Channel 4 News is being investigated by Ofcom, after Jon Snow remarked that he had “never seen so many white people in one place” during coverage of a recent pro-Brexit march.
The broadcasting watchdog received 2,644 complaints about Snow’s comment, which was made as he singed off from a news bulletin on March 29.
“It’s been the most extraordinary day,” he said. “A day which has seen... I have never seen so many white people in one place, it’s an extraordinary story.
“There are people everywhere, there are crowds everywhere.”
An Ofcom spokeswoman said of the incident: “We’re investigating whether comments made by the presenters on these programmes broke our rules on offensive content.”
Speaking shortly after Snow made his on-air comment, Channel 4 said it “regretted any offence caused”.
“This was an unscripted observation at the very end of a long week of fast-moving Brexit developments,” a spokeswoman explained.
“Jon has covered major events such as this over a long career and this was a spontaneous comment reflecting his observation that, in a London demonstration of that size, ethnic minorities seemed to be significantly under-represented.”
The media regulator will also investigate remarks made by Nigel Farage, after the former Ukip leader told LBC Radio listeners that Snow “should be attacked without doubt” for his remark.
Asked by Alastair Campbell – who appeared alongside him on the radio show – why Snow deserved to be attacked, Farage said: “Because of his terrible condescending bias, but that’s a separate issue.”
Farage later clarified during the same programme that he meant a verbal attack, not a physical one.