotypes.

However, the ASA's council has decided not to formally investigate the complaints. "Although the council acknowledges that Cadbury had used stereotypes in their ads, they felt that the stereotypes were not harmful or offensive," said the ASA, which argued that most ads use some form of stereotype device to get a message across.

Cadbury has steadfastly maintained that the company went to "considerable lengths" to ensure that the ad campaign was culturally sensitive and developed as a "joyous and uplifting portrayal of Ghanaian culture and something which Ghanaians can feel proud of".

In 2007 the ASA banned an ad for Cadbury's Trident chewing gum, which featured a black "dub poet" speaking in rhyme with a strong Caribbean accent, after more than 500 complaints that it was racist.

Nick Griffin to lodge formal complaint with BBC over Question Time

BNP leader Nick Griffin is to lodge a formal complaint and freedom of information request to the BBC over the way his appearance on Question Time was handled.

He will argue that the format of the show was skewed to focus almost solely on the BNP, not wider issues, that the makeup of the audience was primarily anti-BNP and that a broader range of questions were not fielded, a spokesman for the party said.

The BBC has fielded more than 400 calls and emails about Griffin's appearance on Question Time last night – with more than half complaining that the show was biased against the British National Party leader.

BBC online forums were flooded with support for Griffin and attacks on the BBC, the other panellists and the anti-fascist demonstrators outside Television Centre yesterday. However, there were also comments supporting the BBC for its decision to invite Griffin on to the Question Time panel.

Question Time attracted 7.9 million viewers, half the total TV audience for its 10.35pm slot – which is thought to be a record figure for the show.

The BNP spokesman said: "He was not treated the same as other elected politicians [who appear on the show]; it was a completely unfair showing.

"Question Time changed the whole format of the programme. The BNP will be putting in a freedom of information request to the BBC and programme makers to ask about the process of changing the format of the whole programme. [We want to know] why they felt they had to break with the usual format."

He said that the BNP wanted a second outing on Question Time to be "re-run in the correct format". "If people want to be critical, fair enough – they should not dominate the whole programme."

The spokesman added that Question Time had a history of moving locations and that London was too "multicultural" to be fair to the BNP and that perhaps a location like the northwest of England would be an option.

"It is logical: that is where he was elected and an audience would contain a representative cross-section of voters, some of whom may have voted for the BNP," he said. "It would make for a more balanced programme."

Griffin is also keen to challenge Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to a one-on-one debate over Labour policies.

Griffin himself said today he was planning to make a formal complaint to the BBC about last night's show, telling Sky News: "That was not a genuine Question Time; that was a lynch mob."

The media regulator, Ofcom, said it had received a "small number of complaints" about the show – understood to be less than 100 – and was considering whether to launch a formal investigation of whether Question Time breached its broadcast code.

BBC Information, the corporation's call centre, had fielded a total of 416 calls on the controversial show by about noon today. Of these, 243 were complaints of bias against Griffin.

Question Time was filmed late yesterday amid chaotic scenes outside BBC Television Centre as anti-fascist protesters clashed with police, and attracted a record audience of almost eight million viewers.

The BBC also received 114 complaints about Griffin being allowed to appear on the Question Time panel at all. There were a further 59 calls applauding the BBC's decision to have the BNP leader on the show.

Ofcom is understood to have received fewer than 100 complaints and will now make a decision on whether to investigate. The complaints fall under the broadcasting code section on harm and offence.

An Ofcom spokesman said: "Ofcom has received a small number of complaints which are currently being assessed against the broadcasting code."

Under the BBC's complaints procedure, the corporation will respond to the calls after the issues have been discussed with the Question Time programme team. Those who remain unsatisfied with the response can refer their complaint to the BBC's editorial complaints unit.

If they are still not happy with its decision, complainants can take their grievance to the editorial standards committee of the BBC Trust, the corporation's regulatory and governance body.